John Axford Owned the Academy Awards

Conventional wisdom would dictate that if you spend enough time on the road as a professional baseball player, you've seen more than your share of movies.

And if you're Milwaukee Brewers closer John Axford and you also happen to a self-proclaimed "Film Aficionado" (and film major in college)...you probably had an opinion on what was going to take home the top prize during Sunday night's Academy Awards ceremony.

Prior to the awards show, Axford hit the Twitters and revealed his picks for 15 of the categories.  And, suffice it to say, dude did alright.

The only pick he got wrong?  Axford went with Steven Spielberg for Best Director whereas the Oscar went to Ang Lee.  That said, it's probably good that "The Ax Man" didn't take any Best Picture advice from Jose Canseco.

Ooops.


 

Friday 5 (Oscar Edition): Casey Bond

Tonight's the night, baseball fans.  Soon, we'll know if "Moneyball" will go six-for-six (a even Derek Jeter has never accomplished), or, well...come home with anything at all.

Enter Casey Bond. 

Like Stephen Bishop, who played David Justice in "Moneyball" , Bond also played a former member of the Oakland Athletics in the Oscar nominated film.  Bond played submarine-throwing reliever Chad Bradford. 

I caught up with Bond on the eve of the Academy Awards and asked him how he would rank his all-time favorite baseball movies.

1.  Moneyball  (2011, directed by Bennett Miller)

2.  Bull Durham  (1988, directed by Ron Shelton)

3.  The Sandlot  (1993, directed by David M. Evans)

4.  Field of Dreams  (1989, directed by Phil Alden Robinson)

5.  For Love of the Game  (1999, directed by Sam Raimi)

Casey Bond is no stranger to baseball.  The actor was actually drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2007.  You can follow him on Twitter at @CaseyBond, keep tabs on him over at Facebook or, imagine that...check out his personal website.

Lastly, I'm a big "Bull Durham" guy...but what about you?  What are your favorite baseball movies?

Ten Things About Baseball Movies and the Academy Awards

With the Academy Awards this Sunday and “Moneyball” up for six statues…you’re going to hear and read a ton about how poorly baseball movies (or sports movies in general) have fared when it comes to Oscar night.

And, well, those would be pretty fair statements.

I mean, let’s be honest, only three sports-related films (“Rocky”, “Chariots of Fire” and “Million Dollar Baby”) have taken home the top prize and, well…none of them had a lick to do with baseball.

Here are ten things you might not have known about baseball movies and the Academy Awards.

$107,533,928

When it comes to box office totals, would it surprise you that the highest grossing baseball film is one about…women?  Then again, who wouldn’t want to head to the theater and watch eventual two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks chewing the scenery with Madonna and Geena Davis in “A League of Their Own”.  A side note on “A League of Their Own”…the story was penned by Kelly Candaele, brother of former big leaguer Casey and son of former All-American Girls Professional Baseball Leaguer Helen Callaghan.

June 29, 1905

In “Field of Dreams”, Kevin Costner’s Ray Kinsella was sent on a journey to bring Chisholm, Minnesota’s Archibald “Moonlight” Graham to Iowa.  He did.  The real “Moonlight” Graham appeared in one game for the New York Giants, but never got an at bat.  In the top of the ninth inning, Graham was on deck when Claude Elliott flied out, resulting in the third and final out. Graham played the bottom of the ninth in right field but never came to bat. That game turned out to be his only appearance in the major leagues.

246

Throughout “Bull Durham”, Crash Davis is chasing the Minor League home run record and, late in the film, we learn that he eclipses 246 and moves into first place.  However, the home run record is held by “The Babe Ruth of Mexico” Hector Espino  with 484.  Espino played in the Mexican Minor Leagues from 1960 to 1984.

98%

Of all the baseball films out there…“Bull Durham” ranks the highest among all of them over at Rotten Tomatoes.  The lone rotten review among the 48 over at the site was from some guy called Walter Chaw who said, of the Oscar nominated script…“there’s too much chatter”.

83

Most of the baseball in the film “A League of Their Own” was shot at Wrigley Field in Chicago.  However, the Rockford Peaches played their games 83 miles from the home of the Chicago Cubs…at Beyer Stadium on 15th Avenue in Rockford, Illinois.  And, yeah, that’s a recent picture of what’s left of the stadium below.

11

“Moneyball” heads into Sunday night’s award show with six nominations.  In 1943, “The Pride of the Yankees” scored eleven noms…the most of any baseball-themed movie.  It won one…best editing.  Coincidentally, one of six “Moneyball” nominations?  Best editing.

6

One of this year’s nominees, Glenn Close, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in 1985 for “The Natural”, but lost to Peggy Ashcroft.  Futhermore, she’s never brought home the Academy Award…going 0-for-6.

3

Last year’s Best Screenplay winner Aaron Sorkin was nominated again this go ‘round for his penning of the “Moneyball” script.  And should he win, he’ll join Joseph Mankiewicz (1950 and 1951) and Robert Bolt (1965 and 1966) as the only three back-to-back award winning scribes.

