Pelotero (partially in Spanish)
Rating = B-
The
film is about two Dominican Republic teenage boys who have top prospects for being sign to a contract by a Major
League Baseball (MBL) team on July 2 in their 16th year. It is also about the conniving about the age of the boys
in the Dominican development system to maximize signing bonuses by being the exact right age (16) when a boy's skills
are ready to shine. Finally, it highlights the monopolistic manipulations that MLB team representatives and probably
the MLB itself use to damage a boy's prospects and thus limit the amount of signing bonuses. All in all, the
film is disillusioning but not really surprising (MLB has also tried to keep members of non-white minorities in their
place as long as possible.
[2012-02-25, Whitsell Theater, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR]