Boys of Summer: March 2014

Monday, March 31, 2014

Opening Day - Hope

For those who love the game, the excitement of a new baseball season is remarkable. It coincides, not coincidentally, with the rebirth that is spring. Temperatures warm, thoughts of summer abound and hope is renewed. Why does hope matter? Life is lost without it. Life without hope is mechanical, thoughtless drudgery. What one hopes for is entirely subjective; a day of good health, a winning lottery ticket, a call from a loved one, a base hit or a strike out. Maybe all of those things. Spring and baseball bring them forth for those who worship at the diamond. We hope.

Today we're gearing up for our road trip north to the Bay Area. We leave on Wednesday for Walnut Creek, the city where I grew up. I'm always renewed when I return. We will stay with my parents in the house where I grew up. I'll see many friends, now with families of their own, who I grew up with. A good friend's wife just gave birth to their first child. As parents in our 40's, this is at least somewhat remarkable. New life is new hope. We hope.

I will return to the spot where I shot the cover for "Boys of Summer". It's my favorite picture I've ever taken. It's one of the few times I've had something become, in reality, so clearly and accurately what I saw in my head. Dad and I will, once again, play catch. In between us, in addition to the ball, will be my son and daughter. This is second base - a hopeful base inasmuch as we've advanced. Still a long way from home, but better here than on the bench. We hope.

"Boys of Summer" is evolving. The tagline/metaphor for the project is: "Baseball is a vehicle". We will ride this beast wherever she roams. Just last week we solidified a relationship with our local APDA (American Parkinson's Disease Association) chapter. We have ongoing work with Superior Health Solutions (which is offering a progressive treatment pro-bono for my father) and the New York Stem Cell Foundation (which has taken my dad on as a volunteer to grow stem cells from his skin - we just have to make it back there). We hope baseball will be our vehicle - taking us back there for the games, giving us the opportunity to participate in an exciting study. We hope.

I also received notification that I was wait-listed for Duke's MFA Documentary program. While this isn't the jump up and down moment I was hoping for, a la acceptance, it does give me hope. Duke's Neurology department does a great deal of work with the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Boys of Summer has a relationship with MJFF, as well. This would be a great opportunity to bring parties together via the medium of documentary in a way that serves all. We hope.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

The ask.

The ask. This is the time in a fundraiser when many, including myself at times, turn the channel, click the off button or scurry off to do some laundry. It’s uncomfortable asking for money and it’s uncomfortable being asked. You’ve been warned.

And so I’m asking – boldly, brazenly and openly for your financial support of the documentary sequel to Boys of Summer. The original film proved our intent and worth. In the last ten years the story has grown in many ways, as my dad explains briefly in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwAzpE4Qq9g).

We are less than two weeks away from the end of our campaign. We achieved the first leg of the trip during Spring Training in Phoenix earlier this month. My dad has been granted free treatment at an interesting and progressive health center in Las Vegas called Superior Health Solutions. He’s also been accepted to have a biopsy of his skin cells grown and developed by the New York Stem Cell Foundation. Both agencies have given me open access to document the process as part of the new film.

I’ve kept our costs as low as I can, accounting for flights, lodging, ground transportation and food in our travels to the six baseball parks that have been built since 2004 and a return to the Field of Dreams. This film is an important case study that demonstrates how one man has dealt with his disease, his life and his family against the backdrop of America's past time. He is an inspiration. Watching him you will laugh, think and cry; what more could you ask for?

Please donate and share this link (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robertcochrane/boys-of-summer-second-base-reboot) with others so they might do the same.

Thank you,

Robert Cochrane
Director, Producer “Boys of Summer”

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Spring Training - Cactus '14 (part four)

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.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Spring Training - Cactus '14 (part three)

The cream pie was sweet, sweet redemption. I hatched the thought for doing just this earlier in the week, but had no idea if Josh Reddick would go for it or not. It turned out as well (click for video) as – perhaps better than – I could have hoped.

I also forgot to mention that I got a foul ball for Giuseppe while we were waiting for Josh. This was a big deal, in particular, because at the last two minor league games here in Las Vegas, I failed to get a ball for Giuseppe when it looked like we had a shot. This led him to believe (in his hysterical three-four year old mind) that he would “never, ever get a baseball!”

We didn’t even worry about going to Surprise for the game – the experience of the foul ball, the pie in the face and our memorable conversation in the park all by ourselves (click for video) were plenty for the day. We went back, enjoyed the pool, then had a nice family night out.

Day Three started off much better than Day Two. Our scheduled interview with DBacks AJ Pollock took place exactly as we hoped. Many thanks to DBacks PR chief Casey Wilcox for setting us up. AJ couldn’t have been nicer and his story about his relationship to Parkinson’s is worth hearing (link to video will be added soon – check back!).

