Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez was a young Latino who had a passionate love for baseball. He was like any normal kid in the neighborhood apart from his strikingly athletic good looks, strong natural leadership and obsession with baseball. “Benny”, as his closest friends would call him, was a true hero to his inner circle of teammates. Especially to Scotty Smalls, as it was Benny who saved Scotty from a life sentence by retrieving his step father’s prized Babe Ruth autographed baseball from the jaws of the notorious junkyard “Beast” and making himself a neighborhood legend. Benny’s usual outfit of choice consisted of a pair of worn out blue jeans that were usually stained from sliding into home base. He would always roll up the cuffs of the pant …show more content…
While the other boys were still awkward and string bean looking, Benny was definitely naturally handsome. Maybe it was the hours of batting practice that gave him his sun kissed tan making his perfectly straight Colgate-white smile stand out and sparkle. Or maybe it was his dark luscious brown hair that would make you stare as he ran his fingers thru it. Either way, he was very appealing to the eye. Benjamin was the tallest and the oldest out of all the boys in his group and his friends rightly looked up to …show more content…
He was a protective big brother figure to the other boys. When he first met Scotty, an awkward, straight A’s, Erector Set architect whiz kid that just moved to the neighborhood, he immediately invited him to go down to the sandlot with him and gave him the nickname “Smalls”. When the other boys opposed the addition of Smalls to their incomplete team, it was Benny that insisted they give him a chance, arguing that everyone should be able to be a part of the team. From that moment on, Benny and Smalls formed a special, life long bond. Benny took him under his wing and taught him how to play baseball, even giving him his old baseball hat and
Jose Canseco is best known for several things: A fly ball bouncing off his noggin and landing over the fence, dating Madonna, his tape measure home runs, having numerous run-ins with the law, being the first man to ever hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season, and his bulging biceps. In Juiced, Canseco recalls other steroid user’s stories within the sport ...
Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major-League baseball. His inspiring actions and wise words are remembered even now, and on Jackie Robinson day, all baseball players wear his jersey:“42”. Many biographies have been written, and one biography, The Noble Experiment. Recently, in April 2013, Legendary Motion Pictures released a movie entitled “42”. In many ways, the film and Jackie’s autobiography are alike. However, the are also different in many ways.
Who would have thought a little boy from the Dominican Republic would have so much effect on people. David Ortiz is a well known player around the Major League Baseball Association, many people know him by Big Papi. He has created foundations and many other things for all types of people. From children to adults and in between, Ortiz has been an influential individual.
On June 26th 1974, in Pequannock, New Jersey, Derek Sanderson Jeter was born. His parents were Charles Jeter and Dorothy Connors. His parents had a rare relationship for their time. Charles was african american and Dorothy was white. In the 1960s marriage of separate races was frowned upon but they loved each other and made it work. When Derek was still a small child, Charles moved the family to Kalamazoo, Michigan. This is where practically Dereks whole childhood took place.
In Linda Seger’s, Creating the Myth, Seger mentions that, “In any journey, the hero usually receives help, and the help often comes from unusual sources” (Seger 2). Seger is trying to point out that in every movie that has a hero, there needs to be a mentor that assists them. In this case, Babe Ruth is a mentor or a wise man to Benny. One quote that Babe Ruth says to Benny is, “Remember kid, there’s heroes and there’s legends. Heroes get remembered but legends never die, follow your heart kid, and you’ll never go wrong.”. This was one of the most memorable quotes in the movie and it made a huge impact on Benny. It made Benny more confident in jumping over Mr. Mertle’s fence to retrieve the
Of all of his children, Bull's eldest son Ben is treated the harshest. He is expected to be the greatest at basketball, yet should he become better than his father, there is trouble. Bull believes that Ben is "babied" too much and he desires him to have the Great Santini's "gift of fury.
After the two friends fight a little, Richard asks if she wants to play catcher, in the outfield, or at first base, but her only answer is “I pitch.” Richard was trying to see if she would want to play on his team and show that he was sorry for not letting her play. It also shows that he would like to be friends again; because he is not signing “your former friend” instead he is just signing
"Over the decades, African American teams played 445-recorded games against white teams, winning sixty-one percent of them." (Conrads, pg.8) The Negro Leagues were an alternative baseball group for African American baseball player that were denied the right to play with the white baseball payers in the Major League Baseball Association. In 1920, the first African American League was formed, and that paved the way for numerous African American innovation and movements. Fences, and Jackie Robinson: The Biography, raises consciousness about the baseball players that have been overlooked, and the struggle they had to endure simply because of their color.
