Chasing 3000

[Patrick425]

Someone brought up the name Michael O'Keefe (Danny Noonan) in the "Retro 80's Oscars" thread. I started wondering what he was doing now. So, I checked IMDB.com and found that he is supposed to be in a movie coming out in April called "Chasing 3000" about two brothers who travel across the country to see Roberto Clemente get his 3000th hit. Sound's like it could be a pretty good movie. However, I can't find any more information about it. No Trailers or web site or anything. You would think if it's being released in April it would have a trailer out by now. Anyone have any further info about this movie?

 

By the way, Michael O'Keefe had a pretty sweet golf swing (for an actor) in Caddyshack.

[GAME05]

a road-trip movie about baseball?? i can't think of two better things to want to watch.

 

wasn't Noonan married to Bonnie Raitt for a brief period of time?

[TheEndless7]

This is actually available on Netflix instant right now. I'm watching it as I type this. So far it seems pretty good. Not sure if it's 'Field of Dreams' good, but the two brothers just had a 'stats' vs 'heart' debate about baseball that made me think of bfan.net.

 

Edit: Just finished. Enjoyed it. Like Sugar it was more of a life movie, with Baseball involved, than a Baseball movie. But I suppose all the good ones are. It relies heavily on the mythic stature of Clemente and just how awesome he was. Of course, you can count me in the camp that believes that if 42 is retired by MLB there's absolutely no reason 21 shouldn't be.

 

It also struck me, about halfway through, of just how good of friends Ayrton Senna and Roberto Clemente could have been had they lived in the same time and known each other. Of course, that's mostly because of the anniversary of the Imolia incident being a week ago, and because I'm a racing geek. Coupled with having spent the better part of the last two months trying to find the Senna movie to review it.

 

Still, It's about two brothers, one with a disability, that grow up in Pitt and are forced to move to Cali. They eventually decide to take a road trip to attempt to see the 3000th hit. The majority of the film is the bonding of the two brothers as they attempt the 2600 mile journey. It's touching and a good family film, or a good film for anyone who wants to think back on the last week of the 1972 season. But still, at it's core, it's about the effect that one ballplayer could have on a group of people. I wasn't alive in 1972, but my father has always told me that, "I always argued Hank Arron was the best outfielder ever, but my friend always said Roberto Clemente, and I think he was right." I'll be sharing the film with him.

 

And since it wasn't posted in the thread a trailer can be found here

[JoeHova]

Of course, you can count me in the camp that believes that if 42 is retired by MLB there's absolutely no reason 21 shouldn't be.

Um, what? How does one follow the other? Jackie Robinson's number is retired because he was the first black player in the modern era, as there was an unwritten rule at the time against allowing black people to play major league baseball. There was no such prohibition against Latinos, as there have been Latinos continuously in MLB since at least 1911. There would obviously have been a prohibition against African-Latinos such as Clemente, but he was not the first player to break that barrier. Minnie Minoso was, 6 years before Clemente made his debut.

 

I'm not saying Clemente wasn't a great player or a great man but retiring his number league-wide doesn't make sense. Retiring Robinson's makes sense as a symbol of MLB's shame in its pre-1947 history and of its pride in helping usher in the Civil Rights era (however small of an effect it may have had, it certainly couldn't have hurt to integrate team sports, which are obviously a symbol of teamwork and brotherhood).

[Teatoe993]

Endless7 let me know when you succeed in catching the Senna documentary. I'm dying to see it. It's available in Japan but I left there about two weeks before its release date. I could have a friend send me a copy but then I would have to buy a region free player.

[Patrick425]

Endless, thanks for finding and revising this thread!! Event though I started it, I completely forgot about it and must have missed this movie when it came out in theaters (was it even out in wide release?). I'll have to rent it.

 

By the way. I'm guessing you meant "bonding" of the two brothers, not "boning". Otherwise, I'm not sure how much of a family film it could be http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/embarassed.gif

 

edit: Also, looks like Michael O'Keefe only had a fairly small role (Dr. Stuart)

[TheEndless7]

Haha woops. Fixed that.

 

I didn't even notice it was him at the time, so yea fairly small role. I'm not sure it was ever released widely, I'd heard of it a while back, but hadn't seen it. I just stumbled upon it on Netflix instant streaming the other night, and about halfway through did a search here to see if anyone had commented on it. The stories that others tell the brothers about Clemente were my favorite part.