The Rewatchables: ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin

Published 2019-03-19; 1:47:00 by the feed.

As extracted (engineer-sonnet-2026-10-13)

The extraction calls the show “The Rewatchables (The Ringer)” and the episode “'The Natural' With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin”.

Hosts: Bill Simmons, Mallory Rubin. Guests: none.

Subject films: The Natural (1984).

On the transcript: No speaker labels; the two hosts trade lines fast, so attributions are low-confidence in many places. Producer Craig and others chime in briefly; a recurring Rewatchables structure (nominees, aged best/worst, Apex Mountain, picking nits, unanswerable questions) is present, with ad reads at the start, 0:29, 0:54 and 1:14.

Awards and segments (62)

Most rewatchable scene

floated Hobbs versus the Whammer, the carnival at-bat
“Hobbes versus the Whammer is fantastic.”
Bill Simmons · 0:31:07
floated Hobbs's first batting practice, when they finally let him hit
“Hobbs's 1st batting practice when they finally let him.”
Bill Simmons · 0:33:13
floated Hobbs's first at bat tears the cover off the ball, with the rain
“Hobbs's 1st at bat tears the cover off the ball.”
Bill Simmons · 0:36:36
floated Roy throws the batting-practice pitch and Max Mercy sprints out of his seat
“pitch and cut to the max mercy sprinting out of his seat.”
Bill Simmons · 0:37:26
floated Hobbs's homer breaks the clock at Wrigley Field
“Hobbs's Homer breaks the clock at Wrigley Field, which unfortunately, the clock didn't exist until 2 years later.”
Bill Simmons · 0:38:08
floated Pop Fisher crosses Hobbs out of the lineup
“Redford and Brimley when Brimley doesn't think Hobbs is going to play, crosses him out of the lineup.”
Bill Simmons · 0:38:17
floated The ending and Roy's last at bat
“And then the ending in Roy's last step at.”
Bill Simmons · 0:38:25
floated The lightning bolt fells the tree and Wonderboy is forged
“The lightning bolt felling the tree, like the the forging of Wonderboy.”
Mallory Rubin · 0:38:43
floated Pop's losing-is-a-disease speech
“The... Losing is a disease speech.”
Mallory Rubin · 0:39:07
floated The newspaper headline montages
“And then I like all of the newspaper headline montages.”
Mallory Rubin · 0:39:58
pick The walk-off home run with the fireworks and the lights exploding
“It's got to be the walkoff homer.”
Mallory Rubin · 0:42:15
pick Hobbs showing up for the final game and Pop Fisher shaving
“My most rewatchable scene is Hobbs showing up for the final game.”
Bill Simmons · 0:43:12

Ebert review · The hosts read Roger Ebert's review of the film.

pick The Natural: Ebert gave it 2 stars and objected that it turned baseball into idolatry.
“He said, why didn't they make a baseball picture?”
Bill Simmons · 0:18:18

What aged best · What about the movie has held up best.

nominee Wilfred Brimley and Richard Farnsworth as Pop Fisher and Red: The best stuff in the movie.
“Brimsley and Farnsworth as pop and red.”
Mallory Rubin · 0:47:20
nominee The Hebrew Oilers
“We find out that Hobbs played semi-pro ball for the Hebrew Oilers.”
Bill Simmons · 0:47:55
nominee Randy Newman score
“We forgot to mention the Randy Newman soundtrack and just like... iconic score. Nominated for an Oscar.”
Mallory Rubin · 0:48:16
nominee Kim Basinger as Memo
“I have Kim Basinger again, as Woodsage the best.”
Bill Simmons · 0:48:41
nominee John Rhodes: Looks like Roy, throws left, and has a good throwing motion.
“John Rhodes, the lefty from Pittsburgh who comes in, who's the Roy Hobbs spitting image.”
Bill Simmons · 0:50:07
nominee The slow-motion dugout jump after the homer
“And then the guys, the slow motion of the guys jumping out of the dugout after the Homer.”
Bill Simmons · 0:50:22
nominee Roy Hobbs's three-true-outcomes offensive game: He is a modern-era hitter: homers, strikeouts, walks.
“Roy Hobbs's 3 true outcomes offensive game.”
Mallory Rubin · 0:50:40
nominee The old-school baseball aesthetics and Cubs uniforms
“The old school baseball fashion and all of the baseball aesthetics of aged wonderfully, like especially the Cubs uniforms.”
Mallory Rubin · 0:51:50
nominee Iris as an independent spirit as Iris Gaines
“And then my final nominee is Iris, as an independent spirit and, you know, trailblazing feminist.”
Mallory Rubin · 0:52:15
winner Wilfred Brimley and Richard Farnsworth as Pop Fisher and Red: Would watch deleted scenes of them in the dugout; the score is his alternate.
“For me, it's red and pop.”
Bill Simmons · 0:53:44

