Austin360 blogs > Austin Movie Blog > Archives > 2010 > October > 25 > Entry
AFF screening: “Ballhawks”
As one commenter notes, “They watch for home run balls in lieu of working or having a life.”
Ah, the sting of truth. Director Mike Diedrich isn’t nearly so judgmental in “Ballhawks,” his look at guys who hang around the corner of Kenmore and Waveland outside the bleachers at Wrigley Field in Chicago hoping to catch a home run ball at Chicago Cubs games. In Diedrich’s telling, this is the pastime around which these meat heads order their lives: When we first meet Moe Mullins, he’s in his 46th season of standing around in the street and has 4,444 balls. “The Babe Ruth of ballhawks,” he’s called.
Why? Like any other hobby that becomes an obsession, it’s hard to articulate. These lugs like the street-level camaraderie and competition and don’t mind standing around for days so long as they eventually can catch one more ball to put in the drawer. (The unspoken rule is that ballhawks will not sell the balls they catch, although at least one in the film violates that rule.)
Diedrich is clearly fond of the Cubs and the guys who seek glory on the periphery during every season. They even go to spring training in Florida — not suburban Phoenix, where the Cubs train — because there are more ball parks in Florida. The quixotic element to this pursuit will either strike you as romantic or pathetic depending on how generous your spirit.
As much as anything, “Ballhawks” is an ode to Chicago, the biggest small town in America, and the perseverance of its working classes. After the 2004 season, the Cubs expanded the left field bleachers, sharply curtailing the number of balls that make it out of the park.
The hawks are still there.
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