Kevin Costner = Michael Keaton

I actually agree with Bill Simmons on several opinions he has regarding movies and TV shows, not sure what the heck Bill Simmons is talking about on this one! I think the roles Costner played in the late 80s that made him a star fit him like a kid glove. They were tailor-made for him. And Bull Durham isn't exactly a throwaway, non-serious movie. And Keaton is, still to this day, the best live action Batman, so I think he chose right!

Keaton was too smart to make that mistake. He said that he knew he would have been typecast if he had continued playing the wiseass in comedy vehicles. He made the right choice.

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/h8pctq/the_weak_link_in_bull_durham/

The only thing that bothers me in this film is that Kevin Costner just feels so miscast as Crash Davis. Don't get me wrong: I like Kevin Costner a lot, and I know that he was cast for his athletic ability (apparently he legitimately hit two home runs while they were filming.) I think he's a very good actor; I just think he is at his best when he is laconic. He's more of a Steve McQueen than a James Garner, and Crash Davis is a James Garner role. In fact, I recently learned that the role was actually written for Kurt Russell (who somewhere amid his transition from child actor to adult actor managed to also be an All-Star Minor League baseball player.) I'm not sure why he didn't end up playing the role (maybe it interfered with making Overboard with his wife,) but now I hear Costner's muddled delivery of Crash's speeches and pearls of wisdom as delivered by Jack Burton or Dean Proffitt or Gabe Cash or any of Russell's other smooth-talking roles.

I actually think Tom Berenger would have made an excellent Crash Davis. He played a similar role in "Major League"