TOM HANKS starred in “A League of their Own (Columbia Pictures).

We’re still in the “fantasy phase” of the 2024 Major League Baseball season in which everything – good or bad – is still possible.

The Astros – as of Monday’s games – are in last and the Angels are at .500. Who woulda believed it?

Which leads us to a favorite reverie of hardball fans: which is the greatest baseball movie of all time?

Honest fanatics may disagree, but here’s my list.

1. “A League of their Own.” Even though it’s about “girls” baseball, it has universal appeal for its amusing and heartfelt treatment of gender, race and family issues. It also contains the joys of Madonna playing baseball and the greatest quote of all: “There’s no crying in baseball” from Tom Hanks.
2. “Bull Durham.” It’s been said that Kevin Costner acts his best with a bat in his hands, and this film is near the best. A sympathetic treatment of athletes (and others) who never quite reach their potential and a tribute to “the church of baseball.”
3. “Damn Yankees” … whoa, that’s a surprise, right? A musical? But baseball is a lot about dreaming of magical (or devilish) success. What would you give to be a superstar for your favorite team? Plus there’s the dancing of Gwen Verdon for those with no interest in the hit-and-run play.
4. “Pride of the Yankees” may seem a little dated and sentimental today, but Gary Cooper evokes Lou Gehrig as we hope he was … a modest and kind hero. His screen romance with Teresa Wright was sigh-making and his farewell address heart-breaking. And it even has a cameo by the real Babe Ruth.
5. “The Natural.” Robert Redford is theoretically the star of this movie about a baseball player trying to make it in the twilight of his career, but the eye is drawn mostly to Glenn Close, the “right girl” for any man in crisis. And there’s a sniffle-worthy closing scene.