Episode 107: The Fan

PLAY BALL: BASEBALL AT THE MOVIES

Attaboy Bobby! Today on Play Ball: Baseball at the Movies, we’re talking about Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes’ rollercoaster ride of a thriller, The Fan. Leading off, we walk through the bonkers plot (5:50) and review the movie (58:31). Then, on Inside Baseball, we discuss baseball in 1996 (1:10:15) and compare Wesley Snipes’ Bobby Rayburn to his real-life inspiration, Barry Bonds (1:17:05). Rounding second, we discuss just how insane Barry Bonds’ talent was when we play everyone’s favorite game, “What the Fuck, Barry Bonds?” (1:28:08); Paul introduces us to the Giants’ original mascot, Crazy Crab (1:38:38); Andrew discusses Mo Vaughn’s relationship with a child cancer patient (1:44:48); We try to recount the craziest things to ever happen on a baseball diamond, as Paul tells the story of Demolition Disco Night (1:49:24) and Andrew reviews the game’s most notorious fans (1:56:06) including Billy Crystal and Robin Williams, the first streaker in sports history, and the entire attending audience of 10 Cent Beer Night. Sliding into home, we rate the movie (2:14:08) and preview next week’s episode.

Play Ball: Baseball at the Movies is produced by Paul LeSchofs and Andrew Knopp. Our theme music, Slow Burn, was created by Kevin MacLeod. Our mascot was designed by Yehudi Mercado. Our intro uses clips from the following films from which we do not claim any ownership: Field of Dreams (Universal Pictures), The Natural (TriStar Pictures), Moneyball (Columbia Pictures), The Sandlot (20th Century Fox), Bull Durham (Orion Pictures), and A League of Their Own (Columbia Pictures). Follow us on Twitter @BaseballPodShow and Instragram @playballpodcast.

*Discussions regarding current baseball news may be out of date.