What aged worst · What about the movie has held up worst.

winner Robert Redford too old to play the young Roy: He should not be in the first 20 minutes.
“My pick would be how old Robert Redford is.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:04:11
winner Roy Hobbs's son's throwing motion: Compared unfavorably to the catcher in Field of Dreams.
“I really hate Roy's son storing motion.”
Bill Simmons · 1:04:17
nominee Bump Bailey dies running through an unpadded wall
“I have this on my list, no outfield wall padding.”
Bill Simmons · 0:58:18
nominee The long hospital stretch: No doubt Roy plays, so the 20 minutes drag.
“My move with sports movies is like, get me out of the hospital as fast as possible.”
Bill Simmons · 1:00:37
nominee No baseball-reference: nobody can work out who Roy is
“Yeah, the absence of basically baseball reference in the internet, because nobody can figure out who the fuck this guy is, nobody.”
Bill Simmons · 1:01:21
nominee No diversity in the film
“There's no diversity in the film whatsoever.”
unknown · 1:03:18

Picking Nits · Nitpicks of a film they love.

pick The national anthem before games: That did not happen until after World War 2.
“At the beginning of the games, the national anthem is being sung.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:19:22
pick Fowler barely throws the game he was bribed to throw
“If Fowler, the pitcher in the last game, was going to throw the last game if he was being bribed to throw the last game.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:20:00
pick The newspaper copy is gibberish and the dates jump around: Called her biggest nitpick.
“Um, the newspaper copy, if you actually freeze frame it, it's just gibberish underneath the headline.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:20:44
pick Roy's silver bullet and internal organs
“Utterly confounded by everything that has to do with Roy's internal organs and gastrointestines.”
Bill Simmons · 1:21:09
pick Pop's lineup construction
“You put your slowest guy in the 2 spot.”
unknown · 1:23:23
pick No one hears the gunshot in the owner's box
“No one hears a gunshot go off in the owner's box in the stadium before the game.”
unknown · 1:24:04
pick Roy never changes his name
“Change your fucking name.”
unknown · 1:24:27

Joey Pants Award · Best that guy.

winner Darren McGavin as Gus Sands: Recognizable but uncredited.
“Darren McGavin.”
Bill Simmons · 1:17:43

Dion Waiters Award · Best heat check in the movie.

nominee Bobby the Batboy: Bill's initial pick before switching.
“Bobby the Batboy is my pick.”
Bill Simmons · 1:04:38
winner Darren McGavin as Gus Sands: Gus went for it every time; Bill agreed he was the better choice.
“Gus, Gus is really going for it.”
unknown · 1:04:59

Apex Mountain · Where a career or performance sits on the mountain.

nominee Darren McGavin as Gus Sands: Floated as possibly his apex.
“Although Darren McGavin, if he had been credited.”
Bill Simmons · 1:15:40
nominee Kim Basinger: Rejected: L.A. Confidential is later and bigger.
“You could make us, there's a small case to be made for Kim Basinger.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:15:46
winner Wilfred Brimley as Pop Fisher
“I think you make a case, this is Brimley's Apex Mountain.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:16:04
nominee Wilfred Brimley's chest hair
“I think his chest hair was Apex Mountain.”
Bill Simmons · 1:16:22

