SPEAKER_02 0:16

Welcome to Split the Corner. What can we get to?

SPEAKER_03 0:24

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Split the Corner universe. This is season two, two point zero of the Split the Corner podcast. With you as always, I'm Kaz. This is Kyle, and we're gonna start everything off the same way we always do with our national day. Kyle, what's our first national day of season two?

SPEAKER_02 0:49

First of all, let me just say how excited I am to be back. I have been sitting in my house for the last three months, staring at the wall, doing absolutely nothing in anticipation of this day. So I'm very, very excited to be back, and I'm very excited to bring to you the very first national day of season two. And I cannot tell you how exciting this day is, ladies and gentlemen. Happy national iguana awareness day.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Kyle, are you aware of iguanas? I am. Kaz, are are you aware of iguanas?

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Immensely. So how was your summer? It was great, man. I had a really nice summer. How about you?

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Yeah, I didn't I didn't stare at the walls for as long as you did, which is a little concerning considering you have children. Uh, but it was good, man. It was a good summer. There was a lot of sports. Our little midsummer recap kind of kept everybody abreast of how busy we've been. Uh, so it's good. Good to be back to a regular schedule, good to be back to the split the corner universe, and really looking forward to another season.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

So, since our midsummer check-in, have you done anything worth bringing the f the people in on? Anything that was like out of control or really fun or just something that you enjoy about this part of the summer, like the wrap-up of summer?

SPEAKER_03 2:18

So we had a we had a concert heavy summer. We didn't do a whole lot of vacationing. Uh, but as part of kind of getting back to the world, there is something I'd like to talk to the split corner people about. Um, I have joined uh a Fat Guy Soccer League. All right, this is this is a phenomenal thing, and I couldn't be happier about it. I'm gonna I'm gonna be sharing my journey along the way. Um, but I I had a very motivational conversation with a with a friend uh over the summer who said that amidst all of the crazy in the world, he never missed his weekly kick around. And it just it made me remember how much I loved it, and I'm just not at the point where I want to go out and you know run around with a bunch of 20-somethings that are all trying to start fights once a week. So found myself a league where they let you in based on your BMI, and uh they let you play every week as part of a weight loss program. So, you know, gonna lose a couple pounds, gonna get out and score some goals. Um, you know, we talk a lot about sports here on on the podcast, and there is. There's something that you get from you know hitting a home run or scoring a goal or or you know catching a touchdown or that that you just don't get from your your daily nine to five. And I'm happy to have that back in my life. So I'm looking forward to keeping everybody posted. But yeah, fat guy soccer.

SPEAKER_02 3:40

Let's drill down a little, if we can, about fat guy soccer. First of all, I think that's awesome. I think it's I think it's great that we're leaning into it. I think that's amazing. But I I I have to know a little bit more about this. What is the so you say it goes by BMI? Like do they do they have a a BMI like indicator thingy? Is there something that they they test you on before you give them?

SPEAKER_03 4:10

Okay. You know, and and based on your height and weight, they know, you know, if you're the if you're the right amount of out of shape to run around with the rest of these out-of-shapers.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

So like you can be turned away if your BMI doesn't fit, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

Yeah, there's but you know, that's the place where we play. There's a field, you know, one field over that's got all the fit and beautiful people running around on it. So you go play with them, man. Whatever.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

I think it's awesome that a group of people that potentially maybe were excluded from athletics by the fit and beautiful for part of their life are now able to flip it on its ear until the fit and beautiful is to get out of here.

SPEAKER_04 4:55

It's not even that though.

SPEAKER_03 4:57

Like it's it's uh it's a collection of horror stories. Everybody on on the on the league for the most part is the same. Like, well, man, I was really good until my ankle, or I was really good until my knee, or I was really good until my shoulder, and it, you know, like then they fell out of shape, and there's there's some fantastic first and second touches. There, there's just not a lot of breakaway speed. You know, once you get past that last defender, he's not trying to to catch you at that point.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

Just don't screw it up. So, like, okay, so are people going are they going hard? Like, if I'm on a if I'm on a breakaway, right? And it's me and the goalie, do I have full permission to blast away, or am I am I being cognizant of the fact that it's a bunch of dudes in their 30s and 40s trying not to die?

SPEAKER_03 5:53

No, we're ripping shots.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 5:56

If anything, they're making me feel bad for not ripping shots. What do you mean? Now they they do, there's like a little six-yard box, and that's the goalies world, and you can't go in there even on defense, like you're not allowed in the box. So they do, you know, they do their best to protect the goalies, and yeah, everything is an indirect kick, there's no direct kicks, but but yeah, ripping shots like grown men.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

That's awesome. Okay, here's a question for you. This is a a a weight loss endeavor, more than anything, right? Or at least that's the that's the the the goal is is for everybody to get involved and and get to play and do all that, which is amazing. But the the the goal here is to become healthier and and and take off some LBs, right? Yeah. Okay. So let's say that you play for a year and you're I mean, you're in it, man. Your diet has changed, you're you're full-on training, you're wearing garbage bags to run or whatever, and you come in on a on a day and you have reached your goal of fitness. Are you now excluded from the league? Like, do they say, hey, hit the bricks there, skinny? Like, did are you are you shamed for hitting your goal? Like, you can't play with your friends anymore?

