Bull Durham is the first of three baseball movies starring Kevin Costner. It was quickly followed by Field of Dreams and, 10 years later, For Love of the Game. Each storyline is unique. This one is actually more focused on sex than it is on baseball. (Given the presence and energies of Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon in the two leading roles, it can hardly be otherwise.) The sport itself is used as a backdrop to hold up what is supposedly the secondary plot.

Veteran minor-league catcher "Crash" Davis (Costner) has been called to the Durham Bulls to help break in and "mature" rookie pitcher Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins). Crash has his work cut out for him. Nuke is young, and he takes every opportunity to show off his arrogance and inexperience. At the same time, poetry-quoting, avid Bulls fan and informal team technical advisor (!) Annie Savoy (Sarandon) has her own, more personal breaking-in program in mind for Nuke. And yet: she's fascinated by Crash, too. A love triangle quickly develops. Who will end up together? And oh, by the way: What will happen to the baseball careers of both Nuke and Crash? You probably already know the answers to both questions.

Some of the supporting characters make good appearances. Bulls manager Joe "Skip" Reardon (Trey Wilson) and his assistant Larry Hockett (Robert Wuhl) offer some comical dynamics in the locker room and dugout. Annie's sidekick and protege Millie (Jenny Robertson) has a sudden meet-up with player Jimmy (William O'Leary) that offers a decent diversion.

The most memorable moments of all, however, surface in two main speeches. The first is delivered by Annie over the opening credits, and it begins with "I believe in the Church of Baseball." Her words set the stage and explain in part why she is who she is. The second speech is even more quotable, and it takes place in Annie's living room. Annie asks Crash what he believes in, and he starts by saying, "Well, I believe in the soul." He then sums up his own personality in just a few minutes, with a couple of surprises thrown in. His lines are well written, and he gives them honestly and purely. This is one of the best scenes in the movie.

Now, for the baseball part. Not much happens, really. The traditional minor-league park antics are realistic. Both Crash and Nuke talk to themselves while they're playing. (This is a nice and unintended foreshadowing of both Field of Dreams and For Love of the Game.) But I've seen this movie often enough that I now searched for something new-to-me and more intriguing. So: If you pay attention to Crash when he stands in the batter's box or in the batting cage, you'll see that although he throws right-handed, he switch-hits at the plate. He bats left to right-handed pitchers and bats right to the southpaws. Every single time. No one mentions this fact. He just does it. So, at least someone on the production staff was savvy to the nuances of the game.

What I always remember about this movie is that it marked the first meeting of actors Sarandon and Robbins. They soon moved in together and eventually had two children. Alas, they broke up in 2009. Anyway, it's kind of vicarious fun to watch the screen for at least an imagined glimpse of their budding relationship in real life.

The Durham Bulls are still a minor league team based in Durham, North Carolina. At the time of the filming, the club was part of the Carolina League and was affiliated with the Atlanta Braves. As I write this review in 2020, the Bulls belong to the International League, and they feed into the Tampa Bay Rays.

Bull Durham is a sexy, predictable and kind of amusing movie that has baseball as a casual theme. Fans of Costner and/or Sarandon probably won't turn away from it. And if you're missing the game for some reason, you can catch a few partial innings of it here. Otherwise, this selection is an optional one for your home-viewing line-up. It's rated R, of course.