Saul Rubinek Award · Best overacting.

nominee Michael Madsen as Bump's teammate: Over the top with no clear character.
“I got to say, Matson.”
Bill Simmons · 1:17:55
winner Kim Basinger as Memo Paris
“you really can make a, a case for Kim, Kim Basinger for MO.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:18:11
nominee Robert Prosky as The Judge
“And then I think, Prosky, the judge.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:18:48
winner Kim Basinger as Memo Paris
“I'll go with basing.”
Bill Simmons · 1:19:10

Best quote · Best line of dialogue.

winner I believe we have two lives: The life we learn with and the life we live after that.
“No, I believe we have 2 lives.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:25:45
pick The ball's as dry as your granddaddy's scalp
“Uh, Sam to the Whammer.”
Bill Simmons · 1:26:26
pick The only thing I know about the dark is you can't see in it as Roy Hobbs: Tells you Roy is a literal man.
“When he says the only thing I know about the dark is you can't see in it.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:28:21

Netflix show · Could it be remade as a 10 episode Netflix show.

pick No for baseball; would have to be basketball: Pitch was canceled; basketball is the better fit.
“Um, I definitely my answer is no for baseball.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:29:14
pick Basketball version set in the late 1960s: A prodigy shot in 1953 who returns in 1969.
“So I was thinking maybe the way to do it is you do basketball, but it's set in the 19, like, late 60s or something.”
Bill Simmons · 1:29:51

Unanswerable questions · Questions the movie never answers.

pick What Roy did for 15 years away from baseball
“What did Roy Habbs do for those 15 years away from baseball?”
Mallory Rubin · 1:30:41
pick Is Kim Basinger a good actress
“My next unanswerable question, is Kim Baser a good actress?”
Bill Simmons · 1:33:03
pick Was the barn their first time
“Speaking of speaking of Roy and Iris, this was one of my unanswerable questions, the time that they fuck in the barn.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:34:00
pick Greatest sports-movie game to attend
“Would this have been the greatest sports movie game to attend?”
Mallory Rubin · 1:35:30
pick Escape to Victory as the greatest game to attend
“I am still going with the end of victory with Slice Stallone.”
Bill Simmons · 1:35:36
pick The headlines we do not see
“We see, as discussed, all of these newspaper headlines throughout.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:36:52
pick What the note from Iris to Roy says
“What does the note that Iris gets to Roy say?”
Mallory Rubin · 1:37:44
pick Roy Hobbs's stats: Settled on about 70 games, a high average and roughly 28 homers.
“Last one is what were Roy Hobbs's stats in the national, which when I started writing for page two in 2001.”
Bill Simmons · 1:38:47

Who won the movie · Who came out ahead in the film.

winner Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs
“Robert Redford.”
Bill Simmons · 1:45:35
nominee Wilfred Brimley as Pop Fisher: The heart of the film, giving the maimed king the win.
“You could you could make a case for for pop.”
Mallory Rubin · 1:45:40

Films that came up

Claims (66)

