Hall of Fame Online Film Festival

The Emerald Diamond (49 min.)
Beginning in the early 1990s, a group of Irish natives and American expats gathered on rugby fields across Dublin in preparation for the European Baseball Championships. With no fields, no uniforms and no equipment, they trained in the infamous Dublin rain against all odds. Today, Ireland’s baseball program finds itself at a crossroads. Children have begun playing baseball and Ireland’s National Team won the bronze at the 2004 European Championships. But, with the Olympics’ decision to remove baseball from competition, Baseball Ireland stands to lose most of its funding by 2012. Will it be the end of Irish baseball or just the latest in a long list of obstacles overcome by the ‘Dublin 9’?

Kokoyakyu: High School Baseball (54 min.)
In Japan, baseball is not a pastime — it's a national obsession. And for many of the country's youth, the sport has become a rite of passage, epitomized by the national high school baseball tournament known simply as "Koshien." Four thousand teams enter, but only 49 are chosen to compete in the championship that grips the nation for two weeks every August. "Kokoyakyu: High School Baseball" opens up the world of Koshien by following the fortunes of two teams as they compete in regional games and then head for the 2003 tournament (the 86th annual games). In "Kokoyakyu," the rules, uniforms and stadium hoopla may seem all-American. But — in what may be a revelation to Americans, especially American kids involved in sports — the intensity, discipline, earnestness and unselfish dedication to team, school and family are all Japanese.

El Play (30 min.)
El Play tells the story of Jairo Candelario, a young aspiring baseball player from San Pedro de Macoris, a small city in the Dominican Republic famous for birthing some of the world’s most talented baseball players. The film paints a detailed portrait of Jairo and his tireless commitment to the game as he balances his hopes of signing a professional contract with the reality of its improbability. Interviewed are professional scouts, coaches, family members, a baseball historian and San Pedro-born Robinson Cano, the second baseman of the New York Yankees.

Four Days in October (51 min.)
When the night of October 16, 2004 came to a merciful end, the Curse of the Bambino was alive and well. The vaunted Yankee lineup, led by A-Rod, Jeter, and Sheffield, had just extended their ALCS lead to three games to none, pounding out 19 runs against their hated rivals. The next night, in Game 4, the Yankees took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, then turned the game over to Mariano Rivera, the best relief pitcher in postseason history, to secure yet another trip to the World Series. But after a walk and a hard-fought stolen base, the cold October winds of change began to blow. Over four consecutive days and nights, this unlikely group of Red Sox miraculously won four straight games to overcome the inevitability of their destiny.

Buck O'Neil and Black Baseball in Chicago (30 min)
This film offers a unique look at the early days of local minority baseball, much of it through the eyes of Buck O'Neil, the one-time Negro League legend. Produced by the Chicago Baseball Museum, the film recognizes the impact and significance of O'Neil and the Negro Leagues over the years and brings these contributions to light.

Catching Hell (1 hour, 41 minutes)
It’s the pop fly that will live in infamy. When Chicagoan Steve Bartman fatefully deflected a foul ball in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, the city's long-suffering Cubs fans found someone new to blame for their cursed century without a World Series title. Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney explores the psychology of diehard sports fans, the frightening phenomenon of scapegoating, and the hysteria surrounding the mild-mannered Bartman.

The Day the Aces Got Trumped (20 min.)
The year is 1890, a barnstorming baseball team visits the town of Singletree, Montana to play a team of locals. Afterwards the game is talked about in newspapers as far east as Baltimore...A Tale of Baseball Americana.