I’ve never considered myself a sports person, but I’ve always been drawn to films about baseball. A League of Their Own, Bull Durham, The Sandlot, and Ken Burns’ documentary series Baseball have all lingered with me over the years. What strikes me, whether I’m watching those films or simply watching a game, is that baseball is a slow sport. It takes its time—just like the cinema it inspires. That slowness, that space to breathe, is what I find so compelling.
Some of my favorite filmmakers—Ozu, Richard Linklater—are deeply interested in time: how it slips past us, how generations hand things down, how we learn to let go. Not coincidentally, many of them loved baseball. The sport mirrors their meditations on transience, ritual, and community.
The new film Eephus—named after the slow, arcing pitch in baseball that defies expectation—feels like the ultimate expression of those ideas. It centers on the final game of a small-town baseball league, played by a ragtag group of people from different generations and backgrounds, as they say goodbye to a beloved field that’s about to be turned into a school. On the surface, it’s a hangout film—very much in the tradition of Linklater—but beneath its humor and absurdity lies something quietly profound. There’s a deep yearning to be present, to hold onto a place and a set of relationships, even when those relationships are complicated or fraught.
There’s also, I think, a call to return to community. To be with people, in person, away from screens. To join a team, get outside, and feel grounded in a world that’s speeding up in ways that have left us—despite all our connections—more lonely than ever.
What makes Eephus so special is its ability to work on multiple levels. It’s a film about time. It’s a beautifully absurd comedy. It’s a character study. And if you let it, it will wash over you, linger in your mind, and stay with you long after the credits roll.
I hope Eephus finds its place among the great hangout films—Dazed and Confused, Clerks, American Graffiti—as well as among the great baseball films that capture something much deeper than the game itself.
Eephus is now playing at Film Streams.
