I previously went the full nine innings reviewing Bull Durham. It should be no surprise that I’d go another nine innings with The Church of Baseball written by Bull Durham writer and director Ron Shelton about the origin of, writing of, production, release, and reaction to Bull Durham.
So let’s do it, on to the first pitch… Play Ball!
1st Inning: Ron Shelton
Perhaps someone told me once and I forgot, or perhaps I never knew, but author/director Ron Shelton, actually played minor league ball, and he accounts this early in The Church of Baseball. His minor league career is very similar to many others who don’t make it to “the show.” Bumbling around from town to town, maybe jumping up to a higher league, and traveling around the country making next to nothing to play the game you love. Eventually, the players either hang on too long or hang on just long enough to move into coaching. But if you think of the Major Leagues as a pyramid, Shelton was just one of the many players who never made it to the pinnacle.
2nd Inning: Baltimore Orioles
Shelton’s first professional gig was in Bluefield, W. Va., where he was managed by Joe Altobelli within the farm system of my beloved Baltimore Orioles. This is where some of the book will speak to my ridiculous historical knowledge of my favorite franchise in professional sports.
Altobelli was the last manager to take the Orioles to the World Series Championship in 1983. But there are also a lot of names like Don Baylor and Steve Dalkowski that also resonate with me. It’s still about Shelton’s time in the minors, but everytime a name I knew came across the page, I enjoyed the book a little more.
3rd Inning: The Process of Writing
It’s not often, as a writer in my shoes, that I come to find my own process explained back to me. “The process of writing is also one of discovery.” Shelton writes this as he’s talking about how the initial script came together, and it’s how some of these posts are written. Sometimes I don’t know what I really think until I finish typing the sentence or paragraph describing it.
4th Inning: The Script vs. The Finished Movie
Reading lines and scenes from the original script that got cut from the filming or that were filmed and then cut from the film before release was amazing. And more to the point, reading these and seeing them scripted felt better in print than just hearing them being told in a director’s commentary track. Then again, perhaps I just prefer the written word.
5th Inning: Working in Isolation
While a pitcher has a catcher to throw to and a team playing defense behind him, he is alone on the mound. So when Shelton writes, “While working in isolation, the writer is likely envisioning a movie that will never get made,” I am intrigued.
What he means is that the writer’s initial script is a movie in the their mind that will be different than what is put on film – even if the writer is the one directing it. There are actors with ideas, sometimes better, sometimes worse. There are time constraints, budgets, and other things that are out of your control as a writer.
This book gives you a little insight into the initial script and film that was in Shelton’s head when he wrote it and the changes and evolution that took place through the writing process, development, and all of the stages of production including the editing room.
6th Inning: Debuts
“Everyone is nervous about a rookie, but I was calm and confident. I tend to focus better in crises, and moviemaking is a series of small fires that you try to identify and nuff out before they turn into conflagrations.”
Shelton writes this about pre-production and how as a first time director, people are a little nervous about a rookie. In my experience it’s always “everyone” except the rookie that’s nervous. Be it first-time directors or rookies that take to the mound or step into the batter’s box for the first time, they’ve all done something to get there. They’ve put in the work and most are self confident enough despite nerves of being wherever here is for the first time.
Sure everyone is nervous about a rookie – well, everyone except the rookie who knows what they can do!
7th Inning: Rough Spot
“Once a corporate mind is made up, all reason and judgment are forfeited.” Sadly, though I am physically thousands of miles away from Hollywood, hundreds of miles away from Durham, and a million miles away from being a director, I understand this sentiment all too well.
Change can be hard for some people, let’s just leave it at that.
8th Inning: A Stagecoach
“In Day for Night, Francois Truffaut’s wonderful film about moviemaking, the film director says, ‘Shooting a film is like a stagecoach ride in the Old West. When you start, you are hoping for a pleasant trip, but pretty soon you just hope you’ll reach your destination.’”
I haven’t watched Day for Night, but somehow this stagecoach analogy feels like it could apply to much more than moviemaking. I’ll let you figure out what it means to you.
9th Inning: The Final Outs
“Baseball is not like life, as people love to say, but it has rhythms that linger.” Honestly, it’s as beautiful a sentiment as a nine-pitch three-out immaculate inning save.
Postgame
Just like Bull Durham is about more than just baseball, this book is about more than just the making of a movie. I don’t think you need to love Bull Durham to read this book, but it helps to have seen it.
However, I will say that if you ever plan to make a movie, or work within the Hollywood system, this peek behind the curtain from a writer and director on his directorial debut is a boots-on-the-ground explanation for what it was like for him. Not all of Shelton’s lessons are applicable to everyone, but generally, this is probably a great place to start.