Bull Durham is not only the greatest baseball movie of all time, it’s the greatest sports movie. It is so well written that you’d think it was based on a novel. However, the witty and uber-quotable prose of Bull Durham is just the product of the insights and life experience of Writer/Director Ron Shelton. And Bull Durham has influenced me more than any baseball related artistic-expression.
When giving a talk to a local college journalism class, I quoted this Bull Durham scene and said it’s pretty much what professional team PR departments do for a living. That’s Media Relations 101 in two minutes.
Whenever my female friends ask me how/why I keep attracting low self-esteem broken wings with tramp stamps and way too much time on their hands (yes, even in my mid-30s, these “women” still keep attaching themselves to me), I quote this Bull Durham speech (starts around 1:50 mark)
That scene gives better relationship advice than Dr. Phil’s entire body of work.
As Bull Durham turns 25 this weekend, the real life baseball team, the AAA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, will celebrate and honor the movie:
