Robert Redford in the Natural - Batting Practice

[DRALEX113]

Nothing else in the world makes that SWEET sound of a bat hitting a baseball just right! Think Spring!

[penk68]

I sorta got sidetracked...

[Supersonicsfan12]

i love the echo in the stadium of the bat. this is my favorite scene in the movie besides the part where he smashed the clock at wrigley.

[PacMachiavelli]

@Supersonicsfan12 thats good buffalo for ya!

[1skullduggery]

character based on the 'phil's', eddie waitkus. best scene in movie.

[Artie1931]

STEROIDS! LOL! Best scene in the movie!

[TemplarReturns]

@Artie1931 Nah, heart.

[cecilbh]

@TemplarReturns nah, Wonderboy

[jimidee33]

Redford was on a college baseball scholarship to Colorado State, but drinking and partying did him in. He was the real deal and could play.

[westhoff0407]

@jimidee33 Redford went to CU not CSU.

[jimidee33]

@westhoff0407 Thank you for the correction.

[FastErnie2]

Whenever I encounter people that don't give me a chance to do something that I know I can do better than those already established, I always remember this scene!

[EdNortonisMineLol]

Robert Redford is so dreamy...

[thiwaggenerkfu]

Online women for dating **rockmycity.info**

[DetroitLove4U]

This is the only thing right now that helps me keep baseball alive and of all things it's a movie not even the real thing, however, with all the cheating and lies in baseball THE NATURAL IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS!!!

[hoth1138]

Ted Williams

[jordi0508]

NOT the best baseball movie ever...the best MOVIE ever made .......period!!!!!!!!!!!

[pjunior46]

Greatest baseball movie ever

[JRussoBuffaloNY]

Filmed in Bflo N.Y. baby!

[skatepunkzero]

Someone upload the scene with "Bump" when he runs through the fence

[kennygriff24]

Gotta love the echo of the ball hitting the seat in the empty stadium

[crambone20002000]

If you've seen the whole movie, this is the first time Wilford Brimley

addresses Hobbs as 'Roy'. Just happened to catch that.

[stevo9033]

2:22 if it comes up to specifications we'll let you use it, now go on out there and shag some flies...hahaha love that line

[elFlakation]

Love 1:20, ***Reality Check*** haha

[DetroitLove4U]

I miss Tiger Stadium.

[urbanderelict]

the thing about the water fountain is, the coach 'wilford brimley' all season has been complaining about the taste of the water from that water fountain, the thinner guy with the 'stache always replies "judge (the owner of the team) is workin' on it" and then in this scene, Wilford doesn't complain about it at all he just drinks it.

[peterpetersnbg]

just love this hollywood magic

[Charly310]

one of the best baseball movies that ever came out :-)

[61vanilla]

LOVE THE MoVie/aLL-Actors/acting/sCRiPT R. Redford is THE Natural WONDER-Boy !!!

[EMUmonster]

LoL they cant believe a guy his age is really that good. They gotta make sure his bats not corked

[jamiesjewels1]

Wilford Brimley's deadpan reactions absolutely make this scene, they way he expresses amazement without actually giving any reaction. Priceless.

[dncgrob]

one of the greatest baseball flicks of all time

[sparx65]

I love cricket and naturally baseball has a fascination, I love this movie.

[elkingchris]

Nice scene! Is that Wilford Brimley? "Diabee-tus."

[sn00per8]

LoL!!! Yeah that's Wilford Brimley!!! Diabee-tus!! LoL!!

[Zutaiola]

I love this film, I saw it when I was pretty young. It's a very special one for me

[ChelseyCSD]

This was the first film i ever saw Robert Redford in... i was about 13, and i was watching old films on tv.... i fell in love with him straight away! hes georgous :)

Love the film though, great, i now love Baseball.

[solidyahoo]

Kind of reminds me of me in batting practice

[sethmusic]

robert redford fucks babies

[burgersforreal]

remember bump baily? "it was a close play bump, why didnt you slide?"

