Spaceman: a Baseball Odysssey [DVD]

Throughout the 1970's, Bill Lee was the ultimate gonzo baseball player, a brilliant left-handed pitcher who flouted every manager or front office executive who tried to control him. The fans loved him and so did the sportswriters who delighted in asking the usual baseball questions, only to get philosophical responses. Out of professional baseball since 1983, Lee was left to roam the world in search of a chance to play the game he loves. Harkening back to the days of barnstormers like the mythical Satchel Paige, who traveled the glove in search of good baseball, Lee's adventures have taken him across the United States to China, Russia, South America and every province in Canada. The film follows Lee, at fifty-seven years young, on a weeklong journey to the impoverished baseball mecca of Cuba. Along the way, we hear from former teammates, family members, sportswriters, fans and especially Lee himself, about the unique life and career that spawned the legend of a ballplayer who will forever be known as simply, the Spaceman.