Why all the best sports movies are about baseball

This weekend's 42, which tells the story of Jackie Robinson, is the latest in a long string of cinematic odes to America's Pastime

"42"
(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Load up on some peanuts and Cracker Jacks on your way to the movies this weekend: 42, the latest in a long string of baseball movies, is about to slug its way into theaters.

42 tells the true-life story of Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman), the man who broke baseball's color line by becoming the first black player to play Major League Baseball in the modern era. 42 offers everything you'd expect from a Hollywood sports biopic: Period trappings, dazzling recreations of bygone ballparks, and Harrison Ford delivering a grizzled supporting performance that has Oscar-bait written all over it. But for all its strengths, 42 is just the latest baseball-inspired blockbuster to step up to the box office plate, following in the footsteps of some hits (Moneyball) and some misses (Trouble with the Curve).

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Daniel is a freelance writer, an Englishman abroad, and a pop culture junkie. He writes about film, TV, and lifestyle for outlets including MSN, The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, The Evening Standard, and Yahoo.