SPEAKER_03 7:20

I mean, I don't know if you would be, I don't know if you would be like ostracized. A little bit, right? Like you're gonna get razzed, you know, like they're gonna be like, hey, we're getting t-shirts. We'll make sure to get you a medium, and then everybody'll laugh about it, you know. Like, I'm I'm sure there's gonna be some razzing. But you are grandfathered in. I asked, I asked week one because that was it was a concern of like, all right, well, you know, let's say I let's say I need this for the social interaction, you know, my my mental well-being, you know, can I can I do so well that I'm not welcome back? You know, like if I come back with a six-pack in in two weeks and and it's not beer, you know, will will they let me in? Or at that point am I, you know, uh have I have I aged out? You know, but I guess they don't want to get rid of their success stories, right? I mean it's a huge program over in the UK, so you know, maybe there's uh maybe there's a next step. I'm not sure. I did recently find out about regional tournaments, which is the sort of motivation that I need in my life. Uh, because now not only do I have to try and, you know, make sure my team is the best team of this four-team league, but now I get to join an all-star team from our league and go on and take on other leagues all over the east coast. And that's just the kind of uh hilarity that I need to sign up for immediately.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

I just can't get it out of my head that like you show up one day, you've dropped 40 pounds. They get real mean. Hey, look at Kaz over there. What are you wearing a large? You dick? I'm over here wearing a freaking picnic blanket and you're wearing a large.

SPEAKER_03 9:09

Take a hidden hair, and shit guy. Oh, those carbs, no carbs.

SPEAKER_04 9:20

Detrimental to the program.

SPEAKER_03 9:22

So you sitting in the parking lot eating a salad. Was that dressing on the side? Did I see dressing on the side?

SPEAKER_02 9:31

Oh, you made it at home? It's not even ranch. Is that olive oil and some mustard seed? Get out of here, dude.

SPEAKER_04 9:39

Is that a vinaigrette? Hey, we're all going out for wings. Kaz, you in? Nah, man, I'm just gonna go home and make a salad.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Oh, God, you are so out of this league.

SPEAKER_04 9:53

We did go out for wings.

SPEAKER_03 9:57

We wrapped up one of our sessions and we all went out for, you know, celebration afterwards. There's 18 guys play fat guy soccer, all sitting at a high top table, splitting 12 orders of boneless wings. The sauce on the side. Just keep the pretzel bites coming. If we could say no to carbs, we wouldn't be here.

SPEAKER_02 10:27

We'd like uh we'd like those butter parmesan, hold the parmesan. Can the parmesan be cheese whiz?

SPEAKER_04 10:37

Oh, well, there's a picture of pizzas. Uh listen, kudos, kudos to all of that. That sounds awesome. I wish you the best of luck, but uh I think it's a great program.

SPEAKER_03 10:55

It's just really it's not without its irony, and it's all it's all very recognized and accepted with grace.

SPEAKER_04 11:03

Well, what are the I think is fantastic?

SPEAKER_02 11:05

Well, like what are the okay well it I I have to assume that there's some tongue-in-cheek involved here. So like are the team names funny? Oh yeah. Are there good teams?

SPEAKER_03 11:15

Oh yeah. There's and I'm not sure if this is like uh like a program thing where every you know you start out with the same four team names or whatever. Um and and I only I only know three of our team names. Uh the other team is just the blue team to me. Um, but our the the red team, which is the team I'm on, are the Merad Donuts. Um, and then the white team is Fatchester United, and then the green team uh are the Thickmans um with two C's. Uh and then there's the blue team. And I'm I'm sorry, blue team, I'll try and learn your name next season.

SPEAKER_04 11:51

The Thickmans.

SPEAKER_03 11:54

Yeah, they make t-shirts and everything. It's it's donuts.

SPEAKER_04 11:59

Maradonuts is such a deep cut, that's so good. Oh my god. Oh dear.

SPEAKER_03 12:10

So let's talk about changing the team names up for next season. I'll keep everybody posted because I think they want to be more creative. Good luck, bud. Yeah. Good luck.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

That's the merit donuts. Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 12:27

So in the spirit of competition and and in the vein of end of summer, you catch any of the Phillies games this weekend? It was a great weekend for some September baseball.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

It would have been even better if the Phillies had not split the series with the Braves and just, you know, basically it was a wash. We're still in the same place we were. But uh yeah, man, listen, it's gonna be a really fun last three weeks of the season. Um, the Phillies seem to be poised to make the playoffs at the very least uh in the wild card spot, but we're only a handful of games behind the Braves, and we got another three-game dust up with them here at the end of this week. And uh they seem like they're they seem like they're having fun. We talked about this ad nauseum in our our preseason baseball episode, or at least the the little conversation we had about baseball, where I was talking about the Phillies just don't seem to have any fun. And very recently, over the last, I don't know, four weeks or so, they've just seemed to kind of open up and and and get loose and enjoy themselves. And it's never more evident than it is on the bench when somebody does something heroic. Uh, I'm I'm thinking specifically Edmundo Sosa hits a grand slam against the Los Angeles Angels in the top of the ninth inning to put the Phil's up after being down two runs in the top of the ninth, and the entire bench went absolutely nuts. And I think that's what you need. I think that a team that's gonna make a deep run, and this is a very talented roster, but a team that's gonna make a deep run needs to be having a good time. And we talked about it a lot about how they just seemed very business-like and they seemed like they were just showing up to do their job. And it seems as though over the last few weeks they've shown up and remembered that they're playing a game, and they're playing a very fun game, and they're playing a very fun game at a very high level. And once you get into October, man, anything can happen. So I'm not gonna sit here and make any crazy predictions. I'm not gonna sit here and say that this is the team to beat or whatever. That's Jimmy Rollins' job. But um I listen, I just I've been enjoying watching them and and they've been they've been playing really well. And you know, let's uh let's see if we can't get another parade, man.

