Fall 2009 » Research Briefs » Reel Baseball

Reel Baseball

March, 2009

Edited by Stephen C. Wood and J. David Pincus
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers

A convergence of two great American pastimes - movies and baseball - "Reel Baseball" focuses on the ways that baseball has been used in movies as a form of cultural shorthand. As an example, author David Pincus, who teaches management in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, points to the movie "Pearl Harbor."

"In "Pearl Harbor" there is a scene where the Japanese bombers are flying in overhead while on the ground some children are playing baseball in a park," Pincus explained. "Of course, the attack on Pearl Harbor was at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning, so it is not likely that literally happened. Baseball was being used as a shorthand for all things American, while the children symbolized innocence in the face of aggression."

"Reel Baseball" comprises 18 essays, analyses by Pincus and Wood and interviews with filmmakers. The sections on baseball in non-baseball films provide new insights into the process of filmmaking and the role of baseball in American culture. The material is carefully researched and documented, but "Reel Baseball" is not a textbook; it appeals to a broad general audience.

Pincus and Wood also have developed a large filmography on baseball in non-baseball film. Spanning films from1898 to 2002, it is available on their Web site: http://www.ReelBaseball.net.