Bottom of the Ninth: Minor leagues, major heart.

Reviewer: Walt Opie
Rating (out of 5): ***½

What's great about the baseball documentary Bottom of the Ninth (2002), directed by Chuck Braverman, is that it isn't about hype. It's about heart and a genuine love of baseball that is palpable on the players' faces as they talk about their ongoing season with the minor league Somerset Patriots and the course of their lives to date. All of them appear to have sacrificed a great deal for their dream of playing professional baseball, and quite a few, if not most, have had to reluctantly give up the fantasy that they will some day make it big in the majors. With a running time of only 50 minutes, Bottom of the Ninth plays out more like a feature-length film and delivers the big picture of life in the minor leagues with simple clarity and a somewhat unexpected sense of compassion for the players caught in the throes of their passion for the game.

At the helm of the Somerset team is someone who did get to live the dream for 16 years with teams like the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees: former record-breaking American League pitcher Sparky Lyle, who snagged a Cy Young Award as a left-handed reliever way back in 1977. Manager Lyle even admits that he sometimes gets a little frustrated that his players aren't better than they are, which only makes it sweeter near the end of the film when he loudly proclaims, "I would have been proud to pitch for this team!"

What's at stake as we follow this Bridgewater, New Jersey AAA team during their 2001 season is nothing less than the Atlantic League Championship Series, a feat that ultimately seems like a consolation prize in lieu of getting a chance to try out with a Major League ball club, but which would be a very welcome badge of pride nonetheless. It all comes down to a final best of five game series with the Newark Bears, and as if just to challenge themselves more, the Patriots lose the first two games and need to fight their way back into contention.

The real story here is not who wins or loses, but how each individual player has coped with the hard reality of his baseball dream, and how playing in the minors is a way to keep hope alive for just a little while longer.