Most baseball movies show triumph over adversity, the power of team or the magic of the sport. Think of the camaraderie and community of “A League of Their Own,” the ties of tradition and family in “Field of Dreams,” the mysticism of “The Natural.” The biggest baseball movie of this century, “Moneyball,” showed the triumph of innovation over the old, traditional ways.
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A decade ago, a very different baseball movie, released not long before “Moneyball,” showed that sometimes there was no big triumph, no magic. Sometimes, there is just the day-to-day grind, and the realization that a dream might shatter, but life still goes on.
“Sugar,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2008, grossed just over $1 million at the box office. Three years later, “Moneyball” would gross $75.6 million. One tells the tale of finding diamonds in the rough and using the market to your advantage to beat an opponent. The other tells the story of what happens to that diamond when life gets in the way.
The response to those two movies is a symbol of the ways baseball fandom has changed in the 21st century.
Directed and written by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, “Sugar” tells the fictional story of 19-year-old Miguel “Sugar” Santos, a pitching sensation from the Dominican Republic. Already a legend in his small town outside of San Pedro de Macoris, the aspirations of his entire neighborhood weigh heavily on his shoulders. Sugar’s father passed away when he was a kid, making Sugar’s dream of America and Major League Baseball one of the few options he has for a comfortable life.
After signing a deal with Kansas City (and getting schooled in the sport’s nuances via an academy), Sugar flies to Phoenix for tryouts and gets assigned to a Single-A affiliate in Iowa.
Among most baseball fans, a player of Sugar’s ability and background wouldn’t be discussed unless he had some major upside; maybe he could be a trade chip or help with a rebuild. Flack and Boden take pains to remind viewers that Sugar, played by Dominican actor Algenis Pérez Soto, is also a human being.
“It just seemed like the honest story to tell,” said Fleck. “The script is based on all the interviews and research we conducted — not one player’s story, but a tapestry of many. We met players who made it all the way to the big leagues, but they were rare. We wanted to tell the more common story.”
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Soto portrays Sugar as a man carrying the burden of expectations, thrown into a brand new environment with barely enough guidance to function. As long as he performs on the field, he’ll continue to be shuffled along, in a country he doesn’t know, surrounded by a language he doesn’t speak. The host homes, the awkward encounters with small-town America, the shame of ordering the same meal as someone else just because you overheard them say it and you don’t know the language well enough to order anything else — it’s all captured in the film.
Fleck and Boden filmed scenes from the movie in Iowa, Arizona, New York City and in the San Pedro area of the Dominican Republic, but they scoured the entire DR to find locations, actors and ballplayers.
“To cast the film we traveled everywhere in the Dominican Republic, including cities and extremely rural areas,” said Fleck. “We would drive to baseball fields and interview players. We met Algenis at a field in San Pedro de Macoris. He was playing a pickup game with friends. He had great eyes and a disarming smile. And he could tell a joke.”
Former major league pitcher Jose Rijo also worked with Boden and Fleck while filming in the Dominican Republic. Assistance from advisors like Rijo led to them casting many local non-actors who could actually play the sport in order to keep the action authentic. “We could rely on them as a resource for everything from a Dominican colloquialism to a baseball technicality,” said Boden.
Fleck and Boden, who were both wrapping up the production of the new “Captain Marvel” movie around the time of this interview, admitted that one half of the directing duo is more of a baseball fan than the other.
“Ryan’s a much bigger fan,” said Boden. Fleck’s fandom led him to co-write “Sugar” to not only show the public the other side of the pursuit of athletic dreams, but to learn more about the inner workings of the sport he loves.
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“As a lifelong baseball fan, I was surprised to learn about the academies every Major League baseball team hosts in the Dominican Republic,” said Ryan. “It was kind of mind-blowing. So we started doing research and reading and learning everything we could about these academies and the experiences players have before and after they attend.”
After the academy is often where the real difficulties begin. In Sugar’s world, he’s away from his family, dealing with nerves, injuries and racism. It’s an experience familiar to many immigrants.
Certain immigrant experiences are treated differently than others in America, and it’s no different in baseball. Players from Latin America are often given the “wait and see how he matures” approach, while star players from Asia are more likely to be viewed by the public with wonder and excitement (although they certainly aren’t immune to racism in baseball, either). Fleck wanted Americans to understand the details of the immigrant experience, using Sugar as a stepping stone.“I think the immigrant experience, in general, is something a lot of Americans struggle to appreciate,” said Fleck and Boden via email. “At the end of the day, most baseball fans just want to see their teams win, myself included.”
The film got an excellent reception from critics. Michael Phillips, of the Chicago Tribune, said the movie was “A rich and moving reminder of the way professional sports aspirations can shape someone’s destiny in the real world.” Denver Post Critic Lisa Kennedy said Boden and Fleck had “made a sports saga rife with rare truths.” The late, great Roget Ebert wrote: “What’s special about the film — and this is a very special film — is how closely it observes the emotional uncertainties of a stranger in a strange land, not speaking the language, not knowing the customs, beset with homesickness and the dread of disappointing his family.”
Sugar was filmed mostly in Spanish, with subtitles, and doesn’t have any notable movie stars — all things that could have played a role in it not reaching a wider audience.
“Moneyball” starred Brad Pitt, after all.
But other factors may have played a role in the movie’s lack of acknowledgment when compared to its blockbuster counterparts. One, “Moneyball” gave baseball fans a front-row seat into what it might be like in the world of general managers and front office personnel. These days, it can be easier for fans to see themselves more in the men in suits than in the men in uniforms. Video games, fantasy sports and sabermetrics prompt fans to think in terms like “low cost,” “team control” and “service time.” While that doesn’t necessarily take away from fans’ enjoyment of the game (that’s old man talk), it can sometimes lean heavily on numbers rather than on the quirks and personalities that make the game what it is.
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Sugar was a small indie film, with the size of release to match. Hollywood producing a sports movie without a happy or sentimental ending seems farfetched. A big studio version of this movie, after multiple audience tests, likely would have ended with Sugar pitching game 7 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium one out away from a perfect game.
“Moneyball” has a happier ending.
Beneath all the numbers, there are many Sugars trying to make it to the big leagues. Some eventually get there and some do not. Sugar leaves the game he loves, but he doesn’t go home, either. It’s not happily ever after; it’s not a tragedy. Fleck and Boden both wanted the ending to be ambiguous.
“The end of the film is emotionally complicated, bittersweet,” said Fleck. “On one hand, Sugar failed at his initial goal. But he succeeds on a whole other level. He finds a community that understands him and accepts him.”
“He secures a decent job that allows him to send money home to support his family. And he has fun playing baseball again,” said Boden.
Given the current climate of hatred directed at immigrants from Latin America and Central America, it’s a particularly good time for any baseball fan to check out the best baseball movie of the 21st century. Sugar is a testament to the saying that everyone has a story to tell.
(Top photo of Soto, Boden and Fleck: Lester Cohen / WireImage)
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