Robert Wuhl knows his sports. Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Robert Wuhl is unique among actors for his numerous associations with sports, from his role as pitching coach Larry Hockett in Bull Durham to playing unscrupulous agent Arliss Michaels on HBO's Arli$$. He's even played a sportswriter (Al Stump in Cobb, starring Tommy Lee Jones in the title role). Wuhl, 54, is a Dodgers season-ticket holder and a diehard baseball fan. His latest comedy special, Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl, premieres on HBO at 10 p.m. on April 1. It will run throughout the month on the network. SI.com's Richard Deitsch recently caught up with the actor in New York.

SI.com: What's the best sporting event you have attended because of your celebrity?

Wuhl: I'll tell you one that I went to just two weeks ago, which was as exciting an atmosphere as I've ever been to: I went to the doubleheader semifinals of the World Baseball Classic. I was with Kevin Towers, the general manager of the Padres. Great guy, and really funny. The atmosphere in that stadium for those two games was just sensational. The Korean fans were the loudest fans I have ever heard in my life. I hooked up with Towers because of my Dodger season tickets. I sat among all the general managers, right behind home plate.

SI.com: What have you learned about baseball from sitting with these guys?

Wuhl: One general manager gave me a very interesting piece of advice. He said you never get fired for spending too much money. You get fired for losing.

SI.com: The two best sports films ever made and why?

Wuhl: I hate to use films I'm in, so I'll take the films out of it, though I can put Bull Durham up against just about anything. I hate to take it out because it doesn't give Ron Shelton his due. Off the top of my head, the one that is the most underrated film is The Bad News Bears. It's a great piece about American culture, American values and Americana. It's a terrific story, but it has a subtext that's great. I wouldn't put Raging Bull up there. It's a good movie, but Ron Shelton hit on the head: Raging Bull is a terrific piece of filmmaking about an uninteresting subject.

SI.com: Why did Bull Durham work so well?

Wuhl: The prose. It was somebody who knew what they were talking about making the movie. It's a love story. And it doesn't come down to the big game. Movies that come down to the big game, the big ending, they usually suck. It's an everyday thing like life. In Bull Durham, there is no big game. There's no big game at the end of Raging Bull. Yeah, The Bad News Bears has a big game, but they lose. So does the first Rocky. Bull Durham is just a great love story and it talks about the inner quality of talent. Nuke LaLoosh has a mile of talent and a five-cent brain. And here's the other guy who has the great brain but not the skills. That's the reality of sports. Things are not equal or even or fair.

SI.com: What role does sports play in your day-to-day life?

Wuhl: I read the sports pages first thing every morning. I devour the box scores. But it's not all sports. I'm basically centered on baseball. What I like about sports people as opposed to critics of another type is that sports people will occasionally admit that they were wrong. Occasionally you'll hear, "I was wrong about that ballplayer. I didn't think he had much and he showed me something." Whereas a critic will never say, "You know, I saw that movie again and I realized it's really a pretty good movie." We never see that. Sports people, who are as opinionated as anyone in the world, will admit to being wrong.

I grew up in New Jersey after the Dodgers left and before the Mets arrived. I was a Yankee fan growing up. Then I went to school in Texas [at the University of Houston] and I sold beer at the Astrodome, so I followed the Astros. I now live in L.A. and New York and I have season tickets for the Dodgers. I just love baseball.

SI.com: Barry Bonds had a cameo on Arli$$. What do you remember about his acting chops?

Wuhl: I'm one of the five people Barry actually talks to (laughs). My friend [Mike Tollin] is right now doing the Barry Bonds reality show for ESPN. Barry has been great to me and my family, and Barry was good on the show. We never had a problem. Mike is a documentary filmmaker and he also made the Hank Aaron documentary. There is a wealth of material because of what is going on with Bonds this year. I don't know what to expect, but I expect a really good show. Mike is a really good filmmaker.