craft (craft): Tim Robbins → Bull Durham. Tim Robbins's throwing motion is called insurmountable for a phenom pitcher; Mallory counters that it is part of the lore.
“You can't have the greatest baseball movie of all time when you have this phenom pitcher, and he throws like he has a broken arm.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:04:05 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): The Natural → Bull Durham. The Natural is about becoming a god among mortals; Bull Durham is about the opposite, never getting there.
“it's almost in some ways the complete opposite of the natural”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:05:01 · Mallory Rubin (0.70 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): The Natural → Bull Durham. Mallory is drawn to the opposite of the Natural's premise: what if you can never get there, as with Crash Davis.
“I'm always, though, going to be slightly more drawn, I think, to the opposite, which is what if you can never get there?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:05:18 · Mallory Rubin (0.80 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Natural → Field of Dreams. Both belong to the pre-steroids era when fans believed in baseball heroes, fathers and sons.
“they belong to this era of baseball that was basically ruined by steroids”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:05:41 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): The Natural → Bernard Malamud. In the book Hobbs strikes out; Levinson made Redford a hero and the story about fathers and sons.
“instead of basically doing the true reconstruction of the book, he decided to make Redford a hero, and he made it more about fathers and sons.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:09:52 · Mallory Rubin (0.80 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Natural → Field of Dreams. The movie's father-and-son angle is the easy baseball move that Field of Dreams is also about.
“That's basically what field of dreams is about to.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:10:09 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Natural → Field of Dreams. The Natural's ending, a catch with your son, echoes the wheat-field catch in Field of Dreams.
“And the concept of when I have a son someday will have a catch and then we'll be playing in the backyard.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:10:12 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): The Natural → Field of Dreams. A 2015 remake would stay faithful to the dark book, since we now expect the worst of baseball heroes.
“if we made this movie in like 2015, I actually think they would have stayed faithful to the book”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:10:47 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Natural → Game of Thrones. A darker book-faithful Natural fits the anti-hero era of prestige TV like Game of Thrones.
“Even think about something like Game of Thrones.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:11:03 · Mallory Rubin (0.80 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): The Natural → Miles Teller. Casting a dark 2019 Roy Hobbs: Miles Teller is floated and rejected as too young.
“Is it Miles Teller?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:12:35 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Natural → Bernard Malamud. The film is adapted from his 1952 novel, but its ending is very different.
“Written in 1952 by Bernard Malamud.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:13:28 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Natural → Eddie Waitkus. The novel borrowed from the 1949 shooting of Eddie Waitkus of the Phillies.
“Borrowed from this bizarre shooting of Eddie Waitkiss in 1949 in the Phillies”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:13:33 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Natural → Shoeless Joe Jackson. The book's ending, with a boy saying it ain't true, Roy, is a clear Shoeless Joe Jackson rip-off.
“which is a clear shoeless Joe Jackson, rip off thing.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:14:00 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Natural → The Odyssey (Homer). The movie maps onto Homer: Roy is Odysseus, Harriet and Memo play siren/Calypso figures, Iris is Penelope.
“So basically it's Roy Hobbs is Odysseus.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:14:21 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Natural → Joseph Campbell. The film fits the hero's journey, even down to a silver bullet.
“you can assess it on the, on the Joseph Campbell, Hero's Journey scale.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:15:44 · Mallory Rubin (0.80 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Natural → Arthurian legend. Roy is king, Wonderboy is Excalibur; the Fisher King, Percival and the Grail also fit.
“Wonder Boy is Excalibur.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:16:36 · Mallory Rubin (0.80 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Natural → The Princess Bride. Both are very 80s and use basic generic themes told in an awesome way.
“both very 80s, they belong to that decade, but both trying to accomplish a lot of the same things of just these very basic generic themes”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:17:47 · Mallory Rubin (0.60 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Natural → Roger Ebert. Ebert gave two stars and said it turned into idolatry; Mallory calls the critique bad because myth-making is the draw.
“It's bad critique.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:18:46 · Mallory Rubin (0.60 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Natural → Philip Roth. Baseball stories link the sport to myth, as in the Great American novel idea.
“I think of of Philip Roth and the great American novel.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:19:46 · Mallory Rubin (0.70 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Natural → Game of Thrones. The skeptical-journalist role echoes a Game of Thrones line about a suspicious mind.
“And I found myself thinking about that with the whole journalistic depiction in the film”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:24:32 · Mallory Rubin (0.70 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Moneyball → The Rewatchables (series). Moneyball was one of the first Rewatchables ever done, now seen as underrated.
