Dreier: ‘Not Exactly Cooperstown’ celebrates baseball’s rebels and renegades
From Peter Dreier at Huffington Post on February 13, 2014, with mention of SABR member Terry Cannon:
I don’t know if Howard Zinn was a baseball fan, but I’m sure that the author of A People’s History of the United States would have loved the documentary film Not Exactly Cooperstown. Just as Zinn told the story of America from the perspective of its rebels and outcasts, Not Exactly Cooperstown looks at baseball from a bottom-up point-of-view. It profiles the Baseball Reliquary, which former Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton called a “People’s Hall of Fame,” one that allows fans to vote and, as a result, enshrines the sport’s dissenters, free spirits and tradition-busters who challenged the baseball establishment.
The documentary shares many of the Reliquary’s characteristics. It is irreverent, quirky and — for filmmaker Jon Leonoudakis as for Reliquary founder and director Terry Cannon — a labor of love. Both are baseball fanatics — the origin of the word “fan” — who embrace the sport by celebrating its offbeat side.
The film includes interviews with artists, writers, fans, former major leaguers like Bouton and Bill “Spaceman” Lee, well-known sportswriters like Arnold Hano and former minor league infielder Ron Shelton, who went on to direct films like Bull Durham and Cobb.
Released in 2012, the colorful documentary has developed a cult following among baseball aficionados. It will be shown this Saturday (February 15) at 12:30 p.m at the Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, as part of the inaugural Pasadena International Film Festival. Leonoudakis will be on hand to answer questions after the screening.
Read the full article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/not-exactly-cooperstown-baseball-rebels_b_4781969.html
Originally published: February 18, 2014. Last Updated: February 18, 2014.