Baseball

This week’s film is what you could call an American classic.  Not because of its age but rather as the embodiment of the great American dream, of hope, love, and baseball.  Yes, this film is all about baseball.   It embodies the beauty and purity of the sport through the dreams of a young boy who watches his first game, holding close each crack of the bat, each cheer echoing into a hope that one day there will be fans cheering for him.  The politics of owners and sponsors as well as the pull to corruption that fame brings show a reality that tugs away at the dream, and yet the very heart of this film is truly the love of the game itself.

Staying true to the game, this film incorporates many actual true stories and players from baseball mythos.  Several lines in the film such as, to play well “you have to have a lot of little boy in you,” were taken from real players (Brooklyn Dodgers, Roy Campanella).  The main character, played by Robert Redford, was created in part to tell the story of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.  However, Redford was a fan of Boston Red Sox player Ted Williams, modeling his swing after Williams’ and incorporating a line into the film that was Williams’ known life-goal…to hear people say, “There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived.”

All of this to say, this is a classic, great film.  If it's been a while or if you have never seen it, please join us tonight for The Natural.