SPEAKER_03 14:39

See, and that's why I'm good with the 2-2 split, because I I do feel like I feel like the ones we lost, we were in it, right? Like to lose against Chris Sale is you know, it's gonna happen. That's why we play serieses and not single games, right? Because you gotta you gotta win four, you gotta win three, you gotta you gotta beat me more than once. So I'm I'm pretty good with I mean, yes, it would not it'd have been nice to it would have been nice to say to not split, obviously, to take the series, get a gain some ground, but I was kind of more afraid of a blowout. I I really didn't want Atlanta to show up and shine a giant light on all our weaknesses and walk out of here leaving us in the dust. Because I'm I'm with you, but I'm I'm starting to look back at the business like June and July as kind of necessary, as you know, a team putting in the grind, right? Like you you just gotta put up results at the end of 162. So yeah, you do you do see some of the contenders switch it on in September, right? You're you're seeing batting averages go up, you're seeing people take more balls, you're seeing games go down to the ninth inning more often. You know, you're you're not seeing a whole lot of, oh, well, we're gonna give up and just let our outfielder pitch because you know who cares about this one? Like games are starting to matter. And and I do, I think we're ready, and I think we look good. I I've there's a couple people that I'm not a hundred percent certain about, but if I was a hundred percent certain about anybody, then this wouldn't be any fun. So I just I I'd like to see it. I'd like to we can do it against Atlanta, we can do it against the Dodgers, we can do it against the Brewers. Like, let's let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

That's the thing, man. There's so many scary teams, especially in the National League. You know, the the Brewers are ridiculous. Uh the Dodgers obviously uh the Cubbies are making a really nice run right now. Uh the Braves have been strong all year. Uh, but I mean at the end of the day, I think the the most the thing I'm happy about the most is that the Mets continue to suck and their organization continues to be a dumpster fire. And for anybody here listening out there that is a Mets fan, suck it. Go fills.

SPEAKER_03 17:09

It's funny because a buddy of mine whose name is similarly Mad Cats, uh hosts a podcast in Philly, and he is a Mets fan, and and he that is probably the most the the thing that people want to discuss with him the most when they come on his podcast is how can you run a Philly podcast as a Mets fan? And it just it cracks me up every time because it just immediately derails all the conversation. It's like, what's your position on Philly's trash pickup situation? And they're like, you want to talk about trash pickup? Let's talk about the Mets in the offseason, and you just watch his face fall apart, and it's so great, it's it just makes me happy.

SPEAKER_02 17:52

How's that three-quarters of a billion dollars to Juan Soto treating you, you moron?

SPEAKER_03 18:01

All right, so let's handle some old business. Start season two off by putting a bow on some things from season one. Let's talk baseball movies, right? We're here. We're talking September. We're as baseballed out as we're gonna be, right? So let's let's keep this going. Let's keep the the initi the inertia and in yeah, inertia, right? That's that's a word, right?

SPEAKER_02 18:28

I enjoyed watching you get there.

SPEAKER_03 18:30

Yeah, my head tried to spell it and got stuck on the T, and then I was like, just use a different word. Inertia's fine. We're we're gonna go we're gonna keep that going. So, all right, so for those of you that weren't around for episode one, season one, you should definitely go back and start from the beginning. But what we are doing is we are making our own list of the 25 greatest sports movies of all time. And we decided as a podcast with the rest of our split the current split the corner universe to uh do this by sport.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

So we've already done basketball and football. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

And this will be baseball. That should put us at 15. Then we're gonna do a uh let's say have we figured out the last two? Is it is it hockey and miscellaneous?

SPEAKER_02 19:31

I believe we I think we did say hockey and miscellaneous, although we might have to we might have to just lump the last ten into a into a finite category of the rounder outers. But to your point, this has been something that we've been working on since January of last year, where we uh we found the 25 greatest sports movies of all time from the Hollywood Reporter and decided that they were wrong and felt the need to correct their mistakes. And thus far, I feel like even just doing 10 movies that we've gotten from football and basketball, I feel like we've done a far better job than they have.

SPEAKER_03 20:20

Oh yeah, significantly, significantly better foundation, and I feel I feel very ready to discuss baseball movies. I mean, I know we spent a lot of the summer sending baseball movie lists back and forth, and I've watched probably more baseball movies this summer than I've ever seen in my life. And I am I am ready to come up with a a consummate uh five. So there's there's a couple that I I'm not a hundred percent sure on. I'm I might lean on, you know, if if I can be sold one way or the other, but there are there are a couple hills I I would die on. So let's uh let's get this going.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

And just to catch everybody up, uh if you if maybe you missed our list to this point, uh our five movies for basketball and our five movies for football have been locked in as a podcast. We have agreed on these. There was some some debate that happened, but I think we we both came up with a list that we're we're happy with as the official split the corner football and basketball movies. And just to rerun through those, our five basketball movies are Hoosiers, Space Jam, Semi Pro, White Men Can't Jump, and He Got Game. For football, we've got Rudy, Remember the Titans, Any Given Sunday, Little Giants, and Waterboy. Caz. Still feeling good about that list, bud?

SPEAKER_03 21:53

I do. I have to remind myself on a regular basis that we're that we're trying to. Make a list of the best movies that represent those sports, not our favorite movies in those genres, right? Because I I do have I have a couple that I would watch over a couple of the ones that we put on the list, but it doesn't mean it's a better movie. I I do think we can still argue that our ten are I mean they're they're the best of each category. That's why they made the list, buddy.

SPEAKER_02 22:31

So as we are now kicking off the baseball movie portion, and I gotta tell you, this one has me more nervous than any of the preceding two, because there's just so many more baseball movies than there are any other uh movies about sports. It's just like it's like an ocean of movies about baseball. So to narrow it down to five is going to be pretty difficult, I think.

SPEAKER_03 23:04

Especially considering everybody's list puts everything in different orders. Like there doesn't seem to be a universal consensus of, you know, these are the best movies, and we have to, you know, we have to argue against it. Like you said, there's just there's so many, and and depending on where you come in, you know, where you come into the world, uh you could be looking at this from a completely different perspective. Um, so again, no documentaries has to be a a scripted, you know, written for the movies movie, can be based on a true story, but can't be a documentary. That's that's our that's our main rule here, right? And then we're going movies that we feel on a list of you know, one to five, these are the best baseball movies according to the split the corner podcast. Yes. Well said.

