THE BASEBALL SERIES – 2026 FILM SERIES – AKAPAD THE FILM BUFF – ONE FILM A WEEK

The Baseball Series 2026: One Film a Week with AKAPAD The Film Buff

It’s baseball season — and Peter A. DeLuca (AKAPAD) is kicking off a brand-new recurring podcast series: one baseball movie every week throughout the entire 2026 MLB season.

In this opening episode, the lifelong Philadelphia Phillies fan shares his passion for the game, the emotional rollercoaster of rooting for a team that “rips out your guts” every year, and why baseball movies hold such a special place in his heart. From opening night excitement at Citizens Bank Park to heartfelt stories about long-suffering franchises like the Eagles, Bears, and Bills, this intro sets the perfect tone for a season-long celebration of America’s pastime on screen.

[00:00:03]
This segment opens with the speaker setting the scene for baseball’s opening night, expressing enthusiasm for the Philadelphia Phillies and their perennial struggle to win. The speaker draws parallels between the Phillies’ history and other long-suffering sports franchises, such as the Philadelphia Eagles under Andy Reid, and the Chicago Bears during the Jim McMahon era. Both teams faced long journeys toward championship success, highlighting the emotional rollercoaster fans endure. The speaker notes the Phillies often “rip out your guts” annually, reflecting the heartbreak and hope cycle familiar to fans of teams with high expectations but frequent disappointments.

Key points:

• Baseball opening night excitement centered on the Phillies.
• Sports franchises often have tortured fan histories marked by repeated near-misses.
• Emotional investment in teams like the Eagles, Bears, and Bills parallels that of Phillies fans.
• The Phillies symbolize a team with relentless hope despite past failures.

[00:02:08]
Here, the speaker reflects on the Buffalo Bills’ recent playoff struggles, particularly highlighting Josh Allen’s first road playoff win and the subsequent heartbreak of elimination. This segment extends the theme of fan and player frustration with unmet expectations. The speaker empathizes with the players and coaching staff, suggesting the burden of pressure might be heavier for them than for fans. The love for baseball and the city of Philadelphia is reiterated, emphasizing the personal connection to Citizens Bank Park as a meaningful venue.

Key points:

• Emotional highs and lows of playoff runs, exemplified by the Bills and Josh Allen.
• Recognition of the psychological toll on players and coaches due to high expectations.
• Strong personal attachment to Philadelphia and its baseball culture.

[00:02:45]
The speaker announces a new project: watching and discussing one baseball movie per week throughout the season. This is framed as a new recurring theme, akin to previous podcast/event series such as:

• 31 Days of Dread (horror movies daily in October)
• Thanksflicking (films the speaker is thankful for)
• Cinemus (Christmas-themed movies)

The baseball movie series is intended to be similar in format, with an introductory episode outlining the plan and a soft list of selected films. The speaker plans to release these episodes on Thursdays or Tuesdays to complement existing Wednesday night filmographies, aiming to stay ahead of schedule.

Key points:

• New baseball movie series planned: one film per week.
• Inspired by prior successful thematic series.
• Episodes likely released twice weekly, aiming for schedule consistency.

[00:03:55]
This segment introduces the initial baseball movie list, highlighting key films and notable facts about them:

Key insights:

• The list balances classics, underrated gems, and popular favorites.
• Several movies hold personal significance to the speaker beyond their cinematic merits.
• The inclusion of movies spanning different baseball eras and styles reflects a comprehensive approach.

[00:07:47]
The speaker discusses additional production aspects and future plans for the baseball movie series:

• Episodes will feature public domain baseball sounds to enhance the listening experience.
• Each episode will have custom-designed thumbnails to help listeners identify baseball-themed content and optionally skip if uninterested.
• The speaker also plans a similar movie series for the NBA Finals, mentioning films like Love & Basketball and Trouble with the Curve.
• The tone is casual and enthusiastic, encouraging listeners to enjoy classic baseball snacks like peanuts and Cracker Jacks, reinforcing the nostalgic baseball atmosphere.

