For Love of the Game is the third of three baseball movies starring Kevin Costner. It was preceded by Bull Durham and Field of Dreams and, in a way, this film can be considered the direct opposite of Bull Durham. (Here's an amusing diversion: Watch both, and make a list of the differences.) The main action of this film takes place all in one very memorable day.

This afternoon in New York, veteran pitcher Billy Chapel (Costner) may well be making his last major league game appearance. It's the tail-end of the regular season, and Billy is starting against the hometown Yankees. The Tigers are already out of the playoffs, so the outcome of this game is important only to the Yankees and to the Red Sox. (As usual.) He could just phone it in. But after 19 years with the Detroit Tigers, Billy is facing not only the Yankees and their vocal fans, but a much larger issue. Should he allow himself to be traded to the San Francisco Giants, as a result of the recent sale of the club? Or should he just retire and quit the game all together? The team needs his answer now.

Just before game time, Billy's on-again, off-again New York girlfriend Jane Aubrey (Kelly Preston) breaks up with him, seemingly for good. She's taking a job in London. She heads to the airport as he heads to Yankee Stadium. Suddenly the two relationships that are most important to Billy are coming to an end. Geez, how much bad news can one guy take, all at once?

Standing on the pitcher's mound, doing automatically what he does best, Billy has time to think. And as he sifts through scenes from his past, we get to learn much of his backstory. How his parents encouraged him. How he worked with other ball players. How he met Jane. How their relationship moved into different phases. Billy is brought back to the present moment by the focus of his catcher, Gus Sinski (John C. Reilly), and by the concerns of mustachioed manager Frank Perry (J.K. Simmons). Otherwise, he's pitching, thinking and talking to himself.

In the meantime, Jane is at the airport, and her flight is delayed. All of the television sets in the place are tuned to the Yankee-Tigers game. She alternatively ignores and then watches Billy pitch on the screen. A loud and obnoxious Yankee fan (Larry Joshua) makes the situation even worse. How can she stand it?

Billy has history with these Yankee players. Third baseman Sam Tuttle (Michael Papajohn) is an antagonist and a particular nemesis. And then there's his old friend Davis Birch (Bill E. Rogers), a one-time Tiger who now wears the pinstripes of the enemy. Billy remembers and revisits their personal connections as the game progresses, pitch by pitch. (Oh, and by the way, Costner threw every pitch himself.)

How great is it to hear again the familiar play-by-play voice of Vin Scully? Vin has some of the best lines in the film. (Although sometimes you wish he'd just shut up already.) He and Steve Lyons provide us with a running press-box thread back to reality. And what a reality it is.

For Love of the Game should be found in every baseball fan's home viewing library. It offers both drama and romance, and it is set firmly in the sport. Both storylines are interesting. Enough game strategy shows up to keep everyone on their toes. And even if you suspect or know what the outcome will be, it will still somehow come as a surprise, and you may find that your face is suddenly wet. In the end, this show is about Life.