Netflix's New Doc: The Battered Bastards of Baseball

I really like what Netflix has been doing lately. The original content that's been steadily coming out over the last couple years has been on par with other premium networks... they just make it easier to access without the necessity of buying a whole bunch of channels you're really never gonna watch. So I was excited to hear about this new documentary...

The Battered Bastards of Baseball starts off slow, but it really caught (no pun intended) my attention by the end. There was an odd sort of vanity quality to the project which was bizarre to see. And some of the interviews felt a little forced. But the story itself was quite compelling. It could actually make a really solid movie in its own right, but there was all of this really interesting footage out there, so I'm glad someone took advantage of it.

Essentially, The Battered Bastards of Baseball is the story of major league baseball (an organization actually sanctioned by the government to monopolize an entire industry... are you kidding me??), and one very compelling man's struggle to prove to the world that there was a better version of the sport that was being suffocated by the money sharks up top. It's really very cool to see somebody make the moves Bing Russell made to try and fight such a giant. And it certainly connects back to some of the struggles we're seeing in sports today. If another football league opened up in Spring, I would likely watch, but every time someone tries, something comes along and wrecks the whole thing.

If you like sports at all, this is a fun and quirky picture that you'll want to check out. Chapman Way and Maclain Way did a solid job and while I don't think it'll make any splash come awards season, it's still worth a look.