Deeply moving ‘Eephus’ launches a grand slam
Immortal Red Sox curmudgeon Ted Williams famously summed up the essence of baseball as a round bat striking a round ball squarely. But in his eloquence, he omits what makes the grand old game the institution it’s become: the folks who play it. From $50-million-per-year superstars like Juan Soto to weekend hackers like the motley crew on display in Carson Lund’s indispensable “Eephus,” baseball – like Soylent Green – is people.
Equally essential is the presence of a suitable expanse on which the participants do battle. In this case, that would be Soldiers Field, a cherished New Hampshire venue one day away from becoming – like the Bambino – a distant memory. It’s all in the name of progress. If the citizenry requires a new school, the old, rundown ballfield is probably an ideal location to build it. But Lund wants us never to forget how much is being sacrificed by the middle-aged kids at heart who’ve come to regard this diamond in the rough as an inseparable connection to their fast-fading youth.
For them, it’s not just a game. It’s their soul, their very existence. Because without their weekly contests, they’d be lost. And you feel the grief for that impending loss in every frame of a film that captures the allure of a game that’s become an escape from the drudgery of everyday life. When they’re on the field, a glove on one hand and a Bud in the other, all troubles seem to disappear. There is no substitute. And without Soldiers Field, a piece of them will surely die.
That’s why this final game matching the Riverdogs against Adler’s Paint means so much to these men. And, by God, they are going to make the most of it, even if it means playing into the chilly October night – without lights. Who wins or who loses isn’t nearly as important as savoring the one thing they love more than anything – playing baseball. The spouses and the kids can fend for themselves on this sunny October afternoon. Today is all about the guys, taking the perfect swing, throwing the perfect pitch, unleashing the perfect throw to cut down a runner at third.
We don’t know these people. We’re not even sure if they’re actors or the genuine articles All that matters is that the kid in us is vicariously living through the kid in them. And that’s what makes “Eephus” so endearing. You’re as much a part of the game as they are. And you don’t even need to get out of your chair. But be sure to keep the BENGAY close at hand because when creaky knees start acting up and line drives begin bouncing off the pitcher’s chest, you feel it in your bones.
What you absorb even more deeply is a metaphor for the fragility of life and how everything in it is finite. What’s here today may well be gone tomorrow. One might draw an analogy to the draconian measures currently being enacted in Washington. But the message Lund and his co-writers Michael Basta and Nate Fisher seek to convey is not just about the loss of youth but the reality that your boyhood dreams are likely in the rearview mirror.
To be honest, I would be hard-pressed to match any individual actor with the particular role he is playing. But that speaks to the meticulous casting of guys who look like real people. Some are old, some are balding, some are dangerously overweight (or a combination of all three) and some look as fit as they did in their teens. One or two seem fueled by alcohol and an inherent orneriness. You love them all and rue what’s being taken from them. Where will they go? How will they cope without baseball? The outcome, I’m afraid, isn’t optimistic. But you’re thankful they’ve been afforded this one last stand.
Yes, the film teems with melancholy, but it’s also funny as hell, especially when another Red Sox legend, Bill “Spaceman” Lee, arrives on the scene to toss a memorable inning that includes a demonstration of his command of the eephus, a slow, high-arcing pitch that induces the batter to either swing too soon or too late. And that extraordinary exhibition is this special day in a nutshell. It’s too early for it all to be over and it’s too late for some players – and their loyal scorekeeper and emergency ump, Fanny (Cliff Blake) – to seek and discover new passions.
They are the game and the game is them. Yes, baseball has been very, very good for all involved. And they’ve been very, very good for us, providing a reminder that no matter your age, you’re never too old to be a kid again.
Movie review
Eephus
Rated: Not rated
Cast: Keith William Richards, Cliff Blake, Ray Hryb, Stephen Radochia, Bill “Spaceman” Lee and David Pridemore
Director: Carson Lund
Writers: Michael Basta, Nate Fisher and Carson Lund
Runtime: 98 minutes
Where: Currently in theaters (limited)
Grade: A-
