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In “War on the Diamond,” Prof. Andy Billman tells the story of the only baseball player to die from an injury suffered in a major league game, and of the rivalry it launched that has gone on for more than 100 years. It continues today, as the two teams in that fateful game more than a century ago recently faced off in the playoffs.
October 20, 2022
Growing up in Cleveland, Prof. Andy Billman became a dedicated lifelong Cleveland sports fan. Like many of his fellow Clevelanders and baseball fans, he loves cheering for the city’s professional team the Cleveland Guardians – especially when they’re playing the New York Yankees.
That rivalry has now gone on for more than a century, and it continues this year, as the two teams faced each other in the major league playoffs. Prof. Billman shares the story in “War on the Diamond,” a documentary he directed and produced that tells the story of the rivalry and of a defining moment between the two teams that took place more than 100 years ago.
In August 1920, Ray Chapman, shortstop for Cleveland – then the Cleveland Indians – was hit in the head by a pitch. He became the only player to die directly from an injury received during a major league game. The Indians were playing the Yankees, and over the next century, a complex rivalry unfolded.
“What I learned is there’s a lot of fans who don’t know the story of Ray Chapman and how he died tragically,” explains Prof. Billman, an a djunct professor in the University’s Communication, Film, and Media Studies Department. “Yet, later that season, the Indians still beat Babe Ruth and the Yankees to win the World Series in 1920.”
When Prof. Billman was pitched the opportunity to work on a documentary based on The Pitch That Killed, an award-winning book by Mike Sowell, he jumped at the chance. For Prof. Billman, it was important that the film cover all the bases of the rivalry between the teams.
“There’s also the lineage of the Steinbrenners, an Ohio-based family that owns the Yankees, and that story, too, has a lot of depth,” he explains. “The Indians and Yankees have a lot of depth, and that’s why I wanted to get into the rivalry.
“Rivalries are important in sports, and I don’t think people talk about them enough,” he continued. “It’s not fun if one team doesn’t like the other and vice versa. In this case, if you talk to a true Yankees fan, they probably don’t think about Cleveland, but we as Indians – now Guardians – fans, we don’t like the Yankees at all."
The pandemic threw Prof. Billman and the crew a curveball. Because of lockdown, they weren’t able to begin filming right away, but they had plenty of time to plan. When they were finally able to begin filming in spring 2021, everything moved very quickly. They progressed so quickly that they filmed everything from late March to June, and they were finished with the film by mid-September.
“The challenges of the pandemic were really hard, but it was also a gift because we had nothing else to do except plan and hold Zoom calls,” he recalls. “That could be exhausting, but it helped us because we already had a vision and a plan. Sometimes in filmmaking you don’t have that, you just go from edit room to edit room, but this helped us.”
“War on the Diamond” includes reenactments and a variety of interviews that include representatives from both baseball teams, historians, journalists, and Sowell, author of The Pitch That Killed. Premiering in late September 2021, the film was featured on opening night at the Boston Film Festival and went on to earn the award for best documentary.
“It was a big night and for us to not only get in but to win best documentary,” said Prof. Billman. “It was a huge honor. We went up against a lot of great films. I’ve produced almost 100 films now, and I’ve never won that. It’s just amazing to win that award.”
Beginning on November 15, the film will make another big debut. It will be available for online streaming on platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Google Play. It will also be available on cable and satellite TV.
Prof. Billman will discuss his work on the documentary with the University community at an event on November 29 at 4 p.m., in the Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation. The event will include fellow adjunct professor Joe Franco, who spent decades in management positions at ESPN.
“There are a lot of things professors like Joe and me want to give back to students,” said Prof. Billman. “We want to teach them what they can do when they get out of school. I love teaching students and giving them ideas to help them as they start their careers.”
Prof. Billman has several other projects in the works, including one for ESPN and a film about Henry Hill, the former member of the mafia who was portrayed by actor Ray Liotta in the movie “Goodfellas.” He’s also continuing to share his passion for Cleveland sports through Instagram. He describes @officialclevelandsports as “like a radio program,” and he has more than 140,000 followers.
Prof. Billman, who is now in his second year as an adjunct professor at the University, describes teaching as another of his passions. He says he’s impressed by his students, and he believes in their ability to knock it out of the park in their own careers.
“I tell students that the University of New Haven is a really wonderful school,” he said. “I tell them that they can do anything, and I really believe in that. These students are very smart, they love to learn, and I love to teach them. I’m lucky to be doing this. I really enjoy teaching. It’s a big joy.”
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