TOWER GROVE — The Post-Dispatch’s mirthful Mr. Joe Holleman offers up his “nine favorite baseball movies” in this morning’s paper and invites readers to cast votes for their favorites.

Hard to quibble with Holleman’s bulletproof lineup of movies, especially ”Bingo Long”, though the book is better, if you can find it. Major League is clearly No. 1, and Major League 2 is underrated, especially with Omar Epps turn as Willie Mays Hayes.

That said, what would an All-Star lineup of baseball movies characters look like? EW.com offers its baseball movie MVPs, but try filling out an actual lineup. Could you pit a fictional band of All-Stars against ones from biopics and other non-fiction retellings? (I.e., Would Tommy Lee Jones’ Ty Cobb go in spikes-high on Megan Cavanagh’s Marla Hooch?)

Raise the curtain. Here’s the:

THE SILVER SEAMS

• Starting pitcher: Steve Nebraska (The Scout)
• Strikeout setup man: Henry Rowengartner (Rookie of the Year)
• Closer: Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn, of course
• Catcher: Crash Davis
• First Base: Clue Haywood (Major League)
• Second base: Marla Hooch (A League of Their Own)
• Third base: Dottie Hinson, a position change until Crash retires
• Shortstop: Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez (The Sandlot)
• Left field: Shoeless Joe Jackson (Field of Dreams, if he’s hitting righthanded, it’s fiction)
• Center field: Willie Mays Hayes
• Right field: Roy Hobbs
• Power on the bench: Dennis Haysbert. Yes, the actor, Mr. President, see he can be two bats for one roster spot — Max “Hammer” Dubois (Mr. Baseball) and Pedro Cerrano (Major League).
• Defense, speed, promising talent to nurture: Esquire Joe Callaway (Bingo Long)

The Lineup

1. Hayes, CF
2. Rodriguez, SS
3. Jackson, LF
4. Hobbs, RF
5. Haywood, 1B
6. Davis, C
7. Hinson, 3B
8. Nebraska, RHP (wink)
9. Hooch, 2B

Got a better one? Got a non-fiction one?

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