According to the author, Sunday was a wonderful baseball player. He was known to be the acknowledged champion sprinter in the National League. Sunday’s teammates enjoyed him as well did the fans. Billy was described as a “man’s man”…………………
George Lopez was born on April 23rd in the year of 1961 in the Mission, Hills of Los Angeles, California. His father who was Anataso was a migrant worker who left his wife, Frieda for a different lifestyle. After Lopez was born, Frieda and George Moved in with his mom’s parents who tried to raise Lopez In her hometown of California. When George was a young kid his mother explained to him that his father had died. Even though, the real truth was that he was in fact alive but wanted nothing to do with his son who he had with his ex-wife. His mother soon remarried when George was only ten years of age. His mouther also left, so he had nowhere to go other than to his grandparents’ house because he figured they would take care of him. Lopez was
Jackie Robinson’s career escalated into the big leagues due to a guy named Branch Ricky taking a chance on him. Ricky knew that it would be hard for him to do, but he knew what Jackie was capable of, he knew that Jackie wouldn’t retaliate to all the threats he got in the news, by both fans and teammates alike. Branch Ricky knew that it was going to be a challenge for a young, black athlete to do, but Jackie promised, to Ricky and himself, that he wouldn’t fight back. Jackie’s own teammates, of the
In the story Game Changers, one character that I like is an eleven-year-old kid named Ben McBain. I like this character because even though he is small, he doesn’t let that get in the way of things he likes to do. For example, he places on the football team and even though he can’t play the position he wants to because he’s too small, he still tries is hardest at wherever the coach puts him.
The Hollywood treatment of his life story was trying to capture the story of Babe Ruth in his prime; it was meant to take you through his life, but also have an entertaining story line. The Babe Ruth Story hid a huge aspect of Babe’s life in order to protect his reputation as a baseball hero, which was providing a false representation of the Great Bambino. The Hollywood films also made the movies come full circle; both films touched upon his death but didn’t go in depth about it. The Hollywood film treatment of Babe did not lie about aspects of his life, but rather chose what to include and emphasize. The vast differences and important similarities and their connection to Ruth’s life were easily understood after viewing the documentary version of his story. The documentary treatment discussed all aspects of Babe’s life without over emphasizing the negatives like The Babe did. The documentary mentioned the alcohol and sex without showing Babe in a negative light. When Babe’s sex life was the topic, the people telling the stories were laughing and smiling without being condescending about Babe’s actions. The documentary also mentioned Babe’s ‘belly ache heard around the world’ that was commonly thought to be a case of syphilis, which was left out in the Hollywood films. Even when mentioning that, the documentary did not give the impression that they were bashing Babe. Unsurprisingly, the documentary brought up more information about Babe’s death and what he did after retiring from baseball. The documentary treated Babe in a positive light, but the films sometimes didn’t in order to provide the entertainment that Hollywood films are expected to
Benny’s full name was Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez, and like Benjamin Franklin Benny wanted to be a legend and never be forgotten. He wanted the glory and recognition that all famous legend receive and for kids like him to look up to him forever. Benny’s ultimate dream was to play professional baseball. He lived and breathed baseball everyday that he could. He invited his friends to go out to the sandlot everyday in the summer not only to get better but to have a good time. The only thing that stood in Benny’s way of his dream was the beast. The beast was known to be a vicious evil monster that lived on the other side of the fenced sandlot. If anyone hit the baseball onto the other side of the fence it was as good as gone. If you even dared to go retrieve a ball you know there was a high chance you would not make it back. The beast and his hundreds of stolen balls made it hard for Benny to keep playing the sport that he deeply loved. Benny had always dreamed of becoming a legend like his idol Babe Ruth, the greatest baseball player of all time. Benny wanted to be a legend but he was not sure what he had to do to become a legend. Until one day, the hardest, most dangerous task that he would ever be faced with was dropped right in front of him. Smalls, Benny’ neighborhood friend hit his first home run over the fence with his stepdad’s precious baseball that had been signed by Babe Ruth himself. Benny saw the despair in Smalls eyes and Benny knew that he had to help. Later that night Benny had a dream, and in that dream Babe Ruth came to him and told him that this was his moment. He needed to step up to the plate and be the one to defeat the beast. Ruth says to Benny “Remember kid, there's heroes and there's legends. Heroes get remembered but legends never die; follow your heart kid, and you'll never go wrong.” and in that moment Benny knew what he had to do.
Throughout his professional career, Jackie Robinson, received criticism for being the first “black” player to play the game. Not only did Jackie Robinson manage to live up to the criticism, he also changed the face of America’s greatest past time forever. With his entrance into the MLB he opened the path for great black players like Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, and Ozzie Smith just to name a few. In crossing the color-barrier in baseball Robinson not only strived as a great player on the field, but also a inspiration to the black community of the field with his humility, and willingness to move forward in a time where blacks were not considered “equal”.