On a field of bygone dreams, two recreational baseball teams enter for what will be their last game before construction crews take over the diamond to make way for tomorrow. Carson Lund’s feature debut Eephus is a baseball movie that’s about more than just the great American pastime.
In addition to celebrating a love of baseball through age-old quotes from the greats and meticulous attention to the game’s mechanics, the film doubles as a snapshot of New England autumn just as the leaves fall, the wind turns crisp, and the well-worn sweaters come out.
The movie is also about the time we find these men in their lives — some past their prime sporting years, some playing their last full game, some wondering what’s left for them after this last inning — and the way they tease, taunt, and cheer each other on as radio ads play in the dugout, a dedicated fan keeps score by hand, and only a few spectators cycle through the stands. This is a moment no one will remember but its players, and for many of us who love a sport, hobby, or interest sufficiently to dedicate our regular free time to it, that is more than enough. This is a game played for love not glory.
Eephus, named after a tricky slow pitch, is the kind of quiet, methodical movie that can be mistaken for being about nothing. But it is so much more complex than the typical sports movie, where a big game crowns winners and there’s always next season for a rematch. This time, there is no “next game;” and in capturing this last showdown, the movie becomes a tribute to the disappearing shared spaces where we used to congregate and find camaraderie. At some point in our lives, we will all play our last game in a place we’ll look back at with fondness, and we may never even know it.
Despite its melancholic bite, Eephus urges viewers to savor the game and our time together, for it is these unassuming moments, sharing our passions, that keep us in community with each other.