The Boys of Summer - Second
Base, sequel to the award-winning first documentary, began principal
photography on March 13, 2014. We need your help. Please visit our kickstarter page and share it with
your friends and family.
Our final play for spring training involved a few things:
first off, the closing night at the Nine Conference. The baseball/academic conference,
which is run by Trey Strecker of Ball State University, is a great grouping of
mostly university professors who get together annually during spring training
to share their latest and greatest in how baseball impacts society. I was
honored to speak on the documentary film panel Thursday night and sorry that I
didn’t participate in anymore events until this one on the closing night. It
was, however, very enjoyable.
George Gmelch, Professor of Anthropological Studies at the
University of San Francisco, discussed his career as a minor league prospect
with the Detroit Tigers in the 1960’s and contrasted what the game looked like
then to how it looks now. I was fortunate enough to sit down with him for a few
moments on Sunday morning. I
will post a few clips from that interview soon.
The takeaway from the weekend was one of empowerment, a
feeling one only gets when he goes on the road. Add a family to that mix and it
becomes all the more potent. I was very proud of my two and four year old for
handling themselves as well as they did and embracing the adventure. This trip
set a new mark for us as a family – with this, we will be able to reach out and
explore new areas and landmarks via cars. Ten years ago, my father and I did
just that when we travelled to all 30 MLB parks for the original Boys of
Summer. Road work is tiring stuff – and incredibly powerful. Seeing places,
meeting people, having your entire world view shifted…incredibly powerful
indeed.
One of the greatest parts about this trip was the vehicle –
not just our literal little family minivan trickster, which held up admirably,
but the metaphorical vehicle that is baseball. Baseball brought us down to
Phoenix. A quest for renewal. A desire to see winter put to bed and the Boys of
Summer reawakened. A chance for hope to rise again, in the face of long,
seemingly impossible odds. To see grass grow. To listen to the crack of the
bat. To hear leather pop as the ball smacks into the lower pocket of the web.
Nachos, hot dogs, pretzels, get ‘em while they’re hot and make sure to thank
Grandpa with a hug and a kiss.
We don’t have a single donation for our kickstarter
campaign, which is the bare minimum money that’s supposed to get us to the six
parks we need to see this summer to complete the structural elements of the
sequel documentary. In Field of Dreams, it was said if you build it, they will
come. I do believe we have built it, now we must let more people know it is
here so they may come. I appreciate your help in that regard.
Thank you and play ball!
Please visit our kickstarter page and share it with
your friends and family.
