Baseball movies and television shows are just as popular as the real sport itself. And although there are great baseball movies based on real life like 42, A League of Their Own, and Eight Men Out, there's also several movies and shows about fictional baseball teams and players.
Here are the best fictional baseball players from movies and television series whether they're from films that are decades old like the legendary The Natural, nostalgic movies like The Sandlot, or more recent projects like Eastbound & Down.
Crash Davis: Bull Durham
Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) is a veteran baseball player in the minor league and is a great mentor for any young player he teams up with, especially any pitcher to his catcher. Crash is sent to mentor the young and talented pitcher, "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), who has a lot of natural talent, but no finesse or control over his overall game while he's pitching.
Crash is the one who trains him and helps him hone the craft throughout Bull Durham while being a talented catcher in his own right. Costner also portrayed another iconic fictional baseball player, Billy Chapel, in For the Love of the Game.
Chet Steadman: Rookie Of The Year
Although the young protagonist, Henry, might be the main attraction of this movie as he's drafted to pitch for the Cubs after a broken arm gives him the ability to pitch faster at an insane speed, Chet Steadman (Gary Busey) is arguably a more interesting character and better overall player.
Steadman is the typical past his prime baseball player, who misses his glory days and is trying to cope with having to quit the game he loves. He's a legendary pitcher who has one last good game in him before retirement.
Kenny Powers: Eastbound & Down
Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) is a former Major League baseball player in the HBO series Eastbound & Down. Powers is a talented pitcher but his attitude and self-destructive behavior got him kicked out of the Major League. The series then follows his attempts to get back to where he started.
He gets another chance to prove himself when he's invited to join the Minor League and try to re-build his baseball career.
Benny Rodriguez: The Sandlot
The Sandlot is a nostalgic coming-of-age sports movie about a group of neighborhood kids meeting every day in the summer to play baseball and avoid the dreaded beastly dog who lives by the baseball fields.
Although all the kids on the team were decent players, Benny was the real stand-out as he was clearly the best player who was completely dedicated to working on his game. It's revealed at the end of the movie that Benny made it to be a star player in the major leagues, which wasn't a surprise given his work ethic and natural talent.
Roy Hobbs: The Natural
The movie, The Natural, was based on the book of the same name and very loosely based on real-life events in baseball player Eddie Waitkus' life. The movie follows the fictional Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) as he's quickly noticed for his natural talent and is shot by an obsessive fan.
The injury puts his career on hold until he's recruited decades later and has to prove himself again as most think he's too old to return to the game professionally, but he impresses everyone with his skill and becomes a star player.
Bobby Rayburn: The Fan
Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes) is a newly recruited player to the San Francisco Giants and while he was a star player before, he struggles to adjust to his new team. Although The Fan isn't just about baseball as it follows fan Gil Renard (Robert De Niro) who becomes obsessed with the team and in particular Rayburn, Rayburn's still an interesting fictional player.
Snipes also portrayed another recognizable fictional baseball player with the cool, popular, and talented Willie Mays Hayes in Major League.
Ricky Vaughn: Major League
Ricky Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) is a wild and uncontrollable player, both on and off the field, in the comedy Major League, where he plays the Cleveland Major League team.
Vaughn is a great pitcher, but he has a difficult time with consistency and finishing games strong. However, as the team comes together throughout the movie, "Wild Thing" learns to hone his game with the help from his catcher Jake Taylor.
Bruce Pearson: Bang The Drum Slowly
Bang the Drum Slowly follows two Major League Baseball players, catcher Bruce Pearson (Robert De Niro) and pitcher Henry Wiggen (Michael Moriarty), who establish a great bond growing together as friends and players.
Pearson is struggling on the team and is told at the same time that he has a terminal illness. The movie also reveals that Wiggen is the only one who knows about it. The more successful Wiggen decides to tie his contract to Pearson's, threatening to leave if the team trades him, and helps Pearson be a better player.
Stan Ross: Mr. 3000
Stan Ross (Bernie Mac) begins the movie as a talented yet egotistical baseball player and star of the Milwaukee Brewers. Once he gets his 3,000th hit, he abruptly decides to retire, leaving his teammates and managers surprised and betrayed.
Ross rejoins the team when he learns that he only had 2,997 hits and didn't break the 3,000 record. As the movie goes on, the audience sees him learn to be more of a team player.
Amanda Whurlitzer: Bad News Bears
Dottie Hinson or Kit Keller from A League of Their Own should appear on this list, but they're based on real-life players so instead the young Amanda Whurlitzer from the original Bad News Bears movie is a great player to focus on.
Amanda faces adversity being the only girl on the baseball team, but she quickly proves herself as the best choice for their pitcher and is easily one of the best players on the team.