Key points:

• Attention to production quality and user experience with sound effects and visuals.
• Plans to expand thematic movie series to other sports, notably basketball.
• Continued blending of personal passion and audience engagement.

Overall Summary

This video transcript centers on the speaker’s passion for baseball, specifically the Philadelphia Phillies, and their emotional journey as a fan. It draws parallels with other sports teams’ struggles and fan experiences, emphasizing the deep emotional investment involved. The speaker announces a new project to watch and discuss a curated list of baseball movies weekly, drawing from classics, personal favorites, and critically acclaimed films. The list includes 42, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Moneyball, and The Natural, among others, highlighting different cinematic takes on baseball’s history and culture. Production plans include themed sound effects and custom artwork, aiming to create an engaging and accessible series. The speaker also hints at a future basketball movie series tied to the NBA Finals, underscoring a broader interest in sports cinema. The overall tone combines nostalgia, personal reflection, and anticipation for the baseball season and accompanying film discussions.

00:00:03
[music] [music] >> Here we go. baseball It’s that time of year now. I’m recording this. It’s It’s opening night. And it it looks like the Phillies are going to win. I mean, every single year the Phillies >> [laughter] >> the Phillies have I mean, I kind of know you know, like growing up with with with the Eagles. And they would just say it was like one tortured generation after the next. And the Andy Reid Eagles were just another. And you know, I mean, I I remember remember

00:00:53
growing up with it, you know, the Chicago Bears, Jim McMahon. Came on, got him into the playoffs. Very similar to like what Michael Vick did. Michael Vick had a little bit more of a run. But just this like journey to get into a Super Bowl, to get into a championship, to win. And then now they won twice. And they they probably should have beat the Chiefs in in that first one. I kind of feel like that now with the Philadelphia Phillies. It’s It’s It’s opening night. Looks like they’re going to win.

00:01:31
The game’s uh just about over. But every single year this team just rips out your guts in some way. And there there can only be one team that powers through. There There There can only be one. And you know, there’s other you know, other people that live in other cities that are probably closer to their teams than than I am with the Phillies. And jeez, imagine how how they feel. And this past year I was just really into the Buffalo Bills doing something. And then just watching them struggle a little bit

00:02:08
in the year. And then when their first like Josh Allen wins his first road playoff game. And you’re just you say to yourself, like let this be destiny. And then boom, like you’re out. You’re done. Next year, moving on. It’s hard for the fans. I It’s It does make me think about the players and the coaching staff. Like what is It’s got to be worse. Like how how’s how’s this even a thing? The expectations are so high. But I love baseball. I love Philadelphia. I love going to Citizens Bank Park.

00:02:45
So this year I thought like let’s let’s do one baseball movie a week. And see how far we go. And normally for some of our annual podcasting events, 31 Days of Dread, one horror movie a day for the entire month of October, Thanksflicking, the films I’m thankful for, Cinemus, the the true movies of Christmas because they have to have a Christmas theme. I normally do and you know, some of those episodes they they do pretty well. I do an intro episode to a entire series. Well, this is I

00:03:23

[laughter] >> This is the baseball movie intro episode. I just want to go through a little bit of my soft list. Some of these are already uh queued up, meaning I’m going to start recording them right away. So by the time you even get this episode, we might be four or five deep. So I hope to be a month ahead of schedule. The day I’m hoping to drop these maybe Thursday. Uh since we do the filmographies Wednesday nights, I’m thinking, you know, we can we can do Thursday or maybe Tuesday for for the

00:03:55
baseball movies. Opening up. Here we go. We got 42. This is with our boy, the the Black Panther. And the crazy thing is I haven’t seen a lick of this movie at all movie at all. Now, if you all know who Black Panther is, let me tell you. Because he’s [snorts] he’s in two He’s He’s also in Draft Day. Uh Chadwick Boseman. But this movie too also has Harrison Ford. It’s got Alan Tudyk. You know, who’s who’s a little bit All right, a little bit of a of a James James Gunn guy. I

