The Church of Baseball

Despite not being a baseball fan, Bull Durham is one of my favorite movies. I have watched it maybe 20 times and I’ve thought about it for many more hours. Why do I love it? What makes it so perfect?

Everything in the film works: the setting, the acting, the story, and the conflict, plus, of course, the writing. The writing is perfect (“I don’t dance,” says Crash. “How embarrassin’,” says Annie.) But, what makes it perfect is that it uses baseball to teach us how to live. In the same way that Moby Dick is not at all about whales and whaling (despite the many chapters of details on whales) and that Tapestry is not just a collection of pop songs, Bull Durham is a movie about how to live a life of passion and integrity, whether you’re the person who is born with lightning in his arm, the person who works hard enough to be successful, or the person who is only allowed to watch from the sidelines (clearly Annie would have been in A League of Their Own in another place and time).

I couldn’t wait to read Ron Shelton’s new book about the making of the film because I have always had a crush on him (he wrote the film). He opens his memoir with a great story about how the idea of The Church of Baseball got started (it involves his evangelical upbringing and the World Series) and then basically remembers every detail of how Bull Durham came to be.

There are so many great scenes and lines in the movie. Another favorite is when Crash goes into the office to join the Durham Bulls and when they ask him who he is, he says, “I’m your player to be named later.” I mean, how great is that? Clever, funny, and meaningful all at the same time. Here’s Scott Simon interviewing Ron Shelton:

https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1111868521/1111868522

I am finding it difficult to put down this book, it’s so engaging and thoughtful.