Today was the day to finally see a game. Happily, it was the Oakland A’s and this time at the park close to our hotel. Mom wasn’t feeling well and Annamaria needed a break from the kids, so it was just me, Dad, Giuseppe and Francesca. We got there just as the game was starting, which was fine. We were there to enjoy the experience than watch a game traditionally. Let’s be honest, having a two and four year-old has you doing exactly nothing traditionally.

I was able to drop dad off close to the park so he didn’t have to walk so far. We got into the park and immediately saw our seats were filled by another fan. That’s always a bit annoying. Rather than make a thing out of it, Dad and Giuseppe took the row just one down from what should have been ours, then Francesca and I went for snacks. By the time we hunted down Francesca’s pretzel, Giuseppe was looking for me. Thankfully he hadn’t dragged Grandpa too far. By some great blessing, there are picnic tables in deep right field just above the bleachers. We sat at one to eat – avoiding cramming together on the bleachers. It was perfect. The kids got pretzels, nachos and even cotton candy thanks to a very generous Grandpa. I got to keep one eye on the game and the other on our tribe. I also shot some fun pictures and video.

Not only that, but Brandon Moss and Josh Reddick went back to back with home runs in the bottom of the first. Reddick’s shot was 450 if it was a foot – an absolute bomb pulled down the right field line and bouncing far into the practice field next door.

We made it to the third inning in an extremely slow game before Giuseppe and Francesca had enough. On the way out, we did find one last surprise for Giuseppe – which can be seen here (link to video will be added soon – check back!).

Please visit our kickstarter page and share it with your friends and family.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Spring Training - Cactus '14 (part two)

Day two of Spring Training started early. Dad and I made the short drive to Phoenix Municipal Stadium, the A's home for one last Spring Training (they move to the Cubs old digs, Hohokam, next year). We were the first ones in the parking lot. This was yet another reminder of National Lampoon's Vacation (empty Wally World...). Learning nothing from Clark, we parked up front. Even from the rock star parking, it was a bit of a hike to the park across a foot bridge. I became very aware of my dad's struggle to walk. He uses walking sticks, which make his effort a bit easier, but it's still labored. You'll never hear him complain - which worries me. I have to keep my eye on him and try to anticipate when he's had enough.

The A's PR office was closed. A lone clubhouse staff member spotted us snooping around and said the guys arrival time actually got pushed back by about two hours. Normally, this might bother me. But with my dad, an empty ball park and a camera, I'll roll the dice. We walked in and looked around. Phoenix Muni is not known as one of the better spring training venues - in fact, it's known as one of the worst. But sitting in it when it was empty made it absolutely beautiful to us. I interviewed dad for the first time in our new adventure and it was like ten years ago was yesterday. He does very well in front of the camera. He's incredibly generous with his feelings, thoughtful with his answers and quick with a joke at an unexpected moment. He was also very patient as I went through about ten minutes of teching the audio I couldn't get to produce a signal. I love my dad.

Another father and son, this one about 40 and eight years old, respectively, poked their heads in the park. We immediately struck up a conversation. I asked if I could interview them and they said yes. Then there was a rabid A's fan from Fresno. Then a mom and son who told us that the day's game wasn't even being played at Phoenix Muni, but rather in the aptly named city of Surprise some 35 miles northwest. Between the closed clubhouse, the tech issues and this news, something told me I was really screwing things up. I was a bit nervous I was on a fool's errand with this entire journey.

It was finally 9:30 - time to check out the clubhouse. That story, and the resulting video with my son are covered best in this link.

Spring Training - Cactus '14 (part one)

Simply making the trip to Phoenix was a big deal. For anyone who's ever been on a family road trip, particularly from the parental side, or if you've seen National Lampoon's Vacation, you know what I mean. We loaded up our metallic green Town & Country minivan to the hilt, strapped in the kids (no Aunt Edna), and headed south. I got us there, but thankfully the rest of the car was sleeping or they would have to endure and, worse, probably would have questioned my unintentional scenic route that added roughly an hour to a journey that didn't need it. For the record, my wife only suggested we should ask for directions once. I, of course, said no.

It's the small things that make family road trips so great. When we arrived at our first night shanty - and that's being polite - we convinced the kids to go back to sleep so they could have waffles tomorrow morning at the "Continental Breakfast"! The name sounded just regal enough to put them back to sleep with a smile. The next morning, my four year old, Giuseppe whispered me awake with the repeated word: "Waffle? Waffle?"

We did. The joy he got out of sitting in the lobby and picking out his own yogurt, pouring an orange juice out of a machine ("so cool!") and having a perfectly round, hot golden waffle put him firmly in hog heaven.

