Kevin Costner has reflected on his 1988 baseball film Bull Durham, saying it remains a work he wouldn't change, describing it as "poetic" for defying the usual American sports movie formula. Rather than following the well-worn path of an underdog making it to the top, the film's power came from its willingness to let its central character fall short, a choice Costner credits for its lasting resonance. The remarks matter because they help explain why the romantic comedy, in which Costner plays a veteran catcher mentoring a young pitcher played by Tim Robbins while romancing a devoted fan played by Susan Sarandon, is still regarded as one of the finest sports films ever made.

Written and directed by Ron Shelton, drawing on his own experience as a minor league catcher, Bull Durham earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and later featured on AFI's 2008 list of best sports films. Costner drew a direct line between it and his later golf film Tin Cup, another Shelton collaboration built around a losing "anti-hero". The film also helped spark a wave of baseball movies in the years that followed, including Eight Men Out, Major League and A League of Their Own, though Costner's own bloated 1999 effort For Love of the Game is often blamed for cooling audiences' appetite for the genre.