Pages

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Sitting 20 Feet from Eddie Cicotte

I was sitting within 20 feet from Eddie Cicotte.

Well not the real Cicotte - He's been dead since 1969. But rather David Strathairn, the man who played Cicotte in the 1988 film "Eight Men Out".

1988 Orion Pictures "Eight Men Out" #14 David Strathairn as Eddie Cicotte

Recently team Phungo had the pleasure of attending the US Premier of Vaclav Havel's new play "Leaving" which featured Strathairn in the lead role as an aging lame-duck head of state preparing to leave/be ousted from office. The play is funny albeit confusing with over a dozen characters. It was staged at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, which is capable of handling elaborate staging and demonstrating the possibilities of high-end theater.
Vaclav Havel is not just a playwright, he was also once the President of Czechslovakia. "Leaving" has a long going on and likely rewards the veteran theatergoer more than an amateur like myself, but it was still enjoyable.

David Strathairn was well suited for the lead and could handle both it's many comedic and dramatic turns. We were in the third row of the theater and it was pretty cool to see one of the stars from an Iconic baseball film up on the stage less than 20 feet away.

The card above is from a set promoting the Film. There are a handful of cards in the 180 card set that feature Strathairn/Cicotte.
Eddie Cicotte was the Ace of the Black Sox staff and I believe he was the first ball player approached by the gamblers with the prospect of throwing the 1919 series.

The White Sox 60s era Outfielder Ken Berry was the baseball consultant on the Film and stated that David Strathairn was the best natural athlete among the actors.

No comments:

Post a Comment