Lists are cool. It’s always a good feeling to cross stuff off “the list.” Lists are everywhere. There’s the “Top 40,” Letterman’s Top Ten, and Top Five lists from High Fidelity. Protagonist Rob, played by John Cusak has a top five for virtually everything, including “top five dream jobs,” “top five films,” “top five songs about death,” and the ever-popular “top five breakups.” Tar Hut Records once got an Ex-Husbands song into the Americana Top 10. It cost us about $2,000 to get it there and netted the sale of about 3 CD’s. So yeah, lists can be a little overrated, but they are fun. Speaking of fun, even the late astronomer Carl Sagan had a “Top 5” list:

Carl Sagan’s Top 5 List of Most Influential Scientists*

1. Democritus of Abdera (460-370 B.C.) Greek philosopher who developed mechanical model of universe based on the idea that all things are comprised of tiny identical particles.
2. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) Developed Kepler’s Laws that describe the revolution of planets around the sun.
3. Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Formulated the Law of Universal Gravitation
4. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) Developed theory of evolution
5. Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Famous for his theory of general relativity.

* from the Ithaca Journal, Saturday, October 8, 1994

I love lists, so I think I’m going to start a “Top 5” section here. Let’s begin, shall we?

Top Five Best Baseball Movies

1. Bull Durham – Hilarious love triangle in the dusty minor leagues.
Crash Davis (Kevin Costner): “Man that ball got outta here in a hurry. I mean anything travels that far oughta have a damn stewardess on it, don’t you think?”

2. The Natural – #1 if not for the cheesy fireworks ending.
Max Mercy (Robert Duval): “You read my mind.”
Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford): “That takes all of three seconds.”

3. Field of Dreams – Heaven in an Iowa Cornfield
Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner): So what do you want?
Terence Mann (James Earl Jones): I want them to stop looking to me for answers, begging me to speak again, write again, be a leader. I want them to start thinking for themselves. I want my privacy.
Ray Kinsella: No, I mean, what do you WANT?
[Gestures to the Fenway Park concession stand they’re in front of]
Terence Mann: Oh. Dog and a beer.

4. League of Their Own – Chicks playing baseball under Manager Tom Hanks during WWII. Jimmy Dugan (Hanks): Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There’s no crying, there’s no crying in baseball.

5. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! – OK, so not really a baseball movie, but the scene with Leslie Nielsen impersonating a major league umpire is priceless.
Jane (Pricilla Presley): I’ve heard police work is dangerous.
Frank (Neilsen): It is. That’s why I carry a big gun.
Jane: Aren’t you afraid it might go off accidentally?
Frank: I used to have that problem.
Jane: What did you do about it?
Frank: I just think about baseball.