SPEAKER_02 24:18

Is there one movie in particular that you think is a no-brainer that cannot be left off the list, regardless of any argument that can be made for or against? What's what give me one that you think just makes the list without question?

SPEAKER_03 24:36

Uh league of their own.

SPEAKER_02 24:39

That is my number one. I agree wholeheartedly.

SPEAKER_03 24:44

I'm I think between uh between the cast and the and and the cultural relevance and the the Easter eggs and the novelty and just the the movie itself, the the acting, and and yeah, it's just a fantastic it's a fantastic watch anytime it's on.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

And it Tom Hanks at his most Tom Hanks.

SPEAKER_03 25:10

And it captures the heart of baseball, of what it means to be a ball player. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 25:17

Absolutely. And it's done, it's done so well. Like the action on the field is portrayed so well. In so many different movies, whether it be football or baseball or whatever, the one thing that always pisses me off more than anything is when you can tell that an actor can't throw, where they, you know, they they have this weird arm motion where it's limp wristd or like the elbow is out to the side or whatever, and then it's and then all of a sudden the ball goes 50 yards or the it's a 99 mile an hour strike or whatever. You don't have that in this movie. You can tell that these women actually went out there and they trained their asses off and they all came across as actual ball players. The throws look good, the swings looked good. I mean, it's it's little things, man. It's like if you're if you're not a baseball fan, you might not notice those little things, but we're baseball fans. And for us to agree that, yeah, that movie has to be on this list. I mean, they did everything the right way. Not to mention, you know, let's just take out, take out the the storytelling, take out the the emotional aspects of the film altogether and just look at it from a baseball perspective. You're looking at dugout dynamics, you're looking at clubhouse dynamics, you're looking at how players react on the field to messing up or to doing well, or how they support one another during you know, slumps or struggles or whatever, or how coaches talk to their players. I mean, it was just from top to bottom. It's just an excellent movie and an excellent interpretation of baseball, just top to bottom.

SPEAKER_03 26:59

So the only other the only other hill that I think I would die on in terms of if this isn't on the list, it's not a it's not an official list, uh, is the sandlot. I I don't think you can have a list of baseball movies without putting the sandlot on it. I I think the sandlot, um which Rotten Tomatoes put it like number 40. Um I I think the Sandlot again is is the heart of baseball.

SPEAKER_02 27:34

Wait, there's 39 baseball movies that are better than the Sandlot?

SPEAKER_03 27:38

Their list included documentaries. And like I said, I've been down a couple of these rabbit holes, and you know, once I once I found this list of you know the top 10, and then I was like, alright, I watched those, so show me a top 15. And Rotten Tomatoes has a top, I want to say 67 baseball movies. Um it's a it's a hell of a list. Uh like I didn't know Angels in the Outfield was a remake.

SPEAKER_02 28:08

Really?

SPEAKER_03 28:09

Yeah. Original came out in 1951. I didn't know that either. But yeah, and that's that's speaking of honorable mentions, Angels in the Outfield had an unreal cast. Yeah. The one that came through our era, um, which is weird that I have to say that because I didn't even know it was a thing, uh, was just a star-studded collection of people that had no business being in a kid's movie. And man, are we all glad they did. Um, but still, low hokey. I don't I don't think it can I don't think it can make your top five. I don't what was that?

SPEAKER_02 28:47

That was uh McConaughey, Matthew McConaughey's in that.

SPEAKER_03 28:50

Yeah, Danny Glover, Christopher Lloyd, Adrian Brody.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

Adrian Brody, that's the one, yeah. Just a it's a great movie. Like it was it's good. I watched it with my kids like a year ago, and I to your point, yeah, a little hokey. But I think that's what separates the sandlot. The sandlot's not hokey. The sandlot is is real believable, I guess is the word I want to use. It's a very uh very real interpretation, I guess. And it's all heart, yeah, yeah. All heart. It's about the love of the game. Yeah, I think that that's something, especially in today's day and age where we might not even have baseball next year because the players' association and the owners can't get on the same page, and we might not get baseball next year, which is bullshit, I might add. But to have a film that just says it's just a game, but it's the game, you know, it's from again, your phenomenal choice, and I agree wholeheartedly. Yeah, I quote that movie regularly.

SPEAKER_03 29:56

I think we all do. Yeah, I I think that movie captured a moment in time, even for people that never got to live that moment in time. You know, I I didn't I didn't ride my bike to the sand lot and then in the hot summer days go to the pool all by myself. And you know, like I didn't have that, but I wanted that.

SPEAKER_00 30:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:19

You know, and and that movie showed me what it would be like if I had had that. So it you know, it was it was it was so well done. It's so well put together that it you just you can't not it's why we're still referencing it. You know, like it's why those characters are still relevant. You know, we're we're not we're not still talking about you know some of these some of these people that starred in other baseball movies. We are still talking about the kids from the sandlock. You know, MLB is still paying tribute to it, you know, in in in the seventh inning show of the special game when everybody comes out on their bicycles with the with the sparklers and all that. So I you know it's still very relevant.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

What's the most quotable line from that movie?

SPEAKER_03 31:14

Oh, it's gotta be you're killing me, Smalls.

SPEAKER_02 31:16

Yeah. I say that to my children, I say it to my dog. It's on the wife. Yeah. It all it also really did make me want to wear a pair of PF flyers, but uh it turns out that my feet are too wide or they're too narrow or something. I could never get my foot to fit in one of those things. So who knows what my potential speed was in them because I I never was able to find out. So uh, you know, missed opportunities.

SPEAKER_03 31:51

I I've jumped many a fence for a ball, but I've never pickled a beast. Me neither.

SPEAKER_02 31:56

That's oh man, I might have to watch that before I go to bed.

SPEAKER_03 32:00

It's such a great movie.

SPEAKER_02 32:03

All right. Um, so we've got two. I mean, this is this has gone well so far. What about uh Field of Dreams?

SPEAKER_03 32:13

I love Field of Dreams. Does Field of Dreams have enough baseball in it?

SPEAKER_01 32:27

So we're going back to the draft day debate.

SPEAKER_03 32:33

I mean, uh you could probably put it in there just for the James Earl Jones speech on baseball when he's talking about why people will come, and oh, they'll come, Ray, they'll come. They won't know why. And he gives the whole they'll find themselves driving to Iowa. Like you could put it in there just for that. The iconic baseball players walking out from the field, the concept of playing catch with your dad. Like I the feel again, the field of dreams game when you know the MLB is doing it, and they did two whole innings of debating whether it's play catch or half a catch, all because of this movie.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

Where do you fall in that debate?

SPEAKER_03 33:25

I don't know, I can go either way.

SPEAKER_02 33:27

I was gonna say it's not that it's not that deep. I don't know how you get two innings or the material on the case.

SPEAKER_03 33:32

I feel like you have a catch with your dad, you play catch with your friends. Yeah, that's you know, like I feel like it could be a vase vase thing. Like it's not real, they're they're different things. Like a crick in a creek, they're different things. Not different, different things, you know it when you see it, right? Like if you fall into a crick and go home, you're some sort of way, versus if you fall into a creek and then go home. Okay, actually there's people out there that are with me on this.

SPEAKER_02 34:03

I've never heard it explained that way, but it makes a lot of sense. You know what? We talked about this during the during the initial run through of the of the of the original 25 greatest sports movies from the Hollywood Reporter, and and I don't believe I recall Field of Dreams being on there. And I caused quite a stir. And I would be remiss if we didn't put it on. I think I think what it does is while we're going back to the draft day debate, and for those of you who need to get caught up on that, I thought draft day was a wonderful interpretation or representation rather of a side of football that doesn't get talked about a lot, and Kaz very wrongly thought that it didn't belong on the list because it didn't have enough football in it, and it's a business movie, right? Well, we'll get to that about baseball here in just a moment, I'm sure. But the thing is, does the nostalgia factor does the uh not the nostalgia for us personally as as fans of the movie, as people who have watched the movie, but does the nostalgia factor and what that movie is meant to represent maybe there isn't a nine-inning baseball game played, but uh if the entire movie revolves around baseball as a concept and as what it means between father and son, or uh you know, uh generationally what it means, like does that does that count towards baseball?

SPEAKER_03 35:49

My issue, I don't think, is as much whether or not it it's gonna fall into enough baseball. My issue is that we get five and and a league of their own and the sandlot are set in stone for me. They're they're too perfect, especially when you look at them together as like uh this one is a historical, cultural, you know, and and then this one is kind of kid friendly, but at the same time tugging on the heartstrings of the yesteryear. It's just that field of dreams, when you start looking at some of the other movies on this list, field of dreams is the one that gets a little bit of a wiggle to it. You know, like it's it's the one that I'm I'm not losing League of Their Own, I'm not losing Sandlock, but uh there are a couple things I I might I might be talked into kicking Field of Dreams off for. And we only have three spots left.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

Okay, so there's a lot of movies floating around. Let's put a pin in Field of Dreams, which is not something I thought I would ever say. And give me another one.

SPEAKER_03 37:06

Major League.

SPEAKER_02 37:09

Yeah, that goes on. Yeah, 100% that goes on.

SPEAKER_03 37:14

It it's it's the quintessential you know, how many times how many times has someone thrown something that didn't go where it was supposed to go, and a whole generation of people goes a little outside. You know, like it it's it's quotable, it you know, run like Maze, play like Hayes, like it, it's it's just and it's a fantastic movie all the way through.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

And it gives you such an insider kind of glimpse into like it humanizes baseball players. I feel like a lot of baseball movies have a tendency to put like godlike stances on their players. Like it makes your your your baseball players seem like they are outside of the realm of of humanity based on their ability to hit a ball with a stick. And a league of or excuse me, major league does such a great job of humanizing them and showing them as flaw as flawed characters, as flawed individuals who happen to play ball.

SPEAKER_03 38:22

Well, and and emphasizing the importance of the team, right? Right? You're not talking about one of these movies where it's about how big of a superstar this guy is and how his skill alone is gonna revolutionize the game. It's about doing the one thing that you do well, well, and letting the team together do all of those things, right? Willie Mays Hayes is not allowed to hit line drives or pop-ups. If it's not on the ground, he's doing push-ups, right? Charlie Sheen gets new glasses halfway through the game because they realize he's been blind the whole damn time. Like it, yeah, it's about you know, we are flawed individuals, but if we focus on the thing that we're good at, our team can accomplish great things. And I I think it's a fantastic message.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

Yeah. I yeah, I'm not gonna say no to Major League. That's a that's a movie that I can put on at any time and be it's like the first time every time, you know. That movie's just and I remember what I remember watching that on it was on Comedy Central a lot when I was a kid, so like it was very watered down, and then I remember watching it for the first time and like uncensored and being like, oh wow, there's a there's a lot more to this than I anticipated. But yeah, major league 100 has to go on on that list. How about 42?

SPEAKER_03 39:42

I was just gonna say we have two spots left. Should we run through the bajillion movies that have to fit into these two spots?

SPEAKER_00 39:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:56

All right, I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna shout out some highlights of some things that we haven't said yet, and we're gonna we're gonna see if these ring any sorts of bells. Uh, do you remember the movie Ed with Matt LeBlanc and the monkey? I'm not putting that on the list, but you know, shout out to you know the bottom of the list. It was the late 90s. Matt LeBlanc made a made a monkey baseball movie, so that's the thing. Um Summer Catch, Freddie Prince Jr., Jessica Beale, Matthew Lillard.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

I remember that one, yeah. It's a good movie. Little little little teen romance for you.

