Mark Ciardi’s “Million Dollar Arm” headlines Hall of Fame Film Festival

Born and raised in New Jersey, Ciardi attended the University of Maryland before being selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 15th round of the 1982 amateur draft. After some success in the minors, including an 18-win season in 1985, the 25-year-old righty made his big league debut with a four-inning relief stint against the visiting Boston Red Sox on April 9, 1987, giving up three hits, three walks and five earned runs.

But after spending less than three weeks in the majors, Ciardi was sent back to the minor leagues. A shoulder injury would ultimately end his playing career. His big league career ended with a 1-1 record and a 9.37 ERA.

Since then, Ciardi’s second act found him in Hollywood where he has gone on to produce “The Rookie” (2002), “The New Guy” (2002), “Miracle” (2004), “Invincible” (2006), “The Game Plan” (2007), “Tooth Fairy” (2010), “Secretariat” (2010), “Million Dollar Arm” (2014) and “McFarland, USA” (2015). His next movie, “Chappaquiddick,” recently premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.

In a recent telephone interview from his office in California, the 56-year-old Ciardi talked about his unique life’s journey.

HALL OF FAME:

Mark, can you talk about having a film shown at the Baseball Film Festival?

MARK CIARDI:

It’s a nice honor. I was in Cooperstown last year with my 12-year-old son Luke at the end of August and it was magical. It was my first time visiting Cooperstown. I’d always talked about going with my father – I never got to and he’s since passed away – so I made it a point that I’d take my son and go. His travel baseball team played in a Cooperstown baseball tournament. For me, having played the game for a long time, it was amazing. I loved it. My biggest regret was that it took so long. I grew up in New Jersey, so there are no excuses. When I had the opportunity with my son I jumped on it. And it exceeded my expectations. It was a really great experience. And I will be back.

HOF:

For someone who hasn’t seen “Million Dollar Arm,” how would explain it?

MC:

It’s about an agent trying to save his business and having a crazy idea. Through just looking at the math of the country of India and how many young kids there are there and how they play a sport, cricket, which lends itself to baseball in a way, he just thought that he could find someone there that could throw and they could turn into a pitcher. And the idea being if they got a kid signed then it would open up a whole other land. You have Latin America, you have Japan, you have South Korea, those kind of places where players come from, and so to open up India, a country with its vast population and introducing it to baseball would be a huge. So they did this reality show where they got a number of kids and they just had to throw a ball. They found there two kids that threw in the low 90s and brought them to America, taught them how to pitch, and got both these kids signed. It’s a real underdog story for not only the agent, played by Jon Hamm, but also these two Indian boys who had never left their villages. It’s a real fish-out-of-water story. And there’s a lot of humor in it and a lot of emotion. They just went on this ride.

HOF:

How did you get your start in the movie business?

MC:

My first movie was “The Rookie.” I signed the same year as Jim Morris – we played together for three years – and he was a close friend. I had lost touch with him and 11 or 12 years later I’m reading a little story in Sports Illustrated and see this pitcher that’s 35 years old and had just been a science teacher and high school coach and all of a sudden he’s in Triple-A. That’s where I got a hold of the story and the rest is history. He gets called up to the majors and results is the movie “The Rookie.” It was great for me just starting out in the film business at the time to get a story like that in which I was so close to and was able to execute it and find a big audience and fan base for it. It set my career course. I love it. It’s one of my favorite movies that I’ve done.

HOF:

Do you have a favorite baseball film?

MC:

I love “Bull Durham.” I thought that was as close to life in the low minors as I’ve ever seen in a film. I’ve become friends with (director) Ron Shelton based on both of our backgrounds in baseball. Any time where you can touch on a subject that you love and you have a passion for I think it shows in the film. He nailed that one. And I love “Field of Dreams,” “For Love of the Game,” there’s some really good ones. There haven’t been too many, but the good ones are really good.

HOF:

As a filmmaker, can you talk about the baseball film as a genre?

MC:

Sports films in general don’t travel. They’re more of a domestic movie. Maybe basketball has the best potential because it’s played around the world in a lot of different countries. But baseball is pretty unique to America. You have international players, but it’s not really known outside America, Latina America and some of the Asian countries. You can’t really think about being a global movie. That’s one of the drawbacks about baseball films.

HOF:

Is there a baseball subject you’ve considered for a movie that you’d still like to do?

MC:

I love the movie “The Sandlot” with the young kids, the nostalgia, so I’d love to do something like that.

HOF:

Can you talk about your own amazing odyssey from baseball player to film producer?

MC:

When I started out in the business I was 34 and no one was going to hire me. I started out in a garage and just worked my way out of it. “The Rookie” was the one that got me on a set. You’ve really got to hustle and find stories. I was able to find a career that I not only enjoy but I’ve had some success in creating something that’s there forever. That’s what’s so great about the film business. It’s really hard, like any business, but it’s been really rewarding and a fun journey.

HOF:

Do you think there are any parallels between baseball and filmmaking?

MC:

What sports does, and certainly baseball, is it prepares you. It’s all about being able to get out of trouble and work through adversity and be tenacious and don’t give up. It’s tough to get to the big leagues, but it’s tougher to stay. When I was young every kid played baseball, so when you make it to the top you realize the dream of every kid. I remember jogging out to face the Red Sox for my big league debut in 1987. It was a dream come true and something I’ll never forget.

Bill Francis is a Library Associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum