Every Kevin Costner Baseball Movie, Ranked

If there are two things that are synonymous with Kevin Costner's cinematic legacy, it's cowboy hats and home runs. While he's starred in a diverse range of projects throughout the years, he's particularly fond of Westerns and sports movies, with the latter mostly centering around baseball. As of this writing, the actor has starred in four baseball flicks, narrated a documentary about the game, and played a retired baseball player in the 2005 rom-com-drama "The Upside of Anger," so it's safe to say that he's a fan of the sport.

Of course, Costner is the perfect actor to recruit for any baseball-related entertainment. Prior to becoming Hollywood's ultimate dad actor, he pursued a career in the sport, but those dreams were scuppered after his Cal State Fullerton coaches dropped him from the team — a decision that ultimately led to Costner taking acting classes and finding his true calling.

Despite not getting to swing bats for a living, some of Costner's best movies are love letters to baseball. Then again, one of his worst flicks also revolves around the sport, but we won't hold that against him. So, without further ado, here is the definitive ranking of Costner's baseball films.

Kevin Costner has starred in two baseball movies with "dreams" in the title, one of which is a bona fide classic, and the other is "Chasing Dreams." Directed by Therese Conte and Sean Roche, this forgotten cheapie tells the story of Gavin (David J. Brown), a struggling teenager whose family and farm commitments interfere with his newfound college baseball pursuits.

The promotional assets for "Chasing Dreams" depict a young Costner's smiling face at the front and center, but don't let that fool you. The "Dances with Wolves" star is only in the movie for a few seconds, with his character giving Gavin a pep talk before he embarks on his coming-of-age journey. The end.

"Chasing Dreams" is a bad movie, albeit the fun kind where the filmmakers earnestly tried to make an emotional drama only to end up with an unintentional comedy. The dialogue is hokey, the performances are stiff, and the baseball scenes aren't exactly home runs. Calling it a Costner movie is also a stretch, but he is technically part of the ensemble — even if he probably wants to forget about it.

These days, Sam Raimi is mostly known for his early-career "Evil Dead" movies and "Spider-Man" movies, the latter of which catapulted him into the mainstream forever. During the 1990s, however, he made a slew of underrated films in a variety of genres — "Darkman," "The Quick and the Dead," "A Simple Plan," etc. — and one of them was a Kevin Costner baseball movie.

"For Love of the Game" has Costner playing Billy Chapel, an aging Detroit Tigers pitcher with a troubled love life. He isn't good at romance, and his on-again, off-again squeeze, Jane Aubrey (Kelly Preston), is leaving him, so Billy decides to step up to the plate. Not only does he want to reconcile with Jane, but he also sets out to have the perfect game in what could be his last ever. Thus begins a romantic story that harbors just as much affection for baseball as it does for ordinary human love, with the story switching between relationship flashbacks and a high-stakes sporting competition.

"For Love of the Game" is as mushy and corny as it sounds, but there isn't anything wrong with that — it's a sweet, feel-good flick that tugs at the heartstrings. What's more, it boasts some incredibly well-shot baseball sequences, which go a long way in movies of this ilk. It's an outlier in Raimi's filmography, but it deserves to be rediscovered.

Kevin Costner's baseball movies aren't really about baseball. The sport merely provides a backdrop for stories about love, existentialism, and humanity. That's also the case with "Bill Durham," the Ron Shelton-directed romantic comedy that helped solidify Costner as an A-lister in the 1980s.

Similar to "For Love of the Game," this one sees Costner portray a baseball veteran who's past his prime and craving love. His titular character is a mainstay of the minor leagues who gets assigned the task of teaching "Nuke" Laloosh (Tim Robbins) — a talented rookie pitcher who needs some guidance — how to better himself before he squanders his opportunities. Elsewhere, Susan Sarandon plays Annie Savoy, a groupie who likes hooking up with a different baseball player every year, but could Bill be the one she decides to finally settle down with?

"Bill Durham" is a fun romantic comedy that shines a light on the underdogs, which only adds to its charms as its characters are minnows who haven't been changed by fame and fortune. However, it's clearly made by people who appreciate baseball, and while the film is about more than that, it still works as an exciting sports flick. Come for the home runs, and stay for the romance and laughter.

"Field of Dreams" is one of the best baseball movies ever made. Period. Heck, it's also one of the best sports movies out there and an all-time great sentimental tearjerker. Written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson, it follows Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner), a struggling farmer who is inspired by ghostly voices to build a baseball diamond on his land. Shortly after, the ghosts of several baseball legends show up to play the great game, which is more interesting than harvesting crops, right?

By featuring real-life players like "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) and "Moonlight Graham" (Burt Lancaster) among its ghostly characters, "Fields of Dreams" is a fairy tale that celebrates the history of the sport that inspired it. However, it's also a movie about longing for the innocence of childhood and simpler times, with baseball representing a period of Ray's life where he still had dreams and optimism. That's a feeling most people can relate to in some way, and it's a theme that "Field of Dreams" handles beautifully.

It takes a heart of granite not to succumb to the magic of "Field of Dreams." Even if you haven't seen the movie, you're probably familiar with the famous line, "If you build it, he will come." The film's pop cultural impact speaks for itself, and long may it last.