As a baseball fan, you think about catching a ball. I never caught a ball. One came to me. It was a Dodger/Giants game. It was hit by the pitcher, Mark Gardner. A couple of guys fought over it, missed it, and it rolled over and nudged my foot, and I quietly stowed it. When the guys looked around to see what had happened, I lifted the ball high and smiled. We all chose to celebrate the moment.
Catching Hell, an ESPN Sports film, is a documentary that is specifically about Steve Bartman and his attempt to catch a ball at a baseball game. In the bigger picture, it's about curses. It revisits the story of Bill Buckner. It even talks about scapegoats from a Biblical perspective. It's a very thoughtful film.
The director, Alex Gibney, interviews a number of people including Bill Buckner, who has a personal understanding of the Bartman situation, Steve Lyons, who was one of the television broadcasters for that game, Bob Costas, who was down in the Red Sox clubhouse in 1986 where they had the champagne ready before they failed to clinch, Moises Alou, who played a big role in the Bartman situation by being so angry and blaming the fan, Scott Turow, a lifelong Cubs fan, the security guard who ultimately had to protect Bartman, and several fans who sat by Bartman who had also tried to catch that ball.
It is a film full of revelations, some of which is hard to watch. It is hard to see a crowd turn on a person. It is hard to see the mood turn dangerous. It is hard to see someone blamed for an instinct natural to a ballgame. It is fascinating to see how people's minds work, the collective consciousness where the guy with the headset in the stands is more at fault than their team's shortstp who booted a play later in the inning.
This is one of those films that is chock full of details. It's one that will keep you thinking. It's a really smart film, and I think even people who aren't that interested in baseball could really enjoy it, as it is more about perception and responsibility and what winning really means.
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