SPEAKER_03 40:37

Kind of that like varsity blues meets baseball vibe, right? Uh bench warmers. David Spade, Rob Schneider, John Hader, John Lovitz.

SPEAKER_00 40:46

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 40:47

Yeah, I again I don't know that that's on there, but man, are there a lot of these movies? Uh Beer League, Artie Lang, Ralph Macchio.

SPEAKER_02 40:56

That movie is so freaking funny. Dude, that it that oh man, I forgot about that movie. If you've never seen Beer League, go find it. Don't let your kids be in the room while you're doing it. But my god, is that movie phenomenally hilarious?

SPEAKER_03 41:15

And if you don't agree, maybe lighten up a little.

SPEAKER_02 41:18

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 41:19

The Scout, Brendan Fraser, Albert Brooks. Great movie. This is one of those movies that I will say is one of my favorite baseball movies, but I can't commit it to being one of the best baseball movies.

SPEAKER_02 41:35

I agree with that sentiment.

SPEAKER_03 41:36

Like it gets whatever, it gets like a different color sticker. Um, Little Big League. I watched that a lot as a kid. Um here's an interesting one because uh it falls back into the is it a baseball movie conversation. Brewster's millions.

SPEAKER_01 41:56

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03 41:56

Richard Pryor, John Candy, he inherits a bajillion dollars if he can spend a million dollars without receipts or whatever, and he plays plays for some baseball team, or is it in Newark or something like that, where the train goes through the outfield. But I again I don't know that that's necessarily a baseball movie.

SPEAKER_02 42:17

I I would not consider that a baseball movie, but but it's a good one.

SPEAKER_03 42:22

Alright, here's a contender. Rookie of the year. I believe that that one is absolutely a contender. Um thoughts on basketball?

SPEAKER_02 42:40

See, we brought it up.

SPEAKER_03 42:41

We didn't put it in a basketball movie.

SPEAKER_02 42:43

We brought it up during basketball movies, but it it's it maybe in the miscellaneous category because it's not necessarily baseball, it's not necessarily basketball.

SPEAKER_03 42:56

I still feel like it's not gonna make it, but I think we need to bring it up as often as possible because I freaking love that movie.

SPEAKER_02 43:02

I love that movie too, dude. Well, hold on. Let's okay, rookie of the year, strong contender, I agree with you, but it's a strong contender in the way that Little Bigley is a strong contender. Like, I don't think I don't know if I could pick either one because I think they both represent baseball very well, but just in different ways. Because it's essentially the same movie.

SPEAKER_03 43:28

But no, I I no, I you didn't have a whole lot of people trying to pretend like they were the kid from Little Big League. You did have a whole bunch of kids trying to be Henry Robin Boozer, Ragamonhozer, Gardenhoser, what is it?

SPEAKER_02 43:46

Henry Rowan Gardner.

SPEAKER_03 43:48

So I I definitely think of that, like of that generation of uh of of displaced youth saved by baseball I think rookie of the year has to be the the the torch bearer. I I think.

SPEAKER_02 44:06

I don't know, man. Because little big league, it shows again, it shows a different side of the game. It shows it shows situational baseball at its finest. But a a nerd like me, a baseball nerd like me, is going to enjoy that kind of stuff. And maybe you're right. I wasn't out there trying to to to to interpret where the shift should be on a on a traditional pole hitter, but I don't know. I it's tough.

SPEAKER_03 44:35

So you would rather have been the little kid that inherits the ability to set the lineup than the little kid that inherits the ability to throw 120 miles an hour.

SPEAKER_02 44:44

I didn't say that. I'm just saying there are parts of me that enjoyed little big league for what it was.

SPEAKER_03 44:53

Alright, I got another contender for you. Hit me. Hardball. And I and I only put it in there, and I I think there could be an argument maybe that maybe that when you say hardball, what you're actually saying is bad news bears. And that hardball is just kind of an extension of that. I mean, I know, I know we're gonna have that conversation when it comes time to talk mighty ducks, but you know, there was an archetype to you know, a uh a disorderly adult that's that's sent to wrangle a bunch of you know uh a bunch of rowdy kids. I feel like I used a lot of R's in that. Um and I think if you know now's the time to tip the hat to Walter Mathow if if we're gonna acknowledge that entire genre.

SPEAKER_02 45:55

It's a good interpretation of baseball, it's a good representation of baseball, but I don't think that it's better than a couple of the ones that I like like 42, for example. I mean, if you take that without the the I mean, I don't think you can, but I mean if you look at it strictly from a baseball standpoint and not necessarily like the story of uh of a baseball pioneer, I mean it's a great representation of the game. It showed uh Jackie for uh all his skill and ability and what he had to go through. It makes the Phillies look terrible, but uh it is uh it's an I mean, dude, it's a spectacular movie, it really is.

SPEAKER_03 46:43

It's one of those that I don't know what to do with. Yeah, you know, it it's sitting at five or six, depending on you know, like I could go either way. Um can we can we pause for a second and and say if we're saying yes to field of dreams, can that be it for Kevin Costner? Because he's in like nine baseball movies. I feel like he's just like they needed a guy that looked like baseball, and they would just pick Kevin Costner. I mean, he's in Bull Durham, he's in Field of Dreams, he's in for the love of the game. He just like every time you look up, he's playing another baseball guy.

SPEAKER_02 47:28

He does look like a like a grizzled, gnarly minor leaguer, like a career minor leaguer.

SPEAKER_04 47:35

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:36

He he a hundred percent looks like the guy that maybe sniffed the the show for a cup of coffee and then came back or whatever. He's just a career triple Air.

SPEAKER_03 47:48

He had a special pitch that they outlawed, and that's right. That was it for him.