00:04:33
never seen 42. I don’t even know who uh Brian uh Helgeland directed this movie. I had no idea. I want to watch it. It’s on the list. Bull Durham we have the Kevin Costner baseball trilogy. Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, and the much overlooked, underrated even underrated even on terms of Red Letter Media cuz they recently were were doing Sam Raimi movies. For Love of the Game. For Love of the Game we’ll talk about it. It It has a line that I still repeat and think about to this day. I mean,

00:05:15
when when films are that close to us, they end up on the list. To accompany also Field of Dreams cuz Field of Dreams is is somewhat splinters into two, we have Eight Men Out. Eight Men Out is we can consider that movie the prequel or uh watch that first and then watch Field of Dreams. Pride of the Yankees, one of the oldest, one of the best. Rookie of the Year. This is the one where the little kid uh slips and falls, bangs up his arm. His arm heals and he’s got a 103 mile an hour fastball. Uh great movie. One of

00:05:52
the Maybe the Everyone will say The Sandlot, but Rookie of the Year is the true fantasy of uh you know, that you have growing up watching the game. Which is to be a player. Rookie of the Year, better than Sandlot in my opinion. We We’re going to do Moneyball. Again, a movie that I thought we’ve done before, but we haven’t. Moneyball, one of the best scripts, Brad Pitt, one of the best performances. Uh I just love like just how perfectly procedural Moneyball is. And And man, does it challenge ideas about the

00:06:30
game. Major League with our boy Charlie Sheen. Now, uh when it comes to Major League, there’s a a Charlie Sheen Netflix documentary that I watched that I loved that I recommend, but I haven’t done any episodes on that. And then to wrap it up for now, what is probably the greatest of all the baseball movies. Robert Redford, RIP. Uh he just had his memorial at this year’s past Oscars. The Natural. The Natural is one of the best scores, best characters, Roy Hobbs, best ideas, best stories of a Oh, and

00:07:10
also Sorry. >> [laughter] >> One more, guys. Okay. Natural, the best baseball movie of all time. We have Dennis Quaid, The Rookie. Uh a film I put on a So the the three of the four of these movies, Field of Dreams, The Natural, The Rookie, Moneyball. These are four movies I regularly put on. So they they mean a lot. The game means a lot to me. It’s baseball time. It’s baseball season. So yeah. Yeah, and and hopefully around this episode we’ll have some some public domain baseball sounds to to cue

00:07:47
the episodes. We’ll have individually designed thumbnails. Uh so you guys, you know, depending on how you you you get this feed, you can you can tell the difference and you can skip the episode if you don’t like baseball. I’m going to try and make it easy for you guys. But this is something I wanted to do. Now, I’m also planning something similar for the NBA Finals. Cuz I have a lot NBA movies like Love & Basketball, for example, that I have to bring to you guys. NBA Finals, I love

00:08:15
at the NBA Playoffs. Can’t wait. >> [laughter] >> Oh, and also too. So anyway, NBA Finals might be one. Trouble with the Curve. I I have to do something with that movie too. I’m just remembering. So okay. Guys, it’s it’s baseball series. We’re all over the place. Just want to give you a little bit of a prep episode. I love you. Get yourself some peanuts, Cracker Jacks. Let’s go. Baseball. Love you. Rock and roll. Okay, that’s a wrap. >> [applause]

PETER A DELUCA AKAPD

AKAPAD is a versatile thinker known across Philadelphia, Europe, and even in the vast Multiverse as The Electic One. By day, he excels as an IT Mastermind, assisting individuals, both big and small, with a wide range of simple and complex solutions. In contrast, he is also a talented illustrator, a passionate comic book enthusiast, a creative content creator, and an active live streamer. Additionally, his podcast, “AKAPAD The Film Buff Podcast,” boasts an impressive catalog of over 500 episodes available on nearly every major platform.