The Natural

 

                                      I know it's way too late to talk about Baseball since we're near the end of the season coming up on Baseball playoffs moreover everyone caring more about Football season. Though the big problem for me is that my two Football teams suck (Nebraska Football and Dallas Cowboys), also this year marks the final years end for St. Louis Cardinals legends Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright furthermore in order to tell why I chose to watch The Natural now, I might as well go back to March. It was during the week of St. Patty’s Day and my week was like a train wreck from hell firstly my car was having problems moreover going to cost be big in terms of repairs also putting up with people at work, and the Academy Awards came along and as usual I had to sit through this mockery due to working at a TV station, and after work I heard what was the greatest news of my life. Albert Pujols was coming back to play for the Cardinals one final time and boy I never felt so happy in my entire life. For which to my time of sitting down and watching The Natural, for which now beginning to realize it know I began to see similarities with Roy Hobbs and both Pujols, Molina and Wainwright.   

                                      On the way to a tryout with the Chicago Cubs, young Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is shot by an unstable woman (Barbara Hershey). After 16 years, Hobbs returns to pro baseball as a rookie for a last place New York Knights. Despite early arguments with his manager Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley, who may or may not have diabetes), Hobbs becomes one of the best players in the league, and the Knights start winning. But this upsets the owner (Robert Prosky), who wants Hobbs to lose games, not win. 

                                      In a very short summary review, there's really nothing much to say in my mind The Natural is defiantly in the top ten best of Baseball movies and as far as Robert Redford, this is defiantly one of his top-notch performances behind Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's men and the Sting too. A little fun fact Robert Redford is a big time Ted Williams and during the making of the film he insisted on wearing number 9 and batting third because that's where Williams batted, along with his catch phrase "there goes Roy Hobbs the best that ever was", though granted Redford had to take the Ted Williams part out but deep down you can see the resemblance. I will say yeah there's a lot of questions in terms of logic like Michael Madsen running into the outfield and dying which, I'd guess it was because he angered Wonder Boy? Though director Barry Levison did state that the film in a sense is fantasy so we can defiantly scratch that part but through the years he told Bob Costas “Through the years, these outlandish things actually happened, like Kirk Gibson hitting a home run and limping around the bases, Curt Schilling with the blood on the sock in the World Series". While writing this review I began to realize that "oh dude" both Pujols, Molina and Wainwright both share in interesting comparison with the character of Roy Hobbs via memories I cherish. And the best way to start off those cherish memories is basically starting off with Adam Wainwright, in the first scene or flashback scene we see Roy Hobbs striking out Joe Don Baker whose supposed to be this Babe Ruth type character, well that scene just reminded me alone of the 2006 NLCS, when he faced off with the Mets power hitter Carlos Beltran and since Izzy (Jason Isringhousen) wasn't able to close, rookie pitcher Adam Wainwright came up in the crucial moments and struck out Beltran to send the Cardinals to the World Series. The best way I can compare both Roy Hobbs and Yadier Molina is they're both clutch hitters, and yes I'm referring to in the final game of the movie where Roy Hobbs hits the game winning home run to win the game, but one great example is of course the NLCS against the Mets in 06, and of all rookie's besides Wainwright, catching sensation Yadier Molina steps up in the crucial moments and give the Cardinals a chance to win over the Mets, and in all honesty that wasn't the only clutch moment Yadi did as I remember watching him in 2016 against the Reds in a crucial moment when the bases where fully loaded with Cardinals and all it took was a hit by a pitch to win the game, furthermore that's why I depict him as one of the Greatest Catchers of All Time because no matter what when it comes to those crucial moments Molina delivers and if you don't believe me I'll give you another great memory, and that's when he hit a sack fly in the 2019 NLDS to advance us to game 5 against the Braves, man was I ever jumping for joy just like he was when he threw his bat and helmet. Albert Pujols was easy in terms of comparing him to Hobbs, Albert to me is single handily one of the greatest hitters the Cardinals has ever produced, and I can back it up with the walk of homer in 2005 against the Astro's in NLCS, blasting a home run off of Verlander in game 1 of the 2006 World Series I mean the list goes on, I mean I could also talk about the most memorable moment is when he came back to St. Louis as an Angel in game 2 of the series and he hits a home run and everyone in Busch Stadium was just going nuts including my family and nephew. And granted the list goes on and on including my brother having me watch him hit number 3,000 and Albert reaching the goal of 700 home runs, so in fairness there's a lot of ways to compare Albert to Roy Hobbs but the only difference Pujols doesn't need a special bat to become the greatest hitter of all time. Now, with all portraying three Cardinals greats I consider heroes of mine especially when it comes to Baseball, I do consider The Natural in the category of go to Baseball films to watch, despite it being a while since I've watched it, the film really lifts you up inside in a very strange way even I can't explain moreover I'd rank this in the top ten greatest Baseball films of all time.