In every way, it appears that Major League Baseball endorsed -- or did not stand in the way of -- the making of ESPN's new docudrama, Hustle, about the three years leading to Pete Rose's banishment by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti, who died within days of his ruling in 1989.
The film, which will have its premiere on Sept. 25, is far from a love note to baseball. As directed by Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon), there is little baseball action. But there are scenes showing Rose, as the Reds' manager, in the clubhouse planning his bets and in the dugout, ignoring the game to seek out his accomplice Paul Janszen's hand signals that told him how his wagers were faring.
The film follows the smarmy downfall of Rose (played as a con man, with manic intensity, by Tom Sizemore), his obsession with cash, his betrayal of those around him, and his denials about betting on baseball.
It's not Pride of the Yankees, but Hustle is a cautionary tale MLB may have wanted told:
-- The players wear official Cincinnati Reds uniforms, and the names of players and coaches are used (although the name of Rose's lead bookmaker, Ron Peters, is changed). The film is being marketed with Sizemore in a Reds uniform, and men dressed like Reds greeted attendees at Wednesday night's screening at the Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan.
-- Footage of Rose playing is used liberally at the beginning and end of the film, most notably when he stroked the single that broke Ty Cobb's career-hits record.
-- The script, according to ESPN, uses some of the damning evidence uncovered in baseball's investigation by John Dowd to make its case that Rose bet on his team.
But baseball did not approve the script or cooperate with the producers, said Bob DuPuy, president of Major League Baseball. He said baseball did not grant ESPN permission to use the Reds' uniforms or the team's logo, trademarks, and colors in the film, or to use them in promoting the film.
"We didn't like the script," DuPuy said on Thursday. "We like things that celebrate the game, not those that denigrate it. We told them we didn't like the script and wouldn't authorize the use of our marks."
DuPuy objected to how the script dredged up the sour Rose story at a time of interest in the positive stories like Barry Bonds' drive for 700 home runs and beyond.
Yet Rose's campaign for reinstatement, and his hope of one day being eligible for the Hall of Fame, has kept the tale alive. And his admission that he bet on baseball, in his recent autobiography and in various television and print interviews, gave ESPN the impetus to make the film.
George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN, said: "We've kept baseball abreast throughout the development of the project. We believe that we are within our rights to the marks in the film, and we're not aware of any issues, and if there are, I'm confident given our relationship with baseball, that we'll resolve them quickly."
ESPN might have the right to use video footage of Rose and the Reds because of its existing deal to carry major league games. But clearance to use the footage for a docudrama might not have been contemplated.
DuPuy stopped short of saying whether baseball would take any action against ESPN. "Whether it's a violation is up to whoever makes that determination," he said.
It seems unlikely that baseball will do much more than express dismay. ESPN and MLB are in negotiations to renew their deal, and each side needs the other.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later