We moved on to our next hotel, where the Nine Baseball Conference would be held. The hotel was a significant upgrade. The pool immediately had the kids jumping out of their shorts. Grandma and Grandpa's flight arrived and we went to lunch. That night, I was part of a three-person documentary film panel about baseball. It was an excellent discussion.

That night, I had a hard time sleeping. I was very nervous about the next day. I had a press credential to be in the clubhouse of my beloved Oakland A's. I had a plan to talk to certain players who I thought might have an inherent relationship to Boys of Summer. Would they talk to me? What was the proper etiquette for the clubhouse? What if I struck out in my attempts? Would this be a wasted effort? How was my dad feeling? Would my wife be okay with the kids?

Worry, worry, worry. So it goes in the mind of a father, son, and independent filmmaker in a high stakes poker game.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Baseball - my first love

The Boys of Summer - Second Base, sequel to the award-winning first documentary, begins principal photography on March 13, 2014. We need your help. Please visit our kickstarter page and share it with your friends and family.

Legendary sports announcer Jack Buck wrote a great poem about the eternal nature of baseball called “365”. It’s worth clicking on the link for a quick, great read before reading on here.

It’s been a long time since I’ve loved baseball the way Jack suggests he does in this poem. There have been moments – flashes when the game meant everything. I was a “superfan” in the 80’s when baseball represented freedom to me and my friend Jonathan Okanes. That wasn’t just about my beloved A’s being a great team, which they became in the late ‘80’s and early 90’s. No, I watched with every bit of passion those middling teams of the mid-80’s who were led by guys like Dave Kingman, Curt Young and Jay Howell.

How could I love such a bunch of average champs? They were mine. And I saw them at a place that felt like home and freedom all at once. My adopted family of misfit fans lived in left center, back when there were actually bleachers in an Oakland Coliseum that favored an ivy-filled patch over the monstrosity that is Mt. Davis. I listened to Bill King and Lon Simmons call baseball games covertly in my high school classes via a transistor radio with an early, makeshift ear bud run up a long-sleeved shirt.

They were mine. It was young love. The truth of the relationship mattered little to me. The visceral feeling was everything. They were the only of my teams I was a fan of that I actually lived in the same town. The Broncos and Sonics were deeply beloved, but in an age before the Internet, that meant at a deeper distance than most today could likely understand. I grew up with the A’s at my fingertips.

So when I listened on opening day, claiming the pennant for the green and gold, it was tangible. Summers were glorious in the Bay, hot enough to do all of the wonderful things summer-heat implores us to do, but not so hot as to be too miserable not to do it. And sure, the game gave way in fall, to football. My visceral was caught up with my personal insomuch as having played and been deeply impacted by football and basketball, where I left my playing days of baseball behind me in the 7^th grade.

It took a spell longer than Christmastime to get the summer magic back. But when it came back, yes, hot dogs for dinner with nachos for my graduation party and we were all amazed by small hits – some as small and insignificant as one by Carney Lansford that drove in Bruce Bochte for an A’s win that was inconsequential and completely forgettable, most likely, to everyone except me and my pal Jon. We can still do Lon Simmons’ call today – but don’t ask us unless you want to see us laugh and be left, yourself, staring at us wondering why we’re laughing so hard.

The A’s were mine. And it was love. It still is today.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Boys of Summer - Rounding Second Base

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.

We begin principal photography next week in Phoenix during Spring Training. My wife, two young kids and both of my parents will be joining me. I say joining me because the initial drive to go on the trip came from being invited to speak at the Nine Baseball Conference. I'm honored to be around this group of great academics, baseball fans and fellow filmmakers. I plan on interviewing several people from the conference for the new film.

Beyond the conference, I have a press pass for the A's/Royals match-up on Friday, Mar. 14. It will be fun bumping around the clubhouse and scrounging for interviews for the new film. We'll also be speaking with Dr. Holly Shill, who we interviewed for the original documentary.

It's exciting and a bit scary to be taking this project on again. It was so immersive and, for the goal at hand, necessarily so. This film is going to be quite different. My dad is much more a case study this time and we have some exciting medical professionals helping us out. He's also in quite a different place with the disease. I'm in a massively different place of my life. To place these films side by side, I think, will be a very powerful marker of the passage of time.

The rebooted kickstarter page should be up within a day or two. We're putting together a local fundraiser here in Las Vegas, as well. This go-round, originally proposed as another 30-stadium trek around the country, has been changed dramatically to be fair to my dad - that type of schedule simply wasn't going to be fair to his health. We will go to the six parks built since 2004. Those are: New York Yankees, New York Mets, Washington Nationals, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals and Minnesota Twins. We will visit the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, IA once again, too as it was the heart of why we went.

There are a number of specific details to come in the next couple of days. I look forward to sharing them with you. For now, I'll hope that you're all awakening to the spring, a new day in baseball and new hope; 'tis the season for such eternal musings.