INDY PLAYERS JOIN ESPN MOVIE ABOUT '77 YANKEES

What to Independent Baseball players do in the offseason? Several of them are back on the baseball diamond for roles in the ESPN baseball movie series production which will be based on the Jonathan Mahler book "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning".

The movie is largely about the New York Yankees and their attempt to win the 1977 World Series.

So, the producers needed about 100 professional baseball players to portray Reggie Jackson, Ron Guidry, Graig Nettles and the other Yankees plus some of their primary opponents. A number of Can-Am League players were among those who turned out for the tryouts and subsequently were chosen for roles. The New Haven County Cutters, who had been eliminated from the playoffs a day or two earlier, will have about seven people among those taking part in the filming at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT.

I don't know that it is official, but the Cutters' top hitter, outfielder Horace Lawrence, is said to be in line to be the Reggie Jackson double. And Graig Nettles' golden glove will be represented by Jeff Maier. Yes, the onetime lean-over-the-fence-and-make-the-catch 12-year-old fan who drew the ire of the Baltimore Orioles. He was a college baseball star at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, and has been working for the Cutters in a front office job.

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