2014 World Series Film

source: SF Examiner

Last Monday (November 10) Fox Sports 1 aired 2014's World Series Film. As I did in 2012, I recorded it on my DVR when it re-aired Wednesday morning.

I immediately watched when I got home from bowling and watched it again the next evening. The DVD is on order at Amazon and will be available to ship on November 25.

Like I did with the 2012 World Series film, I'll probably watch the DVR recording at least once a week for the next year.

As mentioned in my November 25, 2012 entry, the team that wins the World Series usually chooses a well-known actor who is an avid fan of the team.

For the 2010 film, it was Rob Schneider. 2012, Benjamin Bratt. 2013 (Boston Red Sox), Ben Affleck. This year's narrator, Colin Hanks.

The 2012 film ended with a very funny segment of Giants players doing Hunter Pence impersonations. For 2014, players did impersonations of none other than NLCS and World Series MVP, Madison Bumgarner.

Below is a video clip. Performances by Bruce Bochy, Jeremy Affeldt, Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey, Bumgarner's post season housemate Tim Hudson, Javier Lopez, 2012's subject Hunter Pence, and Michael Morse.

MLB World Series Film Narrators

The above video is the closing part of 2012's MLB World Series Film, which premiered last Tuesday (November 20) at the Castro Theatre. The attached film clip features San Francisco Giants players Matt Cain, Jeremy Affeldt, Ryan Vogelsong, Barry Zito, Buster Posey, Marco Scutaro, Angel Pagan, and Pablo Sandoval. They have been asked to do their best impersonations of right fielder Hunter Pence's motivational speeches during post-season play.

What you may miss in the opening credits is that the narrator of the film is San Francisco native, longtime Giants fan and actor, Benjamin Bratt. After hearing Giants president Larry Baer mention other well-known actors that have narrated in previous years, I found out they are also avid, longtime fans of the teams featured in other World Series films.

Here are a few:
2004 - Denis Leary, Boston Red Sox
2006 - Billy Bob Thornton, St. Louis Cardinals
2007 - Matt Damon, Boston Red Sox
2008 - Terrence Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
2010 - Rob Schneider, San Francisco Giants
2011 - Jon Hamm, St. Louis Cardinals

MLB Network has been re-airing many of these films this past week.  For me, it makes the films much more fun to watch. A famous, well-known actor who's just like us. An excited fan talking about his favorite team playing in the World Series.

Taking advantage of MLB's online Black Friday specials, I ordered the DVD yesterday. Can't wait to see it. Over and over again.