“that was one of the 1st rewatchables we ever did, was Moneyball”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:25:04 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Natural → Moneyball. The best baseball movies each represent whatever their era was; Moneyball is the modern one.
“goes back to the point of how the best baseball movies kind of represent whatever the era was.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:25:11 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Bad News Bears → Bad News Bears (remake). The 70s original was politically incorrect like the era; the remake had to be made politically correct, which defeated the purpose.
“When they rebate it, it was a disaster because they had to make a political correct version of it”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:25:31 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Natural → Major League. The 80s baseball movies (The Natural, Field of Dreams, Major League) follow the old-school rags-to-riches arc, Rocky as a baseball team.
“the natural field of dreams, major league with the old school kind of start to finish, rags to riches, rocky as a baseball team”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:25:37 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Bull Durham → Rocky. Bull Durham took the Rocky motto a level further in how a sports movie is written.
“how can we take that rocky motto and actually go the next level with how we write a movie”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:25:51 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career): Ron Shelton → Bull Durham. Writing Bull Durham is called Ron Shelton's biggest legacy.
“That's his biggest legacy.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:26:00 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
industry (industry): For Love of the Game → Moneyball. Baseball movies progressed from straight sports to merging genres (For Love of the Game) to a movement story that happens to be about baseball (Moneyball).
“now it's like this is about a movement that happened in a sport and it just happens to be about baseball”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:26:20 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
programming (programming): The Sandlot → The Rewatchables (series). Bill wants to do a Rewatchables on The Sandlot.
“We have to do rewatchables on the sandlot.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:27:11 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): The Natural → The Sandlot. For Bill's young son, the Natural is way too slow, while Sandlot, Major League and Bad News Bears work.
“But like the natural, way too slow.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:27:40 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Pretty Woman → The Rewatchables (series). Pretty Woman is next week's Rewatchable.
“prep for next week's rewatchable.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:29:39 · Mallory Rubin (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Joe Don Baker → John Goodman. Joe Don Baker is the best Hollywood Babe Ruth; Goodman's version looks less athletic by comparison.
“Compared to John Goodman and Dave Ruth.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:31:47 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
people (people): The Natural → Babe Ruth. The Whammer is a stand-in for Babe Ruth; real names and fictional creations blend.
“I like the whammer as a cover.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:32:24 · Mallory Rubin (0.60 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Robert Redford → Ted Williams. Redford's swing was modeled on Ted Williams, per a New Yorker piece.
“Great swing by Redford.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:33:48 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
people (people): Robert Redford → Kevin Costner. It was crucial that Redford and Costner both looked like baseball players.
“So crucial that him and Costner both really looked like baseball players.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:33:54 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Natural → Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The Natural's 1984 lightning effects beat the 2001 Quidditch effects.
“The lightning, the lightning scene is more realistic and has better, more state of the art special effects than a scene where everyone's flying around in 2001.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:41:06 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Natural → Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. A lightning-storm Quidditch match in the third movie pairs with the Natural's lightning.
“There is a Quidditch match played in lightning that I think you'll enjoy.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:41:30 · Mallory Rubin (0.60 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Natural → Rocky. The Natural's walk-off homer is the greatest chill scene of any sports movie, except maybe Rocky going down and getting up in the 14th round.
“Except for maybe Rocky getting knocked down in the 14th round of Rocky one”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:42:32 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Natural → Randy Newman. The Randy Newman score is iconic, Oscar-nominated, and still used on sports montages.
“It comes back in on sports montages.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:48:23 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): The Natural → Zach Cram. Roy's modern value would be a three-true-outcomes player, like Zach Cram, with only homers, strikeouts and walks.
“He only Homer strikes outer walks.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:50:52 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Barry Bonds → The Natural. Roy Hobbs is basically a 2003 Barry Bonds: homers and walks.
“Well, what he is, is he's 2003 bonds.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:51:25 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Natural → The Revenant. The heavy, hot Cubs wool uniforms look like Leo wearing an animal to stay warm.
“Leo DiCaprio, the revenant, just wearing like an animal to stay warm.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:52:10 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Tim Robbins → Bull Durham. Robbins's odd throw is half excused because he hurt his arm early in filming.
“because he actually threw out his arm early in the filming and that's why he throws that way”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:56:57 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Natural → Field of Dreams. Roy Hobbs's son and the Field of Dreams catcher are the worst throwing motions; the speaker names Tim Robbins's Bull Durham motion as worse-but-excused.