"i had a cigar in my back pocket, i didnt want to brake it" LOL that guy cracks me up

[killersccrplayer]

ya that part was funny. but he could slide head first and not risk breaking the cigar?

[burgersforreal]

yeah and than he would have made somethin up like "i didnt want to mess up my hair" or something

[DetroitLove4U]

This film now is very facilitating to me. As a Tigers fan I am proud that my Tigers got off to the best start ever by any team after their first 40 games and won the championship in 1984 the year this film was released. But nowadays with all the lies and steroids it just bothers me so much. But The Natural is a film that makes me think of better times in baseball. After the 1994 strike I thought baseball would never be the same and now I see I was STILL RIGHT. The Natural got in done right!

[GaryBoy54]

As a Tiger fan from back in that day you can appreciate the authenticity of the old Rockpile in Buffalo that needed no enhancement- that old place- like Tiger Stadium was classic and to a baseball purist steals the show as a tremendous background-untouched! Well they did repaint the old girl and add some cardboard cutouts for crowds-but pretty much left it "as was".

[Slikrik1212]

Redford modeled himself after Ted Williams for the movie. He's quoted as saying it was a tribute of sorts to Ted. Even wore #9.

[BayouBoy425]

Yup, they both were prominent pitchers before they got discovered too. As Ted said "anyone who wants to be a successful hitter has to spend years as a pitcher".

[LJSJIUJITSU]

I absolutely loved this movie. Redford actually played decent college baseball from what I've heard.

[ripperduck]

Didn't he get a scholarship outta Van Nuys High School in Socal to play at U of Colorado? Or maybe that's just Hollywood publicity.....

[LJSJIUJITSU]

I'm not sure but he was legit.

[GaryBoy54]

He had a great swing didnt he?

So many so called stars cant even portray a baseball player decently-this guy had the stuff to make this movie believable.

[LJSJIUJITSU]

He looked decent in the outfield too.

[hammeredwappered]

True! Most actors are laughable at best. Costner has a nice stroke, and Charlie Sheen can throw, but other than that, I can't think of any other actors out there.

[logant44]

So true.

The guy who plays whammer for instance has a really bad swing.

[dawnerjames]

the dude who played shoeless joe jackson in the movie about the "Eight Men Out" reminded me of a few fellas i grew up with...ahhh actors name was D.B. Sweeney (just looked up). The ending of that movie is epic!!...watching Joe Jackson leg out a triple like he was still in the league...they cant stop the love!! lol

[TemplarReturns]

Im going to post that scene next. ;)  It just goes to show anyone that the corrupt cant stop a player's passion for the game, and that true baseball isnt taintable.

[jimraw1]

@GaryBoy54 Redford went to the University of Colorado on a baseball scholarship (as a pitcher). I guess even after 30 years you never forget. It's almost kind of unfair that God made him that good looking and that talented.

[GaryBoy54]

@jimraw1 Yeah he was still at that age a guy that could carry himself well and still had that boyish appeal. Though he could not make Natural 2 now as he has aged quite a bit since then-mostly seems to be from too much colorado sun.

I picked up the Blu-Ray a week ago and anyone that likes the movie should too because there are some great stories and shots in the extras.

Watching Redford hit in practice you can see that he knew how to hit and gave the best performance as a baseball player ever!

[jimraw1]

@GaryBoy54 As much as I love the Natural, I might give Tom Selleck as Jack Elliot in Mr. Baseball the nod for best performance as a baseball player. Selleck is totally beleveable both in his hitting and his fielding - he kind of reminded me of Donnie Baseball with that mustache. Yes The Natural is a far better movie, and Redford a much better actor but I thought Selleck looked the most like a baseball player (that includes Costner, Dennis Haysbert and Tom Berenger).

[kennygriff24]

@jimraw1 What about Ken Griffey Jr. in Little Big League?

[TheJasonFreeman]

@GaryBoy54 Heard he modelled the swing after Ted Williams. Now that's acting, duplicating a .400 hitter's swing.

