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My Review of "The Battered Bastards of Baseball"

A great documentary about the pure love of baseball and what it can do for people.

By Brian AnonymousPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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I have to admit that I don't know what took me so long to watch The Battered Bastards of Baseball. It came out back in 2014 exclusively on Netflix. When it first came out there were some intriguing trailers that made me interested in watching it. Luckily the Netflix used their great algorithms and highlighted it to me. I didn't know how much of a ride I was in for.

If you don't already know, this movie is actually a documentary about a little known single A baseball team known as the Portland Mavericks. The story goes, Portland once had a triple A baseball team known as the Portland Beavers but due to the lack of attendance they closed shop and moved to a different city.

It wasn't until Bing Russell, a Hollywood actor who has a great affinity for all things baseball, that Portland would get another baseball team. Bing is also the father of famous actor Kurt Russell. Kurt makes a few appearances in this documentary because he not only lived this story but he was also a player on the team.

Bing found a great opportunity to open up an independent baseball team in Portland. If you don't already know. Single A baseball is actually the lowest rung in professional baseball. The city had very little interest in baseball as their triple A team (triple A is just under the major leagues) had just folded because they had low attendance. This was a large gamble on Bing's part however he had such a love for the game he was convinced that he would succeed.

Succeed he did and he had to fight the major leagues in different ways. He was the only owner of an independent baseball team at the time. Baseball is basically owned by the major leagues and what they say usually goes. This film is basically a documentary about how Bing's love for baseball affected a whole nation's interest in baseball.

His influence basically shaped the way the whole country saw baseball even though his team was only a single A leveled baseball team. They didn't follow rules and they all became a big family. They gained a large following because of their unorthodox method of doing things.

I really loved hearing this story and all the craziness that they either caused or happened to them. It was great hearing how the success of this baseball team basically snowballed to nationwide proportions. They were only a group of misfits too.

I guess everyone loves to hear a good underdog story and this really was a great underdog story. This group wasn't supposed to be successful and yet without following the rules they ended up way more successful than they had ever imagined. It really is as they called it the American dream. I will would challenge any one of you not to have a smile on your face while watching this movie.

They give a good account of what had happened to most of the major players of this team. Unfortunately some of them didn't have such luck but some of them did find success after the team had folded. Regardless if they did well or not after the team folded I would say that they should be happy that they had such a great impact on sports and to Portland.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie and had a great time from start to finish. It was especially satisfying to know that this was a true story and that some of the players went on to become even more successful in their own endeavors. I have to give this movie a 9 out of 10. It was such a great time and I would suggest this movie to countless others even if they don't follow baseball.

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About the Creator

Brian Anonymous

I have tons of opinions that change constantly. I watch a lot of movies and play video games. There are some articles on my struggles with languages and dance as well.

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