When it comes to Kevin Costner baseball movies, there is plenty of discussion about which of his movies should be at the top of the list. With that in mind, we will lay out our own ranking of Costner’s trio of baseball classics, from worst to best.
Keep in mind that we will be ranking Costner’s most well-known baseball movies in this article. He also had smaller parts with a baseball tie-in in 1982’s “Chasing Dreams” and 2005’s “The Upside of Anger,” but those didn’t make our countdown.
Ranking Kevin Costner baseball movies, from best to worst
Number 3 — For Love of the Game (1999)
In this movie, Costner plays 40-year-old Detroit Tigers pitcher Billy Chapel, who takes the mound at Yankee Stadium and proceeds to pitch the game of his life. Directed by Sam Raimi (more well known for his directing of Spider-Man movies and the Evil Dead franchise), the movie bounces between the present and past as Costner reflects upon his life, including his relationship with Jane Aubrey (played by Kelly Preston).
If you’re into baseball history, seeing the former version of Yankee Stadium and hearing Vin Scully do the play-by-play is hard to beat. However, those are some of the few highlights of the film, which was a disappointment at the box office and earned Costner a Golden Raspberry Award nomination in the Worst Actor category.
Every list has to start somewhere and that’s where this one begins, but there is plenty of room to go up with the next movie on our list, coming in at number 2 of Kevin Costner baseball movies.