Download Everyday Baseball VR Rarl
Elliott Davis
The role of data in sport is an ever-growing industry. And with the pressure to win, anything that can improve data-analytics, baseball is seeking the edge to decrease player injury, increase player performance, and give fans more reasons to engage in the game.
The sport of baseball has been a worldwide staple for more than 100 years, especially for the United States. From small talk with strangers and acquaintances to heated debates with co-workers, baseball has found its way into everyday conversation that even the most reclusive of people are aware of the sport.
Gone are the days of having to endlessly practice your swing just to get good at the game. Needless to say, practice indeed makes perfect, but what good is that if you just rely on mere repetition? The SwingTracker from Diamond Kinetics takes care of the rest for baseball players who are looking to improve their swing.
Thankfully, Virtual Reality is here to take fans as close to the players as possible. Through VR, fans will be able to virtually see what the players are seeing, giving viewers a unique firsthand perspective on what the players experience throughout the game.
MLB players can wear a wristband produced by WHOOP that will keep track of all their vital signs throughout the various activities they engage in every day. This data can then be used to tailor fit regimens and training styles that will allow for maximum improvement which will inevitably lead to peak performance in the diamond.
KinaTrax is a motion capture system that gathers and provides biomechanics data from actual games. This technology provides players and coaching staff with a look at the mechanics of various in-game movements such as pitching and hitting.
There are movies out there for everyone. No matter what day or time of year it is, you are sure to find a movie out there for you. During a time when heavy dramas and nail-biting thrillers are going viral with every turn, it is important for us to not discount a very important genre in the film industry: sports. From A League of Their Own to 42, so many sports films have turned out to be staples for all of us.
Sports have always been such an integral part of the entertainment business, and when some of the most outrageous and inspiring stories come from the sports we watch every day, the movie industry has all the material it could need for a great on-screen story. Films based on true stories always affect audiences a little more than a fully fictional story. Something about the events actually happening in our reality changes our perception of the cinematic version.
Who said that you had to train your whole life to make it in the MLB? Million Dollar Arm is a 2014 sports drama based on the story of Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, who were recruited by agent J.B. Bernstein. The film follows Jon Hamm's portrayal of J.B. Bernstein as he tries to salvage his career by going to India to find a cricket player that he can mold into the baseball pitcher of his dreams. In the film, Dinesh is played by Madhur Mittal and Rinku is portrayed by Suraj Sharma.
A great thing about a movie like Million Dollar Arm is the fact that you do not really have to know baseball to fall in love with it. This sort of underdog story, featuring athletes with natural talent built from the ground up, is portrayed beautifully and is littered with inspiring storylines that will leave you feeling like you could reach for the stars.
2023 gave us The Hill, a sports drama based on the true story of Rickey Hill and his miraculous journey to become a player in Major League Baseball. Starring Collin Ford as Ricky, the film follows Ricky's drive to make it big in the sport despite the obstacles of his degenerative spinal disease that has him in leg braces and his complicated relationship with his father (Dennis Quaid), a Southern Baptist Pastor.
The Hill is what sports films are all about. The inspiring story of a man defying the odds out of pure passion and the strength of his own will is the kind of story that transcends the confines of cinema. The film hits the mark in not just the triumphant rise of a man, but also the harsh realities of family life.
The Natural is a 1984 film based on the novel of the same name by Bernard Malamud, which, in turn, was inspired by the true story of baseball player Eddie Waitkus. The film follows young Chicago Cubs player Roy Hobbs (played by Robert Redford) ,who gets shot by a crazed woman right at the beginning of his career. After 16 years away from the league, Hobbs decides to return to baseball and, defying the odds of his age in the sport, becomes one of the best players in the game.
This film does not necessarily stay true to the source material through and through. However, The Natural does create a story that represents the sports world at the time and is quite an informative watch for anyone interested in some significant parts of baseball history. The film is inspiring and truly dives into the idea that even if aging is not your friend in sports, anything is possible.
Fear Strikes Out is a 1957 sports drama that follows the life of Jimmy Piersall, played by Anthony Perkins, as he grows up with a baseball-obsessed father, played by Karl Malden. After growing up with baseball as the living, breathing heart of your household, your every waking moment consumed by the game, Jimmy finds himself fulfilling the wishes of his father by becoming a player in the MLB. However, mentally, he starts to fall apart, threatening his career.
A huge aspect of sports in general that is touched on in the media is the physical demands of being a professional player. However, what is discussed much less is the mental strain that playing in professional sports can cause as well as how obsessive behavior can easily sneak into your everyday routine. Fear Strikes Out focuses on the complications of mental illness in the game of baseball, a refreshing and equally inspiring tale that is still relevant in the sports world today.
2002's The Rookie follows the true story of Jim Morris, a pitcher who became a 35-year-old rookie in the MLB. The film stars Dennis Quaid as Jim and follows as his career in the minor leagues gets cut short due to a shoulder injury, never allowing him to make it in the major leagues. Now a high-school chemistry teacher and baseball coach, Jim's students strike a deal with him, where a win in the district championship means he will go for the major leagues once more.
Whenever these sports films touch on the confines of time in terms of playing professional sports, beating the odds is a constant theme. If you are in the mood for a solid sports film that has an engaging plot and an awe-inspiring true story to back it up, Disney's The Rookie is worth a watch.
Jackie Robinson is one of the most-known names in baseball history. Not only was he renowned for being a marvelous talent, but Robinson's mere presence in the MLB caused the ugly plague of racism that was woven into the fabric of the sport and public opinion to come out in full force. 42 is the biographical sports drama starring Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson. The film follows Jackie's career after getting signed by legendary agent Branch Rickey, played by Harrison Ford.
Everyone these days knows the late Chadwick Boseman as the iconic Marvel superhero Black Panther. However, in 2013, he broke out with such an impeccable performance as Jackie Robinson that not enough people talk about it. The significance of Robinson's career for the sport of baseball and for Black representation in sports is already a story worth telling and watching over and over. Adding the layer of Boseman's legacy on its back is most definitely a sign for you to check this film out.
Eight Men Out is 1988 film that is based on Eliot Asinof's 1963 book Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series. The story follows the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds. When the strenuous relationship between the team and the owner reaches a fever pitch, the team's star players agree to throw the series, gambling on the results to make money. The film follows the true scandal coined "The Black Sox Scandal."
People get passionate about sports. Therefore, scandals like the one this film portrays are inevitable and very entertaining. The world of sports is not just about inspiring stories and championship wins; there is an ugly side of the sports world that is captured in this film. Eight Men Out is a masterful change of pace in terms of sports films that could not go wrong.
A League of Their Own is one of the most beloved sports movies of all time, and is based on a true story. The film came out in 1992 and follows an all-women baseball league funded by Walter Harvey, when World War II made young, athletic men scarce in society. The film is full of interconnected rivalries and an ensemble that feels like a sisterhood jumping right off the screen as the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) gets some much-needed representation in sports cinema.
Other than the fact that this film is a staple for any sports fan out there, baseball is definitely a male-dominated sport in society. A League of Their Own challenges in such a way that anyone can relate to it. As much as we love heavily emotional sports films, this one is a fun change of pace that is bright, funny, and a great sports film overall.
2011's Moneyball is based on the book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis. The film follows the ambitious general manager of the Oakland A's, Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt). Billy employs the help of Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) to reimagine the members of his team, focusing on the players that scouts have discounted. Following the 2002 season of the Oakland A's, this film is a must-watch baseball movie.
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