[terry]

I no longer believe in Roy Hobbs but I see Nuke Laloosh and Crash Davis on the sports page every baseball season.

Well, you're not supposed to believe in Roy Hobbs, not literally. He's supposed to be a mythical character, right?

I think the Nuke Laloosh and Crash Davis characters are great. But I don't really see them as realistic portrayals of today's baseball players. I don't think they're supposed to be. I think they are exaggerated, idealized types. I'm pretty confident that no baseball player could ever come up with anything like Crash's "long slow deep soft wet kisses that last three days" speech . . . let alone a minor league groupie coming up with Annie Savoy's "Church of Baseball" speech. I think Annie is just as mythical in her own way as Roy Hobbs. Don't get me wrong, I really like Bull Durham. But I don't think realism is its great virtue.

By the way, I forgot to mention earlier that while I think Field of Dreams is a very good movie, I think the original book (Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella) is outstanding. Well worth reading.

[terry]

I no longer believe in Roy Hobbs but I see Nuke Laloosh and Crash Davis on the sports page every baseball season.

Well, you're not supposed to believe in Roy Hobbs, not literally. He's supposed to be a mythical character, right?

I think the Nuke Laloosh and Crash Davis characters are great. But I don't really see them as realistic portrayals of today's baseball players. I don't think they're supposed to be. I think they are exaggerated, idealized types. I'm pretty confident that no baseball player could ever come up with anything like Crash's "long slow deep soft wet kisses that last three days" speech . . . let alone a minor league groupie coming up with Annie Savoy's "Church of Baseball" speech. I think Annie is just as mythical in her own way as Roy Hobbs. Don't get me wrong, I really like Bull Durham. But I don't think realism is its great virtue.

By the way, I forgot to mention earlier that while I think Field of Dreams is a very good movie, I think the original book (Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella) is outstanding. Well worth reading.