Well that was... underwhelming. At the end of the day, there was not enough about Sammy, really just not enough story at all. We got nothing about the pandemonium in Wrigleyville, just bits and pieces from reporters and beat writers telling us how cool it was. Nothing about Sammy truly captivating the city. All I felt like I was watching was Mark McGwire talk about things we already knew.
Starting from the top, we got a whole backstory on the guy. How he wanted to be a pitcher growing up and even went to USC just to do that. We heard about how USC made him switch to hit in order to get his massive stick in the lineup everyday. All we got about Sammy was he was a poor shoe shine boy from the Dominican Republic that signed with the Rangers when he was 16. Not a damn word about him playing for the White Sox and being traded to the Cubs for fucking peanuts. We didn't hear about 30 and 30 at the age of 24 and then again in the next full season of baseball. As a matter of fact, McGwire himself said he's never heard of him before. What!? Before 98, Sammy was already an All-Star, had five 30+ HR seasons, and won a silver slugger. And we have Mark McGwire talking about him like he just appeared out of nowhere like the god damn Genie from Aladdin.
Getting so much McGwire wouldn't have been so bad if he wasn't so fucking boring. Just the classic show up and go about by business kind of guy. Fine, whatever, he's a good pro, there's a reason he dropped 70 bombs (and steroids). But when Sammy was on the camera it was just so electric. He enhanced every scene he appeared in. Him talking about going home and watching ESPN just to see them talk about him. Sammy talking about how he wanted to be the man, he wanted the record. None of this pussyfooting around questions and talking about Sammy being the man. Sammy was the man and he knew it.
We needed more Wrigleyville. I never really truly got to experience Wrigley being the zoo that it was described to be before it turned into Disneyland, being too young to REALLY experience it. I wanted to see some of that. I talked about the ballhawks on Waveland in an earlier blog and we got maybe 5 minutes of that? I just wanted to see how chaotic the bleachers were, how crazy the street was, Wrigleyville going into a frenzy whenever Sammy came to bat. Seeing them cut into BP was pretty neat, however. That did help grasp the magnitude of what was really going on; but we just needed more.
I've eluded to the Cubs being my first sports memory before, the 2003 Cubs. I remember Sammy and how iconic and influential he was in the city for baseball, but I was too young to really grasp the reality of what was going on. I was hoping this doc would be able to take me to 1998 and I could feel like I lived it. I know it's unfair to compare anything to the Jordan doc for the spectacle that it was but that doc made me feel like I was there for the 90s Bulls; that just didn't happen for this doc.
What was cool was getting a little look at a fans perspective. They were just going to get absolutely toasted on Old Styles and hope to see some monstrous moonshots. You can always appreciate that. The fan that talked about how he would essentially physically assault his own father to get a home run ball, pretty wild shit. And how can we forget about our guy Lance, arguably the highlight of the show.
"Tits out for Sammy" (1998)
Then the ending just plain hurt. Sammy talking about why he hasn't been welcomed back, the organization wants him to apologize and for what? Sammy never tested positive for PEDs, the only substance was an anonymous report from the NY Times, nothing concrete or real. We're talking about an organization that's employed players like Addison Russell and Aroldis Chapman; and they want Sammy to apologize for his character and actions? It just feels so wrong, and Tom Ricketts should know the majority of the fanbase is disappointed we haven't seen Sammy back and that his number should be on a flag on the foul poles.
Ultimately, we needed more Sammy. I mean shit like "God picked me" is just so funny and electric. I would've killed for them to ask about his weight gain after he got to the Cubs just so we could hear about him eating too many hot dog again. We got his thoughts and interjections, but nothing of great substance, nothing we didn't know before. The biggest disappointment was not finding out anything new. Isn't that the point of documentaries? As a kid that was still shitting myself at least twice a day in 1998, I was looking forward to seeing insights and learning things I did not know before. That did not happen.
Hopefully we can learn more about Sammy and this chase from his perspective one day. Until then, bring Sammy home and #Retire21
No comments:
Post a Comment