After Hobbs Sr. suffers an early, fatal heart attack, lightning strikes the large tree next to where he died.

Sixteen years later, in 1939, Hobbs is signed as a rookie to the New York Knights, a struggling ball club in last place.

Manager Pop Fisher is furious that Hobbs was signed without his approval, believing him too old, making him suspect of an ulterior motive by the team's owner.

Assistant manager Red Blow tells Hobbs that if Pop loses the pennant this year, his Knights ownership share will revert to the Judge, the team's shady majority owner.

Hobbs' slump continues until during a game, he sees a woman dressed in all-white, backlit by the afternoon sun after she stands up, after which he hits a home run, dramatically shattering the scoreboard clock.

Their reunion restores Hobbs' hitting prowess, and the Knights surge into first place and within one win of the National League pennant.

The doctor warns him it could prove fatal if Hobbs continues playing baseball without giving the surgery time to completely heal.

The Pirates bring in a young, hard-throwing pitcher, who, exploiting Hobbs' condition, throws inside pitches to harm him.

The victory secures Pop's share of the team and his long-held dream of winning the pennant, while also defeating the dark forces that conspired against Hobbs.

Buffalo's All-High Stadium, with post-production alterations, stood in for Chicago's Wrigley Field in a key scene in the film.

Dan Craft, longtime critic for the Bloomington, Illinois paper, The Pantagraph,[18] wrote, "The storybook ending is so preposterous you don't know whether to cheer or jeer."

"[21] Ebert's television collaborator Gene Siskel praised it, giving it four stars, also putting down other critics that he suggested might have just recently read the novel for the first time.

He also cited several excellent visuals and funny bits, and noted that Robert Redford had prepared so carefully for the role, modeling his swing on that of Ted Williams, that "you want to sign him up.

The website's consensus reads: "Though heavy with sentiment, The Natural is an irresistible classic, and a sincere testament to America's national pastime.

The Natural was nominated for four Academy Awards: Actress in a Supporting Role (Glenn Close), Cinematography (Caleb Deschanel), Art Direction (Mel Bourne, Angelo P. Graham, Bruce Weintraub), and Music (Randy Newman).

The initial DVD edition, with copyright year on the box reading "2001", contained the theatrical version of the film, along with a few specials and commentaries.

[27] A two-disc edition, it contains the featurette "The Heart of the Natural," a 44-minute documentary featuring comments from Cal Ripken Jr. and Levinson; it is the only extra released originally with the 2001 DVD.

Sony added a number of other extras, however, including: "When Lightning Strikes: Creating The Natural," a 50-minute documentary discussing the origins of the original novel and the production of the film; "Knights in Shining Armor," which addresses the mythological parallels between The Natural, King Arthur and the Odyssey; and "A Natural Gunned Down" which tells the story of Eddie Waitkus, a baseball player who was shot by Ruth Ann Steinhagen, a female stalker, in an incident which inspired the fictionalized shooting of Roy Hobbs.

Scott Montgomery, writing for Goldmine music magazine, referenced the influence, and David Ansen, reviewing the film for Newsweek, called the score "Coplandesque.

Adnan Tezer of Monsters and Critics noted the theme is often played for film and television previews and in "baseball stadiums when introducing home teams and players.