A Twist

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So my plans have taken a slight turn, and I now have found myself in Norwich Connecticut, back in the US much sooner than I had expected.
Last Friday I got an email from my baseball coach at Wesleyan with a bizarre proposition. It was like deja-vu from two years ago when he left a message on my cell phone asking if I was interested in playing baseball in Lithuania.
But this time, it was not a playing opportunity; it was a movie opportunity. He told me that there was a movie that would be filmed in a week or so in Norwich, Connecticut, a baseball movie in which they were in need of left-handed pitchers.
So I began emailing back in forth with Jeff Maier, a friend of mine from Wesleyan who had gotten a small part in the movie, and after much discussion between Jeff and the film people, and after me making up a quick resume of baseball/theater experience and Jeff downloading some pics of me for them to see, Jeff finally emailed me Monday evening saying that I was guaranteed as an extra at the very least, IF I could make it there this week.
Two hours later I had booked a plane ticket from Bordeaux to Hartford, and ten hours later I was boarding the train in Bordeaux.
Eighteen hours after that, I was arriving in Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Connecticut.
One dilemma for me was that I had no baseball equipment except for my glove; I had given my cleats, pants, hat, everything but my glove to Lithuanian guys who did not have the right gear themselves. Thankfully Mark Woodworth, my Wes head coach, got together all of the gear I needed to play (thanks Mark). And Mac, friend and catcher at Wes, met me at the airport to pick me up and take me to Norwich.

The film is called ‘The Bronx is Burning’ and it is about the 1977 New York Yankees and the social and political events that were going on during this period in New York City. My history is pretty rough during this era, but I know that apparently there was a lot of going on in the city at this time. It was also the first time in sixteen years that the Yankees had won the World Series, and was the year Reggie Jackson got his nickname ‘Mr. October’ for hitting three home runs in three consecutive swings in the Series.
I don’t know a lot about the film yet, but I do know that Oliver Platt will be playing the role of George Steinbrenner (Yankees Owner) and John Turtorro will be playing Billy Martin (Yankees Manager). Most of the guys doing the baseball scenes are professional players, either minor league or independent league players.
The movie will be an 8-part miniseries for ESPN, to air this spring (I think) or maybe next fall. It is being produced by Disney and ESPN. The guy in charge of all of the sports scenes is the same person responsible for many of the sports movies of the last decade, like Jerry McGuire, Any Given Sunday, the Benchwarmers….to name a few.

Exciting!! I am looking forward to getting a behind-the-scenes look at how they do this whole sports movie thing.
Today I finished my second day at the ballpark. Most of the baseball guys have been out on the field for over a week now, working on specific plays that will be in the movie, and a lot of little things like throwing the ball around the infield, watching home runs sail over the fence, watching a ball get by the catcher and a runner scoring from third.
Today they worked on a scene where Reggie Jackson is pulled out of the game by his manager for being lazy in the outfield.

Today we were at the field for three hours.

I am staying in a hotel in Norwich, and I have to say that it feels very weird to be watching American television again, to be driving through familiar streets, and to be able to communicate with everyone.

I am not here for good, though…….my plane ticket was round-trip, putting me back in Bordeaux one month from now so that I can spend some more time in Pineuilh and then travel Europe a bit more.

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