Friday, August 12, 2011

Help make a Bill Lee movie

As a Red Sox fan I have been fortunate to have been able to meet several former players, including Jim Rice and Bill Buckner, but one of my favourite highlights was when I met Bill Lee. The opportunity arose when he participated in a charity slo-pitch game, right here in Calgary. Before the game he was talking to the fans, and I asked him to sign my copy of his autobiography The Wrong Stuff. I told him how much I had enjoyed reading it, and that his book was part of my inspiration in trying to "make" my son a lefthander so he'd have some advantages in playing ball. I told him that as a baby whenever he picked anything up with his right hand, I'd gently slap it and put it in his left hand. When I started rolling a ball to him, I'd encourage him to catch with his right and throw it with his left. He looked at my son who was about 5 at the time, then at me, shook his head and said I was crazy! Being called crazy by Bill Lee is about as big of a compliment as I anyone could ask for :)

Anyhow, the filmmaker behind the Bill Lee documentary Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey
is now producing a narrative (scripted) feature film based on the amazing story of one of the great rebel athletes and characters of all time. If you're interested in seeing this movie come to life and want to contribute to it, check out it's KickStarter page. For helping to back this project for as little as $1, you can get anything from a "thank you" e-mail from Bill Lee himself, to a DVD, to being one of Lee's guests at a Red Sox game or even get a walk-on role in the documentary!

By the way, I am in no way connected to this. I'm just a fan and would really like to see this film happen!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

MLB Power Rankings - August edition

Now that the trade deadline is done and for the most part, teams have made the changes they need for the last 1/3 of the season, here are the latest power rankings.  Numbers in brackets are movement from last month, and their high/low rank for the season.   Look at previous rankings  (JanFebruary, March, Opening Day, May, June, July) for explanations of how the teams got to where they are. 


#1 – Philadelphia (--, 1/2) – I  may have mentioned this before – but there are some guys who know how to pitch a ball pretty good out in Eastern Pennsylvania.   Getting Hunter Pence at the deadline wasn’t a necessity but certainly doesn’t hurt.