SPEAKER_02 47:53

That's right. His knees went as a catcher. Isn't that isn't that bullderham basically? Anyway, I'll tell you one one that I have a hard time not putting on the list is maybe a little bit surprising, but uh trouble with the curve. Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake about scouting baseball players essentially. I think what I now we could get back into the debate is there enough baseball in it, but I think there's plenty of baseball in this movie, and I think what it does above show just baseball. I think what it does is it shows the romantic the romantic side of the game. The the win the not whimsical, like the the the part of the game that makes baseball unlike any other sport, you know, because Clint Eastwood in that movie his character is a baseball scout and he's starting to lose his sight, so he's not able to see very well. But he talks about hearing the pop of the catcher's glove from a guy throwing a fastball. And to me, that's just such a beautiful interpretation of what baseball actually is. You don't need to see it to appreciate it, you don't need to see it to understand what it is that makes somebody better at it than other people. You can hear it, you know. And what I've just I love that movie for those reasons that it that it shows you the romanticism that baseball can provide. And it's unlike anything else we've talked about. I think you know, to put something like that on the list is to put something on the list that that doesn't necessarily check the boxes like uh in a dark red pen, maybe like we wanted, but I think it shows a side of the game that that needs to be discussed, needs to be talked about.

SPEAKER_03 49:46

Yeah, and I I never thought I would end up looking at it this way, but I feel like Trouble with the Curve is my money ball. I I I agree, and it wasn't until I heard you explain it that it it's it's a movie that that shows the love affair of baseball being a unique thing. Right? Like it's not like other sports because you know you you can have these sensory experiences with it, and you know, it's not like you can tell a a good basketball shooter by the sound the ball makes when it goes through the net, you know, but you you can tell velocity by the pop of the ball against the leather. And and I think Moneyball does a very similar thing for me in that it shows the numbers behind it and how the math can be manipulated to you know to to find ways forward. And I think we there is a deeper discussion that I would love to have on another episode as to are there other sports that could be moneyballed, and how um, because I do believe that is something that is strongly uh almost completely unique to baseball, in that you can you can look at it in such a way that it can be quantified to be mathematically driven.

SPEAKER_02 51:15

So I but without losing heart or without losing what makes it great. You sit there and you know you talk about the math of it. And I mean, I think one of the things about baseball has more statistics kept that make no sense at all, even to somebody like me, dude. Any if you I don't know if you've gone down any of these advanced metric uh things, like if you've looked into any of them, I mean, a lot of them don't make any sense. It's this plus this plus this divided by that equals this, and it accounts for this, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But even with all of the statistics that are kept, the ridiculous ones, it's like this is this guy's hit three home runs off of left-handed pitchers on Thursdays when the pitcher had a mustache that didn't extend past the corners of his mouth or blah, blah, blah. I mean, those are the kinds of things that people keep an eye on. But moneyball doesn't necessarily lose the what makes baseball great. Like, yeah, they're using statistics to to improve their team, but it's still it's still got the heart, it's still got the grit, it's still got the the things that have made baseball America's pastime for the last hundred plus years. And I I don't know if you could do that with another sport. I I really don't.

SPEAKER_03 52:34

I think that's for another episode, because I I think I think mathematicians live for that statement of like you couldn't do that with math, and then off they go to their little whiteboards. Um with their I I do think you know, I I do think money ball is is my trouble with the curve. Um do either of them get the fourth spot?

SPEAKER_02 52:59

I don't know, because here we are talking about this, but we like there there's the natural, there's the rookie, there's 61, there's 42, there's Mr. 3000. Mr. 3000. Oh, I forgot about that. Mr. 3000 pitch, fever pitch. I mean, the fact of the matter is this is an episode that could go on for days, but I think what we need to do is we need to bear down and we need to figure this out. We've got two slots, and I think I don't know if we I oh I don't know, dude. I don't know how do you get to how do you do it? What do we still have? There's so many more.

SPEAKER_03 53:45

All right, so and I don't know if you've seen this one, but there there are two movies that I that I think again deserve serious consideration for one of these last two spots. The first one is Eight Men Out with John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd about the gambling world series of 1919. Um I'm I'm not a million percent on that one though, uh, because I'm not a hundred percent sure I I love the depiction of the baseball players in the movie.

SPEAKER_02 54:25

I don't think you're supposed to.

SPEAKER_03 54:26

Um the the one that I that I think goes on my list, and I and I think if you haven't seen it, I need you to see it before you can dispute it, uh, is the Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings. Um this is one of the most fun baseball movies that I've watched in a long time, and it's Billy D. Williams, James Earl Jones, and Richard Pryor. And they are a team of traveling barnstormers who you know like to go out and party and play fancy baseball. And I think with the rise of what we are currently calling banana ball, I think this movie should absolutely have a resurgence of you know what trick plays and what all of this used to look like back in the day. I've I think for my fourth spot, uh, for split the corners fourth spot, I think I I have to champion Bingo Long and the Traveling All-Stars.

SPEAKER_02 55:36

Okay. Okay. I'm not gonna. I think you're right, man. I think it also it it it's a it's a it shows another side of the game, too, you know getting into the Negro leagues and and what that league meant for baseball as a whole, and how the the league got better, major league baseball as a whole got better when the Negro League was was incorporated in. And yeah, I think I'd have a hard time arguing against that. So I will I will absolutely put that in the fourth spot.

SPEAKER_03 56:21

Now I would like to to throw some baseball history movies out there. Um I recently watched the Stratton story, which is a Jimmy Stewart movie. Um it was a uh he was a he was a pitcher who loses his leg in a hunting accident. Um I watched it happens every spring, which was pretty good, but again, you know, a baseball crashes through the window, and and then stuff ensues. Same thing with Pride of the Yankees. I thought Pride of the Yankees was very good. Gary Cooper um Gary Cooper did a fantastic job as Lou Gehrig, and I feel like that movie did exactly what it was supposed to do. Uh, the Yankees playing themselves as a tribute to Lou Gehrig was a fantastic touch. Um, the other one I watched was Take Me Out to the Ball Game, which is a Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, 1949. Um that one ain't a baseball movie. It's just it's just not. It's not a baseball movie. There are ex-baseball players that like that like want to be vaudeville stars, so when they retire, they go be vaudeville stars.

