My Honest Review Of The 1998 Home Run Chase Documentary That Was Actually Just A Mark McGwire Documentary
I'm going live with Eddie on Twitter to break this down. That's going to be our Dog Walk for tomorrow so tune in now or then for a more "comprehensive" conversation which is a fancier way of saying you can listen to me complain in person. For now, here's my honest knee jerk reaction from Long Gone Summer.
- I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't mad. I'm actually very salty. You can complain about a lot of things about this documentary - the weird splicing from New Busch to Old Busch, the excessive commentary from nearly identical people (who wants to hear from another sportswriter? anyone? Bueller?), the lack of context to the chase and everything under the sun. But what really stands out is this was a Mark McGwire documentary featuring Sammy Sosa. This was about him breaking the record and not about anything else.
- I'm at this weird crossroads where I'm even more mad because we talked to the director on Red Line Radio this week and Eddie specifically asked him if Sosa would get appropriate attention because the director is a Cardinals' fan. We were explicitly assured that it was a balanced documentary about the chase. I then heard speculation throughout the week there was way less Sammy than you'd think. It was like finding out Santa wasn't real in 7th grade. I refused to believe it but somewhere deep down I was nervous it would be my reality. Well tonight that came crashing down. Santa overslept and there were no presents under my tree today just like there was way less Sammy than the people demand.
- Do you believe us older fucks now when we talk about how much the home run chase changed sports? They were interviewing 8 year old girls that were talking about going home and watching the game that night. There was a guy who drove 900 miles alone just to watch Mark. You had 50,000 every fucking night on their feet screaming and cheering. It was so very real and if there's one positive from the doc - it's the look back into how much people loved baseball. Obviously that's all changed because the owners are greedy fucks and the players have evolved into one of the most unlikeable forms of human beings yet made available to our collective conscious. But deep down it's comforting to know that the peak wasn't too long ago. We're never ever going to see it again, but if you're curious - that's what it looked like. A bunch of clueless assholes going bananas every single night so they could say they witnessed history.
- Mark McGwire is a nice man but also a stiff. The quintessential "I've Been So Good At This Sport For So Long That I Never Needed A Personality" kind of guy. Not necessarily a bad thing just saying when you put him next to Sammy it's not even fucking close. Sammy got a fraction of the run time in Long Gone Summer and yet all the best parts feature him. I know I'm excessively biased but that's just a fact. If your Emotional Dick moved at all tonight during this documentary, it's because Sammy made it move. Show some respect.
- KFC hit it perfectly
- Wouldn't be surprised if they announce a Part 2 for next weekend that covers Sammy's experience in the home run chase
- It took 90 minutes to show the streets outside Wrigley and all the people standing around.
- Now with literally 6 minutes left in the documentary, we're talking Barry Bonds and steroids allegations. We let Mark McGwire grandstand about how it was legal and publicly available to get juiced up. That was as hard as anyone got on Mark McGwire until 9:49pm Central Standard Time. I mean what the fuck is going on here guys. We can't gloss over this for 97% then circle back with Sammy Sosa using an interpreter in front of a congressional committee. Now here comes Bud Selig, who was too chicken shit to talk about this summer and how it saved him from being labeled a dirty rotten asshole with no respect for fair labor. Instead, he gets a plaque in Cooperstown, a fat check and the ability to pretend none of this happened.
- Speaking of pretending shit didn't happen, reminder that Sammy is not welcome back at Wrigley Field
- Sammy never tested positive for PED's
- The last few minutes where Sammy talks about his relationship with the Cubs is soul crushing. Is he the one to blame? What do the Ricketts want from him to be able to recognize him? If the Ricketts family held themselves to the same standard they're holding Sammy Sosa, they would be leading the charge to bring baseball back into our lives. They'd operate with integrity first, business sense second. But the reality is they haven't done that because it doesn't check out financially. Instead they've taken some ridiculous stance that Sammy owes them or us or anyone ANYTHING. He absolutely does not I repeat HE OWES US NOTHING. We're talking about an institutional failure on the part of everyone associated with MLB and it's disgusting that the Ricketts family wants to single out Sammy Sosa. Why don't you take a long look in the mirror and single yourself out. You may not love what you see but at least it might inspire you to start doing the right thing starting with welcoming back Sammy vs. the Addison Russell's of the world. On behalf of Cubs fans everywhere, we want it.