THE SAINT OF SECOND CHANCES

 

THE SAINT OF SECOND CHANCES, directed by Jeff Malmberg and Morgan Neville, is a documentary concerning the life and times of independent baseball pioneer Mike Veeck. 

Mike Veeck is the son of legendary baseball executive and Hall of Fame inductee Bill Veeck. The beginning of the film details that as a young man Mike wanted nothing more than to get out of the shadow of his famous father, but when Bill Veeck took control of the Chicago White Sox in the mid-1970s and asked his son to come work with him, the younger man couldn't pass up the opportunity. Mike Veeck was filled with ideas and enthusiasm, and he hoped to impress and get to know his father at the same time. 

But during the summer of 1979, one of Mike's promotions, the infamous Disco Demolition Night, literally blew up in his face. A riot ensued, causing the White Sox to forfeit a game, and Mike Veeck was forever associated with that incident. The younger Veeck left Major League Baseball a marked man, and spent years trying to find a niche for himself. In 1993, Mike became involved with the St. Paul Saints, an independent professional baseball team. Being independent (especially in the early 1990s) meant that Veeck was just about on the lowest rung of baseball operations one could be--but it also meant Veeck could basically do whatever crazy scheme entered his head. Veeck soon got the Saints national attention, and he wound up having control of several other minor and independent clubs, bringing his unique way of having fun at the old ballpark to fans throughout the United States, and inspiring other club owners to copy (and outright steal) his innovations. 

THE SAINT OF SECOND CHANCES covers all of this, along with various personal trials & tribulations Veeck dealt with along the way. At numerous times in the film, Mike's history is dramatized in flashback scenes with actor Charlie Day as Mike (Mike himself plays his dad Bill in a few of these sequences). At first I thought the flashback scenes were a bit hokey, but I started to realize that the filmmakers were framing Mike's story as a goofy sentimental 1980s style comedy flick, which is essentially what it is. (The narration in the film is by Jeff Daniels.) 

One big story point in the film is how much Mike Veeck wanted to get back to the Major Leagues in some sort of capacity. Eventually Mike learns that his family and his minor league work are far more meaningful to him than anything that MLB could provide. Mike Veeck achieved his own redemption through his work as an independent baseball operator, and he enabled others along the way to find redemption as well. 

The ironic thing is that even without getting a long time job in the Major Leagues, Veeck made a huge mark on baseball. Go to any ball game at any level--professional or amateur--and one of Veeck's ideas is being used. Most of the promotions and events that fans take for granted when they go to any ball game more than likely originated with something Mike Veeck thought up or put into practice. 

Baseball fans will certainly appreciate THE SAINT OF SECOND CHANCES, especially for some of the vintage footage involving the White Sox. And yes, there's plenty of actual footage of Disco Demolition as well...some of it amazingly up close and personal (during the Disco Demolition sequence you almost feel as if you are right in the middle of the maelstrom). Watching this sequence makes one realize that it's fortunate that no one was seriously injured or even killed during that notorious night. 

Like all great sports documentaries, THE SAINT OF SECOND CHANCES is much more than just sports. It's a story about life, family, and what's really important. It's funny, and moving, and you don't even have to know anything about baseball to appreciate it.