“I just can't excuse the Field of Dreams catcher.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:57:08 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Natural → Fred Lynn. Bump Bailey's wall death recalls the Fenway wall padding added after Fred Lynn hit the wall in 1975.
“Fred Lynn ran into the wall in 75 in the World Series and was down for 5 minutes”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:58:24 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Natural → Damien Chazelle. Women as only destroyers or saviors is compared to Damien Chazelle's movies.
“very reminiscent of the current Damian Chazelle experience.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:59:30 · Mallory Rubin (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Natural → Rocky II. Hospital-bound pacing in The Natural echoes the biggest flaw of Rocky II.
“This is the biggest flaw on Rocky 2.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:00:41 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career): Darren McGavin → The Natural. McGavin went uncredited; his IMDb is mostly 1978 Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Rockford Files.
“It's like 1978. Love boat.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:05:38 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Natural → Bama Rowell. The scoreboard-clock home run was inspired by Bama Rowell breaking a clock at Ebbets Field in 1946.
“inspired by Bammer Roell of the Boston Braves doing it to Ebbitt's Field.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:06:06 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Natural → Roy Campanella. Roy's line about a lot of little boy in you was actually a Campanella quote.
“It was actually a quote by Ray Campanella.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:07:50 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
people (people): The Natural → Ted Williams. Hobbs was loosely modeled after Ted Williams.
“Hobbs was loosely modeled after Ted Williams, lefty number nine”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:11:12 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Bret Hart → The Natural. Bret Hart took his catchphrase from this movie.
“Took his catchphrase from this.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:11:47 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Natural → Ruth Ann Steinhagen. A real person, Ruth Ann Steinhagen, inspired Harriet.
“a real person, Ruth Ann Steinhagen inspired Harriet”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:12:40 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Kim Basinger → L.A. Confidential. The Natural got Basinger's career going; L.A. Confidential was the tail end, so not her apex.
“This got her career really moving the next level.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:15:58 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Wilford Brimley → The Firm. Brimley's Apex Mountain is raised as The Firm.
“What about the firm?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:16:13 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Barry Levinson → Diner. Levinson's apex mountain is raised as Diner.
“I mean, Levinson, it's it's Diner Arraignman, right?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:16:42 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Barry Levinson → Rain Man. Levinson's apex is Diner or Rain Man.
“I would say Rain Man for him.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:16:46 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Robert Redford → Ordinary People. Redford won an Oscar for directing Ordinary People.
“he won an Oscar for ordinary people as director”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:16:54 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Robert Redford → All the President's Men. Redford's apex mountain was All the President's Men, when he had the juice to make and produce it.
“We did the other President's Men rewatchables and decided that actually was his Apex Mountain”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:16:59 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Kramer vs. Kramer → The Squid and the Whale. Kramer vs. Kramer is the best divorce movie; the Squid and the Whale answer is fighting words.
“Anyone who says squid and the whale for best divorce movie, I just want to fight.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:17:36 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): The Natural → Hypothetical basketball series. As a 10-episode series it would be better as basketball, set in the 60s, to keep the identity mystery plausible.
“I definitely my answer is no for baseball.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:29:14 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Natural → Pitch (TV). A modern TV remake in baseball is doubtful since Pitch was canceled.
“we just had a great baseball show, pitch, and it got canceled.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:29:17 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Natural → Escape to Victory (Victory). Greatest sports movie game to attend: Victory still wins over the Natural's walk-off.
“I am still going with the end of victory with Slice Stallone.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:35:36 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Natural → Lou Gehrig. Roy Hobbs and Lou Gehrig, whose last season it was, never play again after the pennant.
“Roy Hobbs and Lou Gehrig.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:38:43 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Barry Bonds → The Natural. After redoing the math, Bonds was better than Roy Hobbs.
“Barry Bonds was better than Roy Hobbs is my conclusion of this.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:43:15 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
programming (programming): The Natural → Major League. Major League and Field of Dreams are the next two Rewatchables.
“we're going to be doing Major League and Field of Dreams over the next couple weeks.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:46:33 · Bill Simmons (0.90 sure it was them)
programming (programming): The Natural → Bull Durham. Bull Durham is being saved for a magical time (heard as Boulder).
“Boulder, we're saving for when it's a really magical time.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:46:38 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

