For Love of the Game

For Love of the Game is a 1999 movie directed by Sam Raimi, based on a novel by Michael Shaara. It tells the story of the personal life of Detroit Tigers star pitcher Billy Chapel (played by Kevin Costner) as he pitches a perfect game against the New York Yankees on the final day of the regular season. The movie also stars Kelly Preston, J.K. Simmons, John C. Reily, Brian Cox and Jena Malone. It was Costner's third starring role in a baseball movie, after Bull Durham (1988) and Field of Dreams (1989).

The movie featured Vin Scully, Steve Lyons, Bob Sheppard, Eddie Layton, Jerry Crawford, Rich Garcia and Rick Reed as themselves. The production used many minor league and former players to fill out the non-speaking player roles. Players and coaches featured included: Ricky Ledee, Donzell McDonald, Dave Eiland, Mike Buddie, Juan Nieves, Scott Pose, Jim Colborn, Mike Rivera and Augie Garrido.

The baseball scenes in the movie were filmed at Yankee Stadium.

External Link

• Internet Movie Database information on the movie