Since I just recently wrote a post relating to baseball, I'll keep this in the same vein and mention Bang the Drum Slowly, an early (1973) film starring a young Robert De Niro as a tobacco-chewing, slow-drawling professional baseball catcher. Bruce Pearson (De Niro) is a second-stringer on the New York Mammoths (the interwoven "N" and "Y" on the caps of the players could almost be the symbol for the New York Yankees but they are reversed) and learns that he is dying of Hodgkin's disease, a health issue which he is trying to avoid telling the rest of the team. Keeping his secret is Henry Wiggen, the best pitcher for the Mammoths, room-mate, and friend of Pearson. There are really very few baseball scenes and most of those are from genuine baseball clips, although the professional players are difficult to distinguish except to those who are extremely familiar with the swings and demeanor of those playing in the 1970s.
De Niro does get a few chances to bat and his swing is a weak one, but that is in fitting with the skills (or lack of) of Pearson. Also, in this film De Niro is very thin--maybe even scrawny--and not bulky as most catchers are.
Baseball, though, is secondary. It is the human, heart-warming (and heart-breaking) story of two friends trying to live out their lives and their professions delicately and philosophically in the face of a much-too-early approach of The Grim Reaper.
De Niro and the story are supported admirably by Michael Moriarty (Wiggen) and Vincent Gardenia (Coach Schnell), as well as by some brief appearances by younger versions of Danny Aiello and Barbara Babcock.
Perhaps the only fault that I could find with the film is that it can be a little dated at times, especially when Wiggen asks for a contract of $125,000. In today's world of multi-million dollar contracts, this wouldn't even buy a cup of coffee. O tempora o mores.
All in all, though, it is a wonderful (and hard to find) film that for me beats out Bull Durham for the best baseball movie ever, but only by the width of a catcher's mitt.
De Niro does get a few chances to bat and his swing is a weak one, but that is in fitting with the skills (or lack of) of Pearson. Also, in this film De Niro is very thin--maybe even scrawny--and not bulky as most catchers are.
Baseball, though, is secondary. It is the human, heart-warming (and heart-breaking) story of two friends trying to live out their lives and their professions delicately and philosophically in the face of a much-too-early approach of The Grim Reaper.
De Niro and the story are supported admirably by Michael Moriarty (Wiggen) and Vincent Gardenia (Coach Schnell), as well as by some brief appearances by younger versions of Danny Aiello and Barbara Babcock.
Perhaps the only fault that I could find with the film is that it can be a little dated at times, especially when Wiggen asks for a contract of $125,000. In today's world of multi-million dollar contracts, this wouldn't even buy a cup of coffee. O tempora o mores.
All in all, though, it is a wonderful (and hard to find) film that for me beats out Bull Durham for the best baseball movie ever, but only by the width of a catcher's mitt.
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