Texas Rangers: Sport DFW’s Top-5 Baseball Movies

Mar 13, 2017; Surprise, AZ, USA; Overall view of fans in the grandstands of Surprise Stadium during a Cactus League spring training game between the San Francisco Giants against the Texas Rangers. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 13, 2017; Surprise, AZ, USA; Overall view of fans in the grandstands of Surprise Stadium during a Cactus League spring training game between the San Francisco Giants against the Texas Rangers. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 7, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Fans reach for a foul ball during the first inning of game two of the 2016 ALDS playoff baseball series between the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 7, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Fans reach for a foul ball during the first inning of game two of the 2016 ALDS playoff baseball series between the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 4: The Natural, 1984

Robert Redford, Glenn Close and Kim Basinger star in a classic baseball film about Roy Hobbs, a “natural” baseball talent who fell away from the game early. He later attempts a comeback at the age of 35 but his owner wants to see them tank.

The film features one of Randy Newman’s best soundtracks, which won a Grammy that year and was nominated for an Academy Award. Texas Rangers fans will recognize the track, “The Final Game,” which blares throughout Globe Life Park any time a Ranger homers.

It also received three other Oscar nominations and remains one if the best baseball films ever made. That’s why Robert Redford will always be “Roy Hobbs” first and foremost to me.

— Stephen Francis