Baseball Goes Horror in Short Film THE BEANING
Jonathan Barkan
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Genuine question: who woke up this morning and thought to themselves, “I bet I’m going to see an article today that convincingly pairs baseball and horror”? If I can say one thing my dear readers, it’s that I like to keep you all on your toes. And so I present the short horror film The Beaning, which explores a rather dark conspiracy theory behind the success of the New York Yankees, arguably the most successful baseball team in the United States.
The filmmakers have dubbed it an “experimental documentary” but while some of the material is rooted in fact, the structure is far too narrative and speculative to really be a documentary. There are very few actual facts presented – most of them at the end – and the focus is more on the presentation of the visuals than the story. There are no citations as to where or who the narrations are from, so nothing can be taken as “fact”. This is a fun visual gag but doesn’t amount to much more.
“The Beaning is an experimental documentary exploring a sinister theory surrounding the real-life death of Cleveland Indians baseball player Ray Chapman in 1920 and the subsequent rise of the New York Yankees dynasty.“
Directed by Sean McCoy, The Beaning is now available for everyone to watch, courtesy of Alter.
