Earlier this year, we told you about a documentary called The Battered Bastards of Baseball that played at the Sundance Film Festival and was popular with movie bloggers and critics. The film is about the Portland Mavericks, an independent minor league team that existed from 1973 to 1977. Two of the well-known names to play for the Mavericks were Jim Bouton and actor Kurt Russell (the son of team owner Bing Russell).
At the time, the question was whether or not the film would get a theatrical release around the country, allowing fans to see it. In perhaps the best possible development, Netflix picked up the documentary and will make it available for streaming on July 11. Here is the trailer.
The Battered Bastards of Baseball is also being developed as a feature film by producer Justin Lin (who directed three of the “Fast and Furious” movies), and could possibly be directed by Todd Field (In the Bedroom, Little Children), who was a bat boy for the Mavericks.