Fun items (27)

fun, about The Natural: Bill's 1997 website list of the 30 greatest sports movies graded each film on whether it had a chill scene; The Natural's fireworks home run is the best.
“This movie has, I think, the best chill scene of any sports movie, which is the home run with the fireworks”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:07:57 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: The film maps onto Greek myth: Max Mercy as Vulcan in red and brown, Pop as Zeus with uniform number one, the Judge as Hades, Memo as Calypso, Gus as the cyclops, Iris as Penelope.
“Max Mercy is the Vulcan god of fire who could make or break you.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:14:26 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: Wonderboy is Excalibur, Roy means king, and the tree felled by lightning is Zeus.
“What does Roy mean?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:16:32 · Mallory Rubin (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Roger Ebert: Ebert gave it two stars, asking why it was turned into idolatry; the hosts fumble the word.
“Why did the natural have to be turned into Idolatry?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:18:22 · Mallory Rubin (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Joe Don Baker: Joe Don Baker as the Whammer is called the best Hollywood Babe Ruth; Roy versus the Whammer is a top rewatchable scene.
“the best version of Babe Ruth from a Hollywood version was actually Joe Don Baker is the whammer.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:31:27 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: Hobbs's batting practice: Pop guzzles the filthy water and the scene shows Roy is kind of a dick.
“You really realize that Roy is kind of a dick.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:34:52 · Mallory Rubin (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: Pop's 'losing is a disease' speech compares losing to syphilis and the bubonic plague.
“This guy is trying to motivate the team by comparing losing to syphilis and the bubonic plague.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:39:44 · Mallory Rubin (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Wilford Brimley: Brimley's chest hair in the shaving scene becomes a running bit, later declared an Apex Mountain.
“His chest hair is out to like the microphone from here.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:44:28 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Kim Basinger: Basinger's lip licking: is it deliberate or just who she is.
“I was like, is she doing this on purpose or is this just who he, who she is?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:46:47 · Mallory Rubin (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Wilford Brimley: The hosts note Brimley in this movie was the age Bill is now.
“Wilfred Brimley in that movie is the same age as I am right now”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:47:31 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: Hobbs played semi-pro for the Hebrew Oilers; the hosts wonder if the T-shirts exist.
“We find out that Hobbs played semi-pro ball for the Hebrew Oilers.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:47:55 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Max Mercy: Where would Max Mercy work today: Daily News, then serious radio with his own logo.
“How do you think Max would do as a modern day blogger?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:49:07 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: Roy Hobbs only homers, strikes out or walks; he is 2003 Barry Bonds.
“He only Homer strikes outer walks.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:50:52 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Iris: Iris moves to Chicago, raises her boy alone, runs her own life: independent spirit and trailblazing feminist.
“Iris, as an independent spirit and, you know, trailblazing feminist.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:52:15 · Mallory Rubin (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Bump Bailey: Aged worst: Bump Bailey dies running through a wall with no outfield padding, played as comedy.
“It's 100% comedic.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 0:59:08 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Darren McGavin: McGavin went uncredited because he'd have gotten lesser billing; the hosts call it pride over practicality.
“So he chose to go uncredited.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:05:25 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: The scoreboard clock Hobbs breaks did not exist at Wrigley until 1941, two years after the setting.
“Introduced to Ragley in 41.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:06:26 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: Filmed at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo; TriStar spent $500,000 making it look older.
“spend $500,000 putting War Memorial Stadium even further back in time.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:08:21 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: About 3,000 extras were recruited at minimum wage, then cardboard cutouts filled the stands.
“so they made cardboard people to cut back in the cost of extras.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:10:05 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: The Savoy Special bat and the bloody uniform are in the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown.
“That bat is in the collection at the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:10:45 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: The Glenn Close halo shot was real: they waited for a clear day and the setting sun.
“They waited until a clear day.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:11:55 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Barry Levinson: Levinson did uncredited voice work as the Knights' radio announcer.
“apparently Barry Levinson, the director, did uncredited voice work as the Knight's radio play-by-play.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:12:46 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: Pop's 'my mama wanted me to be a farmer' and Red's callous 'Tough' are called quietly the funniest moment.
“Quietly the funniest moment in the movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:26:52 · Mallory Rubin (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: The Natural's headlines the hosts invent for the walkoff aftermath: exploding stomach, 23 dead.
“Night Slugger mashes explosive game-winning home run, suffers career ending, exploding stomach injury.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:37:07 · Mallory Rubin (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: The note Iris sends: your son is in the stands, he's 16 and doesn't know how to play baseball.
“Your son is in the stands.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:38:01 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: Bill's 2001 Page 2 piece estimating Roy Hobbs's stats; hosts redo it by freezing newspaper dates, landing near 70 games and 28 homers.
“This one, I just tried to figure out his stats and people loved it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:39:21 · Bill Simmons (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about The Natural: Who won the movie: Redford, but Pop (Brimley) is the heart of the film.
“I mean, it's such a wonderfully winning performance.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Natural’ With Bill Simmons and Mallory Rubin · 1:45:43 · Mallory Rubin (0.60 sure it was them)