SPEAKER_00 57:43

There you go.

SPEAKER_03 57:44

So yeah, I yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:46

All right movie.

SPEAKER_03 57:47

I enjoyed the hell out of it, but I'm not putting it on the top five list of baseball movies all time.

SPEAKER_02 57:54

So we've only got the one spot. We've got one spot left. We've got it one left, and to be honest with you, at this point, after everything that we've gone through, after everything that we've talked about, I think that we're just gonna have to what's the best one? I mean, fever pitch, you could make an argument for fever pitch because it's about fandom, it's about baseball fandom, and about how baseball fandom I think exists outside of the realm of other fandoms, maybe European soccer, but baseball fandom exists in a different realm than other fandoms, so you can make that argument, you could make the argument for 61 because you're talking about the uh uh mantle and and and uh well I enjoyed the hell out of 61.

SPEAKER_03 58:49

I I think of all the movies that I watched this summer, as far as baseball movies, I Roger Maris.

SPEAKER_02 58:58

My god, why did it take me so long to figure remember that? Roger Maris and Mickey Manil.

SPEAKER_03 59:03

61 really stuck out to me as as really well done, really well put together, a fantastic story. Um, it was well cast, well acted, well directed, Billy Crystal. Like it was that's that's the one I would that has probably pun intended come out of left field most for me. Is movies that I had never heard of three months ago that are now knocking on the door of my top five, I would have to put that one there.

SPEAKER_02 59:37

See, for me, for me, it's gonna come down to either that one or 42. I think they both I think they they exist in the same world where they're showing not only the game, but they're showing the the stresses that the game takes on players, the pressure of the game. And I think what it boils down to is which of those two is a better representation of the game.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:13

And are either of them worth kicking Field of Dreams off for? Because now we're at Sandlot, League of Their Own, Field of Dreams, Bingo Long, Major League. This is what I'm saying, this is why Field of Dreams for me is oddly the one on the bubble. Or do or are we just done?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:45

If it's down to those three. Because it was not only are we talking about a great representation of the game, but we're also talking about the moment that the game changed. The biggest change the game ever saw is that movie. And I think you'd be hard-pressed to find something that interpreted something that monumental again. So if it's if it's my money, I'm saying 42.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:34

So does Field of Dreams replace Major League? No. Ah, you got me, dude. The bubble. The bubble. So after everything we've been through, and you thought this episode wouldn't be dramatic. After everything we've been through, the split the corner podcast, top five baseball movies, does not include Field of Dreams. You you got in my head, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:06

You got in my head, and I'm I I I don't think I can disagree with you on it. I think 42 is a better representation of baseball. I'm not saying it's a better movie. I think Field of Dreams is a better movie, but I think that 42 is a is is more relevant to our terms and conditions.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:31

Field of Dreams is a better movie about baseball. 42 is a better baseball movie. Yes. I mean, I know it feels like we're splitting hairs, but there has to be a way to put words to it to make it make sense.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:51

Are you disagreeing with me?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:53

No, no, and I'm I'm the one that said that this might have been an issue, and and here we are looking at the issue. But again, what do you what do you move? You know, like okay, maybe, maybe by the time we're putting 25 together, maybe there's a all right, field of dreams instead of cool runnings. I but again, damn, does that sound like a debate I'm not looking forward to having?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:28

And how are we gonna get Bobsledding represented if we don't put cool runnings on the movies?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:33

But in some 25 and go, because this is this is a strong outlier. You know, like we left a couple movies off in basketball, sure, we left a couple off in football, but are we locking it in? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:52

Oh man. I feel I feel a certain type of way, but I don't think we're wrong.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:06

Yeah, yeah. I feel like this is gonna be one of those moments where it's like, put down the pitchforks and hear us out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:14

So split the corner has come to an agreement. Our five baseball movies that are going to make the top 25 greatest sports movies of all time are a league of their own, the Sandlot, Major League, the Bingo Long, Traveling All-Stars, and Motor Kings, and 42. Locked in.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:46

Add that to semi-pro, space jam, Hoosiers, White Men Can't Jump, He Got Game, Rudy, Remember the Titans, Any Given Sunday, Little Giants, and Waterboy. And that's our 15 so far, with the last 10 coming from soccer and hockey and everything else.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:09

For those of you following along at home, before we break for Christmas this year in season two, we will have our 25 movies done, locked in, and then we're going to put them in order. And just judging by these past three episodes where we've talked about this, that is going to be one tall order.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:37

Can't wait. Can't wait. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's done. I'm we're already seeing you know, uh a pattern to the way we pick our fives. We're we're already seeing, you know, overlap in in people that are gonna end up in more than one category. So I'm I'm excited. I can't wait to see how this fills out.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:59

And I can't wait for the rest of season two. It just feels so good to be back, man. We're back, baby. Yes, sir. For those of you who might be tuning in for the first time, Split the Corner will be dropping every Tuesday right around noonish on the eastern side of the United States. And please feel free to reach out to us, email us at split the corner podcast at gmail.com. Get a hold of us on all the social medias. It's all split the corner podcast.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:36

We will figure out social media this season. That is we will we will do our absolute best. We thank you for bearing with us. Um we suck at this. Uh, and and we're we're just happy we've made it this far. So, you know, if if you can help in any way, shape, or form, reach out, please.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:59

For those of you who listened over the summer and kept kept us in your minds, we appreciate you. We are looking forward to coming at you each and every week. And as always, the next round is among us. Cheers, everybody.