Directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg
U.S.A., 2012, 90 min.
Language: English Genre: Documentary
Thursday, July 12 8:00 PM
at the Harbor View in Edgartown
In the entire history of baseball, only a handful of pitchers have been forced to resort to the lowest rung on the credibility ladder in their sport: throwing a ball so slow and unpredictable that no one wants anything to do with it. This film portrays the Major League’s only knuckleballers in 2011, veteran Tim Wakefield of the Red Sox and up-and-coming R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets, as they pursue a mercurial art form in a world that values speed, accuracy, and numerical accountability. With extraordinary access to the players and Major League Baseball, the film follows their personal quests with behind-the-scenes moments at the ballpark, on the road, and at home with family. It offers us a glimpse of the resonance of baseball through a single pitch.
Discussion with director Ricki Stern and film subject Tim Wakefield to follow.
“Knuckleball! is a clear-eyed (and full-hearted) sports film that manages to also become about something greater: the desire to keep moving forward, no matter how steep the odds.”
– Christopher Rosen, The Huffington Post