Season of the Samurai
by Josh Marks, March 1, 2007
One of the must unusual sports stories to ever take place
has been captured for posterity by filmmakers Danny Gold and Matthew Asner. In
the summer of 2005 a ragtag group of Japanese baseball players became the first
foreign team to compete in an American professional sports league.
The documentary “Season of the Samurai” looks at this historic event by
traveling on the bus with the Japan Samurai Bears through their grueling
schedule of 90 games in 97 days in their one and only season in the Golden
Baseball League.
Led by their foul-mouthed manager, ex-major leaguer Warren Cromartie, the
players must adjust to a new culture and language while trying to win ball
games. With no home base, the barnstorming team jumps around California and
Arizona visiting cities from Long Beach to Surprise.
Cromartie is one of the great personalities of the game but his in-your-face
management style conflicts with many of the more reserved Japanese players and
it made for a roller-coaster season. The team lost most of their games, never
really clicking despite numerous changes in the lineup. However, despite
finishing in last place with a 33-57 record they were only three wins shy of
setting the record for most victories by an all-traveling team.
Fueled by a pulsating soundtrack of Japanese pop rock music, the film is as
erratic at times as Cromartie. The over 300 hours of original footage was edited
down to 91 minutes but it would have benefited from cutting some of the
on-the-field action, which is hard to follow because of some shaky camera work,
and replacing it with more of the off-the-field exploits . There are some
scenes of them out at a nightclub, cooking food in the hotel room and at Sea
World, however not enough of these scenes as their personalities never really
fully develop. It would have been nice to see more scenes of them struggling to
adjust to a completely different culture as for many of them it was their first
time outside of Japan.
Besides Cromartie, the team’s translator Blair Sly gets a lot of camera time.
It is comical watching him joke around with Cromartie as he tries to translate
his F-Bomb-filled speeches to the players. There is one hilarious scene where
the players and Sly bet how many times Cromartie will swear in a game. They
keep track with a clicker and Sly wins the bet with 167. However, Sly changes
as the film progresses and becomes uncomfortable relaying the confrontational
messages from Cromartie to the players.
“Season of the Samurai” is a fascinating insider look at this team of wandering
Japanese and their difficult but ultimately endearing American manager. It will
appeal not just to baseball fans but anyone who enjoys a good underdog story.
The film had its world premiere at the Santa Barbara Film Festival recently so
the prospects are good that it will get picked up for distribution.