[darius75240]

@GaryBoy54 He went to college on a baseball scholarship. He lost it because of drunkeness, but he was a real life baseball player.

[CountArtha]

@GaryBoy54 Apparently, he studied film of Ted Williams and copied his swing exactly.

[johnpmorrissey1]

@GaryBoy54

the ability to look like a baseball player (charlie sheen) as opposed to the lack of any baseball talent whatsoever (tom berringer in the same movie) is a huge deal. great swing? my goodness. i think it's about 1:07, one of the most beautiful swings i've seen. i hope this movie made george brett proud. redford was an athlete at heart.

[Magnolia296]

Kim Basinger was brilliant in this movie as well

[ripperduck]

Great point. She plays the part of a conniving shill well, but one with something of a conscious. She's actually trying to undermine her own uncle, but meeting Roy makes her understand what she actually has turned out to be. IMO that's why she shoots the pistol and calls him a bastard in the judge's office. Hobbs has shown her for the low life schemer that she actually is, and she hates him for doing so. Actually she hates herself because she'll never be what she really wants, to be loved.

[TytheWhyteGuy]

Great film, great novel---great piece of work

[leiefilm]

is the novel close to the movie?never knew there was a novel of it

[GaryBoy54]

I think only difference in the novel is that Hobbs strikes out at the end and its not the "happy happy ending we see. They were going to try for same in movie as novel but felt ending was too "dark".

[patman004]

"Try this one grandpa." good shit

[radio187]

That's what Mitch Williams said to Joe Carter.

[drasticwillb]

@radio187 oh my God, I worked three blocks from where I lived, and when Fregosi put in the wild thing three runs up, well I just knew the score would be at least tied by the time I walked home. Phillies fans held up signs," Will pitch middle relief for food." Schilling with the towel over his head when Mitch pitched. Best team steroids could produce. Kruk I don't know. Dykstra, Daulton, Incaviglia, Danny Jackson, yep. Schill, again I don't know.

[ZBone12]

Jesus.....

[HoustonGD]

God I love this movie 5/5 stars

[amnorth17]

Redford is a true great!

[rockndude87]

One of my favorite movies EVER!

[JNORB2]

Great movie, The funny thing is that in real life Redford is only about 3 or 4 years younger than Pop.

[LJSJIUJITSU]

Really? No way!!!!!!!!! Redford was either in some decent shape or Wilford Brimley was old looking for his age.

[GaryBoy54]

Freakin Brimley looks same as he has for about 100 years for Gods sake-haha

Redford was in hard rock shape- for back then when "abs and pecs" were not all the rage they are now- he was just solid and you can see his forearms are huge- his swing perfected for a very short porch in right field so

his shots probably were his.

Its too bad we NEVER saw outtakes of his batting practices and some of the movie scene outtakes- those would have been great to see.

[007InMiami]

They are only 3 years apart. Brimley is older.

[fhgk9]

I like the part where Pops takes a drink from the fountain and doesn't spit. Hobbs is knocking them out of the park, the drinking water is OK for a change. Pops' luck is turning!

[logant44]

He still should have been a farmer.

[GaryBoy54]

nahhhh.... he was the Best There Ever Was.

[Greenandscaly]

Because Pop was gruff but fair, and the Knights' management was corrupt.

[thekipmaster]

Great movie. But why does Hobbs risk everything for his ass of a manager?

[ripperduck]

I think its due to the Arthurian legend, Roy is the Knight Errant, on a mission to set things right. That is what knights were supposed to do, always to do what is right and honest. Pop is honest, tough but he does things the right way, and Hobbs sees that, and understands the dynamics of why they want to take the club away from Pop. Baseball at least in this fantasy was pure and clean and was being corrupted by the likes of the judge and gambler and avaricious woman. Roy stopped them.

[NonInflatable]

You're right about the Arthurian legend.

The "Wonderboy Bat" is clearly Excalibur.

Fascinating, set in white picket-fence America!