Here’s a Pitch for Screen Thrills

How hungry can strike-stunned baseball fans get? Hungry enough to search out a video fix? Hungry enough to slip into thechubby embrace of William Bendix?

Bendix, best known as the dumbfounded Riley in TV’s “The Life of Riley,” tried to be Ruthian in “The Babe Ruth Story” but could barely manage Bendixian. It’s one of the worst baseball movies ever. The 1948 flick never dissuaded Hollywood, though--either as myth, hero worship, an excuse for gags or sentimental family entertainment, the studios have often seen baseball as a fertile arena.

Fortunately, there are better pictures than “The Babe Ruth Story.” Some are strange, some are dumb, some are funny because they’re so bad, some are diamonds in the rough. Here are just a few of the mostly more obscure ones available on video:

“Fear Strikes Out” (1957): Anthony Perkins stars in this rapid heartbeat of a biography of Jimmy Piersall, the professional outfielder who suffered through mental illness during much of his career. Perkins, one of the tickiest actors ever, exaggerates a tragic story with his portrayal (Piersall seems to be in a perpetual state of night sweats), but the film is weirdly fascinating for mixing psychosis with balls and strikes.

“It Happens Every Spring” (1949): Ray Milland plays a nutty professor who accidentally concocts a chemical that makes baseballs do odd things, like avoid bats. It’s light and enjoyable. Good for anyone who dreamed of throwing a perfect curve.

“The Jackie Robinson Story” (1950): Another biography, but with a dramatic social backdrop. Besides describing Robinson’s life, the movie (starring Robinson as himself) examines the racial issues of the day that both fueled and hindered his becoming the first black player in the major leagues.

“The Winning Team” (1952): Still another biography, of pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander. Sappy, like most baseball biopics, but you do get to see Ronald Reagan as he portrays Alexander in his ultra-brave battle with alcoholism and nearsighted umpires. Just right for Republicans who crave seeing their heroes in uniform.

“Take Me Out to the Ballgame” (1949): Mr. Musicals himself, Busby Berkeley, put together this fanciful flick about a gal (Esther Williams) gets involved with a baseball team with a couple of singing and dancing guys (Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly). Silly but brightly done.

“The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings” (1976): Jive-happy comedy about a group of black ballplayers on a barnstorming tour through the South. Likable Billy Dee Williams and the always-mellifluous James Earl Jones are the heavy hitters, but Richard Pryor, in one of his few good roles, swipes plenty of scenes as an infielder trying to make the big leagues by passing as Puerto Rican.

“Eight Men Out” (1988): Atmospheric retelling of the World Series “Black Sox” scandal of 1919. The movie can’t keep from moralizing and only giving cursory attention to such intriguing characters as “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, but it’s still one of the more sophisticated pictures about baseball.

“The Natural” (1984): A film that divides baseball and movie fans alike. It’s loved by anyone who sees the sport as an icon, nothing less than a metaphor of the American way of life. Others think it’s mythologizing ignores the simple pleasure that baseball is. It stars Robert Redford as Roy Hobbes, the enigmatic superhero of Bernard Malamud’s novel.

“Pride of the Yankees” (1942): Many fans consider this picture about Lou Gehrig as quintessential, the best baseball movie ever made. Well, it is entertaining, in a sentimental Hollywood sort of way, but it’s also too emotionally pushy to be effortlessly satisfying. Gary Cooper does make Gehrig an appealing symbol of upstanding manhood, though.

Wait, there’s more: “Bang the Drum Slowly” (1973), “The Pride of St. Louis” (1952), “Bull Durham” (1988), “Damn Yankees” (1958), “Field of Dreams” (1989), “A League of Their Own” (1992), “Major League” (1989) and “The Babe” (1992).

And something to look forward to: Turner Home Entertainment recently announced that the videos of Ken Burns’ nine-part, 18-hour series, “Baseball,” (airing on KCET Channel 28 beginning Sept. 18 at 8 p.m.) will be arriving in stores Sept. 23.