The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham: Home Runs, Bad Calls, Crazy Fights, Big Swings, and a Hit

In this spectacular debut, screenwriter and director Shelton reflects on the deeply personal passion that brought his canonical sports film, 1988’s Bull Durham, to life. Rather than fall into the trappings of a tell-all about “lies, clashing egos, and bloodshed”—which he regards as routine in the making of any film—Shelton produces a work that’s humanizing and intimate. He chronicles the movie’s indelible impact: on the residents of Durham, N.C., who, even after 30 years, still credit the film for revitalizing the city; on its memorable cast—Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins—who were at that point three Hollywood newcomers Shelton tirelessly advocated for despite “deflating pushback” from Columbia Pictures; and, most of all, on his own career in filmmaking, which he recounts in vivid detail. In addition to his fascinating analyses of the script’s genesis—including play-by-plays of character development that went into every baseball sequence (“Nuke begins pitching better because he’s not thinking about pitching; he’s thinking about Annie”)—readers will revel in Shelton’s own accounts of playing baseball professionally in the minor leagues in the 1960s. As he writes, it was the “fragile and absurd... wondrous and thrilling” world he discovered there that ignited his dreams to write the film. The result is an immensely moving look into the mind behind the masterpiece. (July)