Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde discuss the 1993 fan favorite "The Sandlot," rating this classic movie on the 20-80 scouting scale. They introduce the film (4:29), with an overview of the story, cast, and some artistic touch-points for writer and director David Mickey Evans. After a description of the 20-80 scouting grades for those who are unfamiliar (9:42), they begin with Amount of Baseball (10:33), continuing a debate on what constitutes a baseball scene, and delighting in the return of a favorite little league team. No spoilers on the player comp! Baseball Accuracy (14:05) addresses the questionable scope of Smalls' knowledge re: Babe Ruth, s'mores, tobacco, and baseball in general, and his bad baseball playing relative to "Bad News Bears" and "Rookie of the Year." Eric gets nerdy about the stitching on the Babe Ruth baseball. They also examine Ham's homer, the sandlot's team roster size, Benny's rundowns, oppo tacos, and the democracy of player size and shape, with loving reference to John Kruk, Prince Fielder, Carl Edwards Jr., Jose Altuve, Jimmy Rollins, Joe Morgan, Bartolo Colon, Hack Wilson and Smokey Burgess. Some thoughts about Mr. Myrtle's (James Earl Jones) blindness and barnstorming play, and Maury Wills' stolen base record, with small shout-outs to Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock (RIP, who had not passed when the podcast was recorded). Storytelling (31:58) examines Adult Smalls' (LOL) narration and bookending scenes with continued contemplation of his perplexing relationship with baseball. Comparing the kids' summer vibe with "Bad News Bears" unearths the original title of the film. The team has questions about replacing the Babe Ruth ball, Bill's (Dennis Leary) baseball collection room, and the kids' level of education. Discussion of the high stakes, other genres referenced within the film, the original vision in casting, and whether Benny might be secretly rich. What ends up happening with Benny's hat? They debate the Score (52:51), including Ray Charles' version of "America the Beautiful" and similarities to "A Christmas Carol" and "Field of Dreams" scores. Acting (56:33) praises the cast. Patrick Renna and Chauncey Leopardi are National Treasures, and James Earl Jones is perfect at literally everything he ever does. An interesting acting challenge for Red Sox fan Dennis Leary! Delightfulness of Catcher (1:02:19) lauds incredible trash talking, an excellent model for a catcher despite Benny being the lovable group leader, the insult scene that almost wasn't, and "that wimpy deer" (reprise). Delightfulness of Announcer (1:05:58) brings up a debate on narration as announcing, with an anecdote about filming at Dodger's Stadium that includes Tommy LaSorda. Plus: where's Vin Scully?!?! Lack of Misogyny (1:11:09) takes a frank look at the lack of complex female characters that offset the misogyny of various insults traded in the film, and gets real about Squints and Wendy. No spoilers on the following segments: Yes or No (1:16:32), Six Degrees of Baseball (1:26:45), Favorite Moment (1:28:41) Least Favorite Moment (1:31:37), Scene We Would Have Liked to See (1:34:33), Dreamiest Player (1:37:07), Favorite Performance (1:39:03), Next Time (1:42:21), and Review Thank You (1:42:54).

Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde discuss the 1974 Roy Campanella biopic, "It's Good to Be Alive," rating this TV movie on the 20-80 scouting scale. They introduce the episode (1:19), with an overview of the story, cast, and expectations coming into the film. After a description of the 20-80 scouting grades for those who are unfamiliar (8:37), they begin with Amount of Baseball (10:12), discussing how to bring something up to code to be considered a baseball movie. Eric makes some claims about the scouting scale. No spoilers on the player comp! Baseball Accuracy (14:51) includes an Ellen Adair Breakdown on Campanella's hands and injury history, along with details of the car accident and initial expectations afterwards, Campy's thoughts about L.A., Ruthe's visits, Campy's salary and Walter O'Malley, and a compare and contrast of his real speech vs. the film speech. Storytelling (36:22) examines the usage of flashbacks, both good (a childhood scene about his biracial identity) and bad (a very puzzling scene with his son David). Discussion of the difficulties of Roy adjusting to his new life, Campy as a coach and manager, and the annoying reporter, with shout-out to Jason Vargas. Praise for the fly scene, and speculation about what Ruthe is drinking. They discuss the Score (1:03:17) and Acting (1:04:50), particularly Paul Winfield, Ruby Dee, and Louis Gossett, Jr. Ellen has a rundown of three specific excellent choices by Ruby Dee. Delightfulness of Catcher (1:10:45) is a fun tool to score for this film, with conversation about real Roy vs. his film depiction, some highlights of his real-life catching career, and mentioning early interest in him from the Phillies and Pirates. Ellen is not able to resist mentioning J.T. Realmuto, but just once. Delightfulness of Announcer (1:17:30) and Lack of Misogyny (1:18:11) follow, the latter considering that the film was written from Roy's point of view. Eric brings up some of the questions about the timeline on the night of Campanella's accident. Yes or No (1:25:16) briefly addresses Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige easter eggs in the film, along with the Classic Questions. No spoilers on the following segments: Six Degrees of Baseball (1:29:42), Favorite Moment (1:31:34) Least Favorite Moment (1:33:28), Scene We Would Have Liked to See (1:34:25), Dreamiest Player (1:38:14), Favorite Performance (1:39:23), Next Time (1:42:33), and Review Thank You (1:44:14).

Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde delve into all the twists and turns surrounding this baseball-themed episode of "The Twilight Zone" entitled "The Mighty Casey!" Rating this 1960 TV episode on the 20-80 scouting scale may make for one of their most fun journeys yet. They introduce the episode (1:34), with an overview of the plot, actors, and a brief foray into Rod Serling's other writing about baseball. After a description of the 20-80 scouting grades for those who are unfamiliar (8:18), they begin with Amount of Baseball (9:22), including a discussion of whether or not Amount of Baseball is a ratio stat or a counting stat, Robert Sorrell's pitching double, and the concept of a montage expressing "he's doing well." Baseball Accuracy (13:04) touches on how much adding one pitcher could really help an awful team, Casey's pitching mix, how often a superman could plausibly pitch, connection to the Dodgers, the try-out flubs and a philosophical question about beaning. Storytelling (36:22) examines the fairytale nature of the story, the twists, Casey's mental fortitude with small shout-outs to Cliff Lee and Max Scherzer, Leo Durocher and the question of whether nice guys finish last, concerns about Dr. Stillman's motivations, Casey's age and implications for his Tommy John surgery. They discuss the Score (47:25) and Acting (48:35), particularly Robert Sorrells, Abraham Sofaer and Jack Warden, with our CRAZIEST TWIST YET! References to "Homeland," "Inception," and Ellen's final request. Plus, Robert Sorrells was a complex dude. Delightfulness of Catcher (56:59), Delightfulness of Announcer (59:23) and Lack of Misogyny (1:00:35) follow. No spoilers on the following segments: Yes or No (1:04:58), Six Degrees of Baseball (1:09:30) Favorite Moment (1:10:25) Least Favorite Moment (1:11:18), Scene We Would Have Liked to See (1:13:37), Dreamiest Player (1:15:47), Favorite Performance (1:16:22), Review Thank You (1:18:35) and Next Time (1:19:10).

Ellen Adair talks with Noah Gittell, journalist, film critic, and author of BASEBALL: THE MOVIE. They discuss ways in which Noah's Mets fandom has built character, the concept of love of baseball above all, surprises in researching the book, casting a movie about Jackie Robinson using actors from Jackie Robinson movies over the decades, and the worst baseball movie Noah had to watch. Noah has some hot takes about THE SANDLOT! They also talk about which baseball movie characters to put on the cover of the book, Noah's interview with Richard Linklater, and the decline in production of baseball movies in the past decade. Then, they get into Noah's grades for the brilliant 2009 film SUGAR, by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Parental advisory: there is some (very fun) conversation about a rated-R word used in the film in the "Lack of Misogyny" category. Ellen also fact-checks the earlier episode of SUGAR on an important "Yes or No" question.

Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde discuss the 2004 comedy "Mr. 3000," grading its tools on the 20-80 scouting scale. They introduce the film (1:34), providing background on the director, writer, and some of the cast. After a description a description of the 20-80 scouting grades for those who are unfamiliar (5:06), they begin with Amount of Baseball (6:42), including a player comp (no spoilers). Baseball Accuracy (15:25) touches on Stan Ross's (Bernie Mac) Hall of Fame aspirations and his believability as a player, players with 3,000 hits, baseball "curfew," Roberto Clemente, Juan Soto, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey, Jr., Phillies of the 2010s, the longest MLB game ever played, 1995 playoff race, Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper, Cap Anson, Chase Utley, and bat length and weight. Storytelling (36:22) examines the problems surrounding Stan's "Tonight Show" appearance, use of commercials and Charles Barkley, the irony of an Astros pitcher tipping pitches and Stan's early anti-cheating stance, Paul Sorvino's mostly silent manager, the sac bunt, the bottle moment, and the chain of 3,000 stores. The musical Score (1:04:18) looks at usage of "The Natural," Gustav Holst, The Nutcracker, "Jungle Boogie," "It Takes Two," "YMCA," "Let's Get it On," "Whoomp There It is" and "Endless Love." Shout-out to Rhys Hoskins' moustache, which Ellen learns they only loved all along by how sad they are now that it has left us. Acting (1:11:43) discusses Bernie Mac's charisma, Angela Bassett's all-around awesomeness, and performances from Brian White, Amaury Nolasco, Dondre T. Whitfield, Michael Rispoli, Paul Sorvino and Chris Noth. Delightfulness of Catcher (1:16:13) follows, and Eric gives props to Dick Enberg in Delightfulness of Announcer (1:18:31). Lack of Misogyny (1:22:11) praises Angela Bassett, though Ellen has small tirade on the idealization of tiny women being able to house junk food at all times. No spoilers on the following segments: Yes or No (1:26:00), Six Degrees of Baseball (1:31:09) Favorite Moment (1:32:03) Least Favorite Moment (1:34:37), Scene We Would Have Liked to See (1:36:33), Dreamiest Player (1:37:46), Favorite Performance (1:39:20), Next Time (1:41:13) and Review Thank You (1:41:55)

Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde discuss the original 1951 version of "Angels in the Outfield," grading its tools on the 20-80 scouting scale. They introduce the film (1:50), providing background on the director, writer, and some of the cast, including a synopsis of the film (6:14). Some interesting facts about the distribution and the film's foreign name (8:51) lead to a funny anecdote of confusion about the film "28 Days Later." After a description of the 20-80 scouting grades for those who are unfamiliar (11:24), they launch into Amount of Baseball (12:26), with both a player comp (no spoilers) and discussion of recency bias. Baseball Accuracy (15:25) touches on baseball parks used in filming, implausible base-running errors, Only Pitcher Disease, the Pirates 1920s-1950s, the Giants in 1951, Black players and managers on the Pirates, Ralph Kiner and Pie Traynor. Some discussion of women's preference for shortstops or third basemen, citing Anthony Rendon, Matt Chapman, Nolan Arenado, Mike Schmidt and Wade Boggs. Storytelling (36:10) examines mixed angelic messaging, eating steak with ketchup, swearing in the film, Shakespeare, the rhyme scheme of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," this version versus the 1994 version, Joe DiMaggio, Ty Cobb, Bing Crosby and Harry Ruby, whether or not baseball managers can go to heaven, what is a reasonable team batting average for angels, Dusty Baker, Ketel Marte, Mike Trout, and Randy Johnson killing a bird. The musical Score (1:10:58) gives props to the angelic soundscape. Acting (1:13:20) looks mostly at the performances of Janet Leigh, Paul Douglas, and Donna Corcoran. Delightfulness of Catcher (1:18:11) and Delightfulness of Announcer (1:18:29) follow. Lack of Misogyny (1:21:22) contains references to Ray Searage, Barbara Billingsley, "Muppet Babies" and Tor Johnson. No spoilers on the following segments: Yes or No (1:27:11), Six Degrees of Baseball (1:32:00) Favorite Moment (1:33:39), Least Favorite Moment (1:34:25), Scene We Would Have Liked to See (1:35:30), Dreamiest Player (1:39:48), Favorite Performance (1:41:15), Next Time (1:43:20) and Review Thank You (1:43:57).

Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde discuss the 2014 film "Million Dollar Arm," grading its tools on the 20-80 scouting scale. They introduce the film (1:38), providing background on the director, writer, and some of the cast (2:32). After a description of the 20-80 scouting grades for those unfamiliar (5:00), they launch into Amount of Baseball (6:11), both providing player comps for the amount of baseball in this film (no spoilers here!). Baseball Accuracy (9:42) touches on being able to tell the velocity of a pitch by the sound of it hitting something, differences in cricket bowling vs. baseball pitching, the athletic backgrounds of Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, Rinku's delivery as depicted, with references to Marcus Stroman, Jason Vargas, and Roy Oswalt. Storytelling (33:49) examines some real life differences in JB Bernstein's life and whose idea the "Million Dollar Arm" program actually was. Stay tuned for what the "JB" in JB Bernstein stands for! They also discuss the party scene, the visit to the villages, the Lame Romantic Subplot, "Class A Jerks," Scotch faux pas, capitalism cake, and the importance of representation. A sub-section on India Accuracy (54:25) does not include grades. The musical Score (1:02:45) may or may not have made one of these scouts get up and dance. Acting (1:08:52) looks at the performances of Lake Bell, Jon Hamm, Alan Arkin, Bill Paxton, Aasif Mandvi, Allyn Rachel, Pitobash Tripathy, Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal, and Darshan Jariwala. Delightfulness of Catcher (1:12:44) and Delightfulness of Announcer (1:13:44) follow, rounded out by Lack of Misogyny (1:15:33). No spoilers on the following segments: Yes or No (1:19:10), Six Degrees of Baseball (1:23:02) Favorite Moment (1:24:53), Least Favorite Moment (1:27:12), Scene We Would Have Liked to See (1:28:01) including references to Josh Bell, Didi, Ji-Man Choi, Cole Hamels, Curt Schilling, plus baseball luminaries and nemeses, Dreamiest Player (1:32:08) with a bonus Baseball Accuracy fact that makes "Pride of the Yankees" into a verb, Favorite Performance (1:34:50), Review Thank You (1:37:07) and Next Week (1:37:40).

Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde discuss the 1976 classic "The Bad News Bears," grading its tools on the 20-80 scouting scale. They introduce the film (2:03), summarizing its premise (3:23), and providing background on the director, writer, and some of the cast (5:00). After a description of the 20-80 scouting grades for those unfamiliar (11:00), they launch into Amount of Baseball (12:18), also discussing shooting conditions and set practices, the difficulty of filming exteriors, and Ian Kinsler having 55 WAR. Baseball Accuracy (17:25) touches on rules kids would be confused about, ad-libs in the film, the 2018 Phillies defense, pitching low and outside, some Catfish Hunter history and the implications of this comparison, Vince Velasquez, and the Ellen Adair Breakdown of Amanda's purported curveball vs. curveballs in MLB. Storytelling (33:49) includes discussion of the film's depiction of childhood, generational differences, and the appropriateness of Denny's as a sponsor to the Yankees team. Pizza Hut and Book It also fondly remembered. The racism and intolerance depicted are discussed at length, along with the different kinds of beer, Kelly Leake's hustling, Coach Buttermaker's journey, montages, surprises, contradictions, and the ending of the movie. The musical Score (1:09:40) is debated, before Acting (1:13:18) looks at the performances of Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, Joyce Van Patten, Vic Morrow, and other child actors. Delightfulness of Catcher (1:18:42) and Delightfulness of Announcer (1:20:35) follow. Ellen has many conflicts grading Lack of Misogyny (1:21:36), with a brief diversion into an interesting fact about the Mexican characters on the team. No spoilers on the following segments: Two Surprise Questions (1:25:41), Yes or No (1:28:38), Six Degrees of Baseball (1:34:21) Favorite Moment (1:35:36) with a small shout-out to Maria Aitken, Least Favorite Moment (1:37:51), Scene We Would Have Liked to See (1:39:47), Dreamiest Player (1:41:53), Favorite Performance (1:45:02), Review Thank You (1:45:02) and Next Week (1:45:04).