What To Watch
Take a Swing at These 8 Nostalgic Baseball Classics
Kevin Costner, Billy Bob Thornton, Geena Davis, and more knock these films out of the park.
By Caitlin Busch
Aug. 10, 2026
8 Best Baseball Movies Streaming on Netflix: Nostalgic Classics, Family Comedy, and More - Netflix Tudum
Baseball isn’t called “America’s pastime” for nothing. The game is ingrained in US culture: Some of Hollywood’s greatest sports movies and documentaries take place in the outfield, and every Major League Baseball season brings new and exciting elements to bat. This year, a host of MLB games and events are streaming live on Netflix, including the MLB at Field of Dreams game between the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies. You can learn more about the Aug. 13 event on Tudum.
But if you’re looking for even more action on the mound, you’re in luck. Some of your favorite baseball flicks have rounded the bases, slid home, and are available to watch on Netflix now. Who’s your fave diamond in the rough? Kevin Costner in his cornfield of dreams? Tom Hanks yelling, “There’s no crying in baseball”? Philip Seymour Hoffman sporting an Oakland Athletics uniform, or Billy Bob Thornton as a recovering has-been? Batter up! It’s time to find out.
Field of Dreams
This 1989 film about one man’s all-consuming love of baseball was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Based on W.P. Kinsella’s 1982 novel, Shoeless Joe, the movie stars Kevin Costner (The Highwaymen) as Ray Kinsella, a farmer who lives in Iowa with his wife, Annie (Amy Madigan), and their daughter, Karin (Gaby Hoffmann). While taking a stroll through his cornfield, Ray hears a disembodied voice that delivers a mysterious (and now iconic) message: “If you build it, he will come.” Inspired, Ray upends part of his field to build a baseball diamond, which soon draws forth the spirits of long-dead players — as well as his community’s ire. But Ray soon realizes that his field of dreams is about much more than baseball. Ray Liotta (Marriage Story), Timothy Busfield (Revenge of the Nerds), James Earl Jones (The Sandlot), and Burt Lancaster (The Professionals) also star.
The Benchwarmers
David Spade (Father of the Year), Rob Schneider (Real Rob), and Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) co-star as Richie, Gus, and Clark, three perennial nerds who never got to play baseball when they were kids. When they step in to defend a timid boy, Nelson (Max Prado), against a group of bullies at the local ball field, Nelson’s billionaire father (Jon Lovitz) is inspired to fund a statewide Little League tournament. Despite being grown adults, the trio forms a team and enters the tournament in order to compete against the meanest bullies in the league. Gus inadvertently becomes a hero for underdogs everywhere — until a shocking secret about his past is revealed. Dennis Dugan (Big Daddy) directed this comedy, which also stars Craig Kilborn (Old School), Molly Sims (The Wrong Missy), and Tim Meadows (Our Little Secret).
A League of Their Own
In the midst of World War II, Major League Baseball was shuttered, and a group of executives started the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1943, allowing women to play pro ball for the first time. A League of Their Own is a fictionalized account of the first season, and follows the AAGPBL’s most successful team, the Rockford Peaches, on their journey to the Baseball Hall of Fame. In the film, directed by Penny Marshall (Big), sister athletes Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) and Kit Keller (Lori Petty) are recruited by the Peaches, who are managed by cynical former star player Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks). As they work to bolster interest in the mere concept of women playing professional sports, the sisters bond with their colorful teammates — including outspoken Mae Mordabito (Madonna) and rough-and-tumble former bouncer Doris Murphy (Rosie O’Donnell) — and attempt to keep their sibling rivalry in check. This beloved dramedy also stars David Strathairn (A Man on the Inside), Garry Marshall (Mother’s Day), and Bill Pullman (The Sinner).
Sugar
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson) wrote and directed this sports drama that follows Miguel “Sugar” Santos (Algenis Perez Soto), a skilled pitcher from San Pedro De Macorís, Dominican Republic. Sugar, who is 19 years old and the star of his baseball academy, gets his big break when he’s called up to the US minor leagues. He leaves his loving family behind and attends spring training for the (fictional) Kansas City Knights, who send him off to the team’s Single A affiliate in Iowa, the Swing. He’s taken in by the Higgins family, who house Swing players every season, and mentored by veteran Dominican player Jorge Ramirez (Rayniel Rufino). Sugar’s got a wicked curveball, but the young player begins to question his single-minded pursuit of the sport when the pressure of his new environment causes him to falter on the mound. André Holland (Passing) and Michael Gaston (The Land of Steady Habits) also star.
42
Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) leads this biopic as baseball icon Jackie Robinson, the first Black player in the modern major leagues. The action kicks off in 1945, when Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) announces his intention to recruit a Black player to his team in defiance of the ongoing color line. He taps an up-and-coming star in the Negro Leagues, Kansas City Monarchs shortstop Robinson. As Robinson works his way from the Dodgers’ AAA farm team, the Montreal Royals, up to the majors, he’s met with violent racism both on and off the field. With his wife, Rachel (Nicole Beharie), by his side, Robinson faces down hatred from the public, the press, and many of his fellow players to become one of sporting history’s all-time greats. Christopher Meloni (Little Brother), André Holland (Selma), and Alan Tudyk (Resident Alien) also star.
Major League Baseball on Netflix
The 2026 Major League Baseball season marks Netflix’s first season of MLB coverage and began with Opening Night between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants on March 25.
In addition to the T-Mobile Home Run Derby on July 13 in Philadelphia — which was won by first-time MLB All-Star Jordan Walker — Netflix will stream the MLB at Field of Dreams game between the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies at the famed cornfield baseball diamond in Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 13.
Fans can now find daily highlights and top plays from around Major League Baseball on Netflix.
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