Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey

A good baseball doc, but not quite enough for me to fully recommend.

I was a kid and certified baseball fanatic growing up in the 1970's, and I just loved Bill Lee. I can remember his antics, hysterical sound-bites, and also the pure joy he seemed to have playing this game that I also loved. So, I was really enthused about the prospect of a documentary on this most-unusual of baseball personalities, but was ultimately left a little disappointed.

The first third of the film serves as a summary on Bill Lee's career, and that was the stuff I thought worked best. But all that was just set up for a baseball trip to Cuba, which happened many years after his retirement. The last half or so of the movie, shows Lee and some rag-tag, 40-something baseball team traveling to Cuba to compete there. Bill Lee (in his 50's) was their starting pitcher. That was fun to watch, but a little of that would have gone a long way.

The Cuba footage is interesting, but only to a point. I wanted the Cuba stuff to serve as an aside, instead of being the main focus of the film. But still, the vintage footage combined with the irrepressible wit of this larger-than-life character does make for good viewing. If you were a baseball fan in the 70's/early 80's, you'll probably enjoy this.

I love Bill Lee. I love him. And not just because I'm a Red Sox fan and a Yankee hater. In case you're not familiar with him, Bill Lee ("The Spaceman") is a dope-smoking commie who was a Yankee-killer during his 10 years with the Sox as a left-handed junk-ball pitcher. As a baseball-loving leftist toker myself, I can't get enough of old Bill, and this film follows him from his homestead in rural Vermont to the ballfields of Cuba, where he and a senior team from San Diego take on Cuban retirees, with some old footage thrown in. It's a great introduction to one of baseball's most endearing guys, a real free spirit.

!viva Bill Lee!