Last night’s annual MLB All Star Game took 15 innings to settle and those 15 innings took 4 hours and 50 minutes to play. Now, I enjoy a good game of baseball every now and then, especially when I get to see the best of the entire league, but 5 hours seems a bit long to watch men hit balls with sticks. If you’re on that same page, you might want to check out one of the 9 baseball movies below (in honor of the appropriate amount of innings). If you’re a baseball fan you’ve probably seen them all, but perhaps it’s time to try them out again, they never really go out of style. Also they’re all under 2 hours long, leaving you time to do something crazy like actually play baseball instead of watching it on TV.

takepart to learn about Major League Baseballs relationship with the Boys and Girld Club of America and be sure to let us know if we missed your favorite baseball film!

1) Eight Men Out (pictured above) - John Sayles portrait of the infamous 1919 Chicago White Sox and the controversey surrounding the possibility that they lost on purpose is a quiet gem of a film. It could easily be alarmist and focus only on the scandal, instead Sayles explores the people and the game they loved.

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Just before the GI Bill passed in both the Congress and the Senate, Charlie Wilson spoke with Paul Rieckhoff of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and best-selling author and veteran Nate Fick.

We invited the TakePart and IAVA community to submit questions for Charlie and we even got a lovely introductory message from Tom Hanks.

Below is an audio recording of the fabulous conversation. Have a listen and let us know what you think!

takepart and urge the President to pass the GI Bill.

John Quincy Adams is all over the place these days. First he appeared in the best-selling biography of by historian David McCullough. The book inspired Tom Hanks to produce the HBO seven-part miniseries John Adams, in which Mr. Adams was played by Paul Giamatti and Abigail Adams by Laura Linney. The first episode drew 2.7 million viewers, which suggests that John Adams may be the catalyst for a new trend of presidential bio pix. Thanks to the HBO project, Mr. Adams is attracting new interest and visitors to the Adams National Historic Park in Quincy (there he is again), Massachusetts. And today, John Adams made an appearance on MSNBC’s Meet The Press with Tim Russert when Newsday’s Jon Meacham compared a potential Clinton victory to 1824 when

Andrew Jackson won the popular vote, Henry Clay threw his support to John Quincy Adams. Adams becomes president. Four years later, running on a, running on a campaign saying, “That was a corrupt bargain,” Jackson takes over, founds the modern Democratic Party, and here we sit.

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The Oscars honored several films which highlighted several worthy causes worth paying attention to and taking action for.

If you like the Oscars and taking action, then follow this Top 10 list of actions inspired by the films, the speeches, the parties, and the outfits featured during the Academy Awards.

1. Julie Christie, who was nominated for her amazing performance in the amazing film Away From Her, directed by the Amazing actor/filmmaker Sarah Polley, wears an orange ribbon, representing the “campaign to close Guantanamo,” which Julie says is “a very, very important issue” It’s affecting the whole world.”

with Amnesty International’s online interactive Tear It Down campaign.

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Combining the power of celebrity with the power of the Internet, Tom Hanks is making a difference with the Freeplay Foundation.

Serving as the foundation’s US Ambassador, Hanks has posted videos on both Youtube and MySpace to promote the Freeplay Foundation charity auction. The Freeplay Foundation supports rural poor areas of Africa by providing innovative and practical energy solutions and ensuring sustained access to information and education via radio. Through this mission the Freeplay Foundation created the Lifeline radio, as described on Freeplay’s site:

The Lifeline is a self-powered radio designed specifically for children living on their own, distance education or other humanitarian projects. Robustly constructed to operate in the harshest of conditions and climates, the Lifeline radio is rugged, colourful, easy to use and carry, receives excellent AM/FM/SW and plays for many hours non-stop on wind-up energy or solar power. It is available to aid and donor agencies for bona fide humanitarian initiatives.

Hanks auctioned autographed Freeplay radios on Ebay along with a personal letter and signed picture. All of the auction proceeds go towards Freeplay’s work in Africa.

To donate a Lifeline and learn more about the Freeplay Foundation visit freeplayfoundation.org