.251

Long before he was the director of “Bull Durham” and “Cobb”, Ron Shelton played minor league ball for the Baltimore Orioles.  From 1967 to 1971, the 1989 nominee for Best Screenplay, played in 478…compiling a .251 batting average.

0

Surprisingly, the 1976 tour de force “The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings” did not garner a single Academy Award nomination.  And, yeah, I’ll go on record and say it…Bingo Long himself, Billy Dee Williams, should be honored with a lifetime achievement award for his 1980 portrayal of Lando Calrissian.

Joel, Ethan...David?!? I'm conefused!

I understand that I’m late with this one, but as you all know by now…the Academy Awards were held last weekend. During the broadcast, my buddy Rob called and he and I got to talking about the Coen Brothers chances at winning “the big one”.

We both knew they had been nominated in the past and that their movies had garnered some awards…but they, essentially, had been shut out when it came to Best Director and Best Picture.

At the conclusion of the annual Oscar snoozefest (you can read E’s account of the evening here), No Country for Old Men walked away with four awards. The ear tugging Coens ended up on stage three separate times. Now, I’ve been a fan of theirs for some twenty years, but do these accolades somehow legitimize this FANTASTIC filmmaking team as “great”?

If they don’t…what does? And how does THAT translate to those who step between the white lines at least 162 times every year?

Guys like Ted Williams and Ernie Banks were sure bet Hall of Famers when they decided to hang ‘em up, but they’ll ALWAYS be saddled with that “they never won the Series” black eye.

That being said, the argument for Jack Morris is that he SHOULD be in the Hall because, conversely, he has…and has done so in grandiose fashion. Hell, I’ve even made that argument…TWICE! Furthermore…when Curt Schilling ultimately packs up his bloody sock and leaves the baseball world, people AGAIN will point to his post season heroics.

So what about a guy who ended his career just shy of 200 victories (194), a .606 winning percentage, nearly 2700 Ks, a Cy Young Award, a perfect game AND five (yes, FIVE) World Series rings?

I know what you’re thinking…PLENTY of guys have five or more World Series rings. And you’d be right. I'd then point out that a majority of them were Yankees that made their money before the Kennedy administration.

HOWEVER, of the players with five or more…a MAJORITY of them are Yankees and a majority of them made their money before the Kennedy administration.

So, am I saying that David Cone is a Hall of Famer?

Probably not. But I think you need to examine his career before you cast his career aside.

His 194 victory total isn’t THAT great. I’m sure HE would tell you that. But when you consider that he played amid the five man rotation and eleven out of twelve years there in the middle of his career he notched double digit wins…he wasn’t that shabby.

Coney also won sixty percent of his ballgames. In 1988, he had, arguably, one of the best ten seasons of the 1980s. How he went 20-3 with a 2.22 ERA, finished THIRD in the Cy Young voting and didn’t get a single first place vote is beyond me. Unanimous winner Orel Hershiser notched 23 victories and a World Series ring…but 20-3!

They vote for that thing PRIOR to the post season, right?!?

About that Cy Young award Cone DID get…it was in the strike shortened 1994 season. Cone was 16-5 and would have probably have gotten to 20 had the season played out how God intended. All and all, it is a little ironic considering Cone acted as the player’s representative during the whole ordeal.

Cone ended his career with 2668 strikeouts…good for twenty first on the all-time list. Of the twenty guys ahead of him on the all-time list, all but nine are Hall of Famers.

Of those nine, Mickey Lolich and Frank Tanana won’t get past the doors of Cooperstown without paying for their admittance. Bert Blyleven and Curt Schilling are both guys who MIGHT (in due time) make it in. The rest of the bunch (John Smoltz, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens) are pretty safe bets to be inducted.

I keep getting back to those five rings though.

This is a guy that was involved in each and every one of those seasons...he wasn't just some fortunate opportunist. His teams were 12-3 in the 15 series he played and he carried an 8-3 post season record. Was he THE determining factor? No…but neither was fellow five time champ Catfish Hunter and he is a Hall of Famer that Cone almost compares to the most.

Overall, Hunter was 224-166, whereas Cone was 194-126. Advantage Hunter, right? Not necessarily. During Catfish’s five year hot streak where he won twenty or more each year, he amassed an ASTOUNDING 111-49 record. Take away those five seasons and Hunter is a VERY average 113-117 for his career. I guess it is safe to say that Cone had a more consistent career…not just one big peak like Catfish.

Both men took home a Cy Young award and finished in the top five three other times. Hunter had a better career ERA (3.26 compared to 3.46), but if you look at the rest of the league at the time…Cone was FAR better than his contemporaries, whereas Hunter was about average.

Both men were known for their control…but as I’ve mentioned before, Cone did amass quite a healthy strikeout total. By comparison, Hunter punched out 2012 opponents…some 650 less than Cone.

I’m by no means going to sit here and bang the drum for David Cone’s inclusion in the Hall of Fame. He wasn’t a big character guy. His alleged cocaine use, adulterous behavior and penchant for public masturbation are all well documented...thanks Google!

But you could do a lot worse.

***Note: The "is David Cone a Hall of Famer?" poll garnered the following results...Yes-12%, No-63 and Dear God No-24%.***