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Posted By: Chris Counts

Another interesting thing about "the Natural" was the attention its creators paid to historical details. Not only did they go to great lengths to dress opponents in the N.L. uniforms of 1939, but they also reprinted a variety of scorecards, ticket stubs and baseball cards, some of which appear in the movie. Most baseball movies take great liberties with such details ... just look at "The Pride of the Yankees," when a rookie Gehrig walks into the clubhouse, and you see the names of latter-day Yankees like Dickey and Lazzeri above their gear and jerseys ...

A couple years ago I bought a 1939 Reds scorecard off an eBay seller. He described it as an authentic vintage scorecard, but he also listed the names of the players in the lineup, including "Hobbs, #9, RF." I knew immediately that it wasn't from 1939, but I thought it was so cool I picked it up anyway ...

By the way, I see Roy Hobbs "cards" from the movie available from time to time. They are deadringers for 1940 Play Balls, except that the lettering is in blue and they use a color photo of Roy. There's a couple BINs on eBay right now for $7 a pop ...