Hobbs versus the Whammer is fantastic; Joe Don Baker is the best Hollywood Babe Ruth, with the size, nose, gut and swagger, compared favorably to John Goodman; the scene dates to 1923, Ruth's 14-WAR MVP season, and both hosts prefer the Whammer as a cover rather than naming Babe Ruth, partly because a lefty would have been needed.
The foul tip taking out Duval (as transcribed), or rather the poor old catcher, with nobody wearing masks is noted, and Duval backing up twenty paces, to the Whammer's protest about how he will call it from there, is a classic moment.
Hobbs' first batting practice, with the Wonderboy clip played, is wonderful for three reasons: the sheer spectacle like Josh Hamilton in a home run derby, Brimley guzzling the filthy water he had complained about, and the 'I've been here every day' line that shows Roy is kind of a dick, entitled and owed something; Redford's swing was modeled on Ted Williams per the Roger Angel New Yorker piece (as transcribed), and he and Costner both looked like ballplayers.
Roy storming out of the meeting, deflowering Iris and immediately falling for the bad-luck niece after Pop's warning, then slumping, shows poor judgment with women and no understanding of birth control, which is excused as 1923.
Third on one list is Hobbs' first at bat, tearing the cover off the ball as the rain comes at the perfect time; the 'is this team alive' exchange between Red and Pop captures the rhythms of a baseball season when a team gets hot; Roy's batting-practice pitch and Max Mercy sprinting from his seat raise whether he could still pitch with the bullet in his side, answered with pain tolerance and no Toradol.
Other nominees: the lady in white scene with Glenn Close standing up, Hobbs' homer breaking the Wrigley Field clock, which did not exist until two years later, Brimley crossing Hobbs out of the lineup, Roy's last at bat, and the lightning bolt splitting the tree to forge Wonderboy, with the glowing stump called good special effects for 1984.
The 'losing is a disease' speech, comparing losing to syphilis and the bubonic plague, is hilarious, and the newspaper headline montages are praised for propelling the pace like Twitter or push notifications, though that is ruled to belong in what's aged the best.
One pick is the walk-off homer, the greatest chill scene of any sports movie, except perhaps Rocky getting up in the 14th round of Rocky 1; everything leading up to it, breaking Wonder Boy and 'pick me a winner, Bobby' with the Savoy special, is iconic.
The other pick, after 35 years of watching, is Hobbs showing up for the final game while Brimley shaves, with the 'suit up' clip played twice; a dad who calls whenever it is on to quote 'you're the best damn hitter I ever saw' is recalled.
Wilford Brimley's chest hair in that scene, and every scene, is like a forest, a peninsula, a platypus bill, a pelt; the hosts wonder how he does not trim it, whether it is a masculine calling card and whether he is still alive at 84.
Matt Damon is a no because the movie was not a hit; his real apex is probably the first movie of his franchise that made a shitload of money (the transcript has 'that first born movie'), unless it was covered in the Good Will Hunting episode; Ed Norton is a no, with Fight Club his apex given his body of work, though he was on his way up; Gretchen Maul (as transcribed) is definitely a no, with The Notorious Betty Page (as transcribed) her comeback.
Johnny Chan is put forward as a 100 percent yes; the other reacts 'No way!' and the proposer repeats 100 percent yes, since Chan won two World Series of Poker in a row, this was effectively his third title, and he is immortalized pulling the greatest poker move, waiting out his man; the hosts wonder whether it is the same wheel hand Mike uses to beat Teddy KGB.
John Turturro is a no: this and Jesus in The Big Lebowski the same year are a great one-two, but Barton Fink is probably his apex, even though one host is not a Coen Brothers guy.
For Malkovich, Dangerous Liaisons is argued as his apex, coming off Killing Fields, with an underrated over-the-top performance opposite Glenn Close; then the other realizes it must be Being John Malkovich, since they named a movie after him, which is conceded as the cherry on the sundae.
For Koppelman and Levine, Billions is their apex mountain right now; their dream is Kevin Durant telling them at a party that he loves their show.
