One of our favorite baseball movies is The Natural from 1984 starring Robert Redford as the fictional player Roy Hobbs. Truly an inspirational film and one that even a non-baseball fan would love. We remember this iconic film, since we feel it accurately juxtaposes the love of the game from the BP, many fans, and we hope, most modern day player’s viewpoint against the greed of the owners and the league.
Spoiler alert: the scenes we plucked from the internet might ruin the movie for those who have never seen it. If so, then we strongly recommend you watch it first before viewing the clips below.
For anyone who has previously seen The Natural or just doesn’t care about potentially spoiling their experience, here are a couple of clips that convey how BP and many fans view the game vs the owner’s sheer appetite for wealth.
We will let the clips speak for themselves.
“God I Love Baseball”
“I Think You’re a Loser”
The Natural obviously over romanticizes the game (it is after all a movie for crying out loud!), but our belief is that the film works so well since those who love baseball (players and fans alike) truly can relate to the main character. On the other hand, the callousness of owners to make money beyond anything else is how they came to the decision to desecrate the history of the game with the rule changes in recent years. What we see today is a league run simply to maximize profits rather than acting as stewards and protectors of the great game of baseball. The only measurement of success by both owners and the mass media of the sport is in terms of dollars. Every obscene rule change is deemed valid as long as it increases attendance and viewership. It is not hard to believe that the owners, who put making money above the integrity of the game, would ever think to utter the words in their lifetime, “God I love baseball”.
Where is Roy Hobbs to save us today when we truly need him!!
Baseball Purist 
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