Who's talking

Bill Simmons (host): Bill loves old-school sports myth-making, baseball nostalgia, the Natural's chill scene, and stat-nerd rabbit holes like reconstructing Roy Hobbs's season. He is picky about throwing motions and lineup logic, and is a sucker for the dugout-emptying slow-motion shot. He ranks Bull Durham/Hoosiers/Rocky near the top and finds slow hospital stretches in sports movies unbearable.
Mallory Rubin (host): Mallory loves the mythic and literary side of stories: the hero's journey, Game of Thrones, Bull Durham's existential edge. She is protective of the movie against Ebert's critique and a sucker for character details and performances (Pop and Red). She dislikes the book-faithful tragedy being called better for 1984.

The show's recurring bits

Apex Mountain: The moment a star peaks; where on the mountain a performance sits.
Who Won the Movie: The hosts name the person who came out of the film best off.
The Ebert review: Roger Ebert's original review and star rating read aloud. Ebert is cited, never on the show.
Casting what-ifs: Who was almost cast, or who should have been.
Most rewatchable scene: The scene each host would stop on while flipping channels.
Aged best / aged worst: What holds up and what does not.
Picking Nits: The little things in a film the hosts love that they don't think totally work: the nits.
Double feature: The film each host would pair it with; a programming pick.

Names the transcriber got wrong

Wilfred Brimley → Wilford Brimley
Michael Madson/Matson → Michael Madsen (Bump Bailey)
Eddie Waitkiss → Eddie Waitkus
Bammer Roell → Bama Rowell
Ray Campanella → Roy Campanella
Roger Town → Roger Towne
Boulder → Bull Durham
Angels in the house → Angels in the Outfield
Dario → Daario (Game of Thrones)
Askuban → Azkaban
David Swimmer → David Schwimmer
Ragley → Wrigley
Slice Stallone → Sly Stallone
Dave Ruth → probably Babe Ruth (garbled)
Chelsea → chill scene