LAST COMISKEY (B+) - An unabashed labor of love, this DIY documentary pays tribute to the final season of Comiskey Park, home of the Chicago White Sox, before it faced the wrecking ball after the 1990 season. Matt Flesch conducts interviews with former players and curates fascinating footage from the Dick Allen/Bill Veeck/Harry Caray 1970s, an era of rowdy fun, if not pennants.
The talking heads include Ozzie Guillen (the star of the 1990 team, who would go on to bring that elusive championship to Chicago as manager in 2005); journeymen pitchers like Donn Paul, Scott Radisnky, Greg Hibbard, Bobby Thigpen and Jack McDowell (who all pay tribute to veteran catcher Carlton Fisk); and scrappy players Scott Fletcher and Lance Johnson. A key figure is organist Nancy Faust, the team's scrappy little sister who invented the walk-up song in the '70s ("Jesus Christ Superstar" for Dick Allen, etal.) and popularized a little pop song called "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," an all-purpose ditty to accompany home runs (with the exploding scoreboard) as well as disgraced pitchers going through the walk of shame back to the dugout.
The charm here emanates from the Everyman production, which lovingly slaps together home movies and video clips going back to the days of lonely WSNS-Channel 44. My brother, a teen back then, broke from the family's generations of hapless Cubs fans to adopt the South Side Hitmen as is favorite team, and he was old enough in '77 to lead excursions to the left-field bleachers and occasionally take me along, though I don't remember if I was allowed to sip from the fat thermos of lemonade (spiked with gin to create the exotic Jungle Juice). It was from there that we beckoned rocket salvos from the free-agents-to-be Oscar Gamble and Richie Zisk, whom Veeck had rented for the season, and fellow thumper Eric Soderholm. This documentary is smart enough to include shots from below the bleachers, the field-level picnic area behind the left-fielder. (And don't forget the discounted seats behind the huge poles in the grandstand; you'd have to lean left or right to follow the action.)
That was quite the season at 35th and Shields. Both the Cubs and Sox would taste first place in late June and early July before the inevitable collapse, and the working-class giddiness was infectious at Comiskey park all summer. This documentary cherishes that history but always returns its focus to 1990, as the clock ticks toward the last out at the revered ballpark that once hosted Babe Ruth and other legends at the first All-Star Game in 1933. Showdowns with the mighty Oakland A's (the former champs were bloated by steroid use, especially Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire) build drama toward a hard-fought pennant chase. It was the kind of year when the Sox beat the Yankees 4-0 despite being no-hit by Andy Hawkins.
No one is too incidental to the story. We hear not just from the former GM and the players, but also from Faust, beer vendors, diehard fans. It's fun to hear slugger Ron Kittle reminisce about the cook and clubhouse guy "Chicken" Willie Thompson. Kenny McReynolds, a basketball veteran turned broadcaster, grew up in the shadow of Comiskey in a public-housing complex and has great memories to share. We're reminded of Frank Thomas' Major League debut mid-season.
It certainly helps if you are a Sox fan or a Chicagoan, but just about any sports fan could appreciate this video fanzine. Director Flesch gets an assist from veteran sportscaster Tom Shaer, which must have helped with the narrative flow, which builds to a truly moving conclusion. If this movie happened by accident, it was a happy one.
BONUS BABY
REGGIE (B+) - With a free month of Amazon Prime we caught up with this admiring documentary about another '70s favorite, Reggie Jackson, who made us a Yankees fan back in the day. Jackson is remarkably self-reflective about his role in baseball and pop culture history. He pals around with his sports-celebrity pals, like Julius "Dr. J" Erving and his longtime Oakland A's pals Rollie Fingers and Joe Rudi.
The documentary by Alex Stapleton works methodically through Jackson's timeline, from growing up in the segregated South through his incredible exploits with the A's and Yankees. The theme of racial struggle is woven throughout the 105-minute film. Particularly moving is a story Jackson tells about being humiliated at age 12 by the father of a white friend who had lent him a bicycle; Stapleton places the story within the context of Jackson's battles with Yankee manager Billy Martin during Jackson's inaugural 1977 season in New York, fresh from signing a $3 million five-year contract.
It is all worth it to a slow build toward the two-thirds mark, when we once again get to experience Jackson's epic performance in Game 6 against the Dodgers that year, when he hit three home runs on three consecutive swings, a power show for the ages. No wonder he had a candy bar named after him.
Jackson is wistful throughout this documentary, considerate not just about himself, but the game of baseball itself. This would come off as fawning if Jackson didn't seem so genuine as an elder statesman.
BONUS TRACKS
Here is Part 1 of "Last Comiskey":
"Na-na na na ......"
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