Hanish talks about the film, which premieres next week
If you’ve been paying attention to Brewers broadcasts recently, you may remember some discussion about an upcoming documentary, ”Just a Bit Outside: The Story of the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers.” My interest was especially piqued when Robin Yount discussed the film at length when he was in the booth for his 50th-anniversary game a few weeks ago.
The film, which has its premiere next week on Wednesday, Sept. 11 in Brookfield (details below), will be shown in a limited run in a number of theaters throughout Wisconsin. It is a retrospective look at the 1982 Brewers, “Harvey’s Wallbangers,” the team that made it to game seven of the World Series but lost in excruciating fashion. Many of that team’s players were interviewed for the project (and will be at premiere events), so it’s as in-depth a look at that team as we’ve had.
I got in touch with the film’s director, Sean Hanish, and he was kind enough to take some time out if his busy schedule to answer some questions for Brew Crew Ball. Hanish, a Brookfield native and UW-Madison graduate, co-produced the film with Kelly Kahl, the former president of CBS, who grew up in Burlington, WI and also graduated from UW-Madison.
BCB: I know you’re both from southeast Wisconsin, but you’ve both done well in film and television careers. What made you want to make this film at this point?
Hanish: Both Kelly and I remember how special that Brewers team of ‘82 was for us as teenagers, and for the entire city and state. It was truly magical and so memorable to all of us who lived and died with this group of crazy and talented players that season. We all remember the rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, twists and turns of what was a very dramatic World Series run. So, the starting point is that it’s a team, a time, and a story that Kelly and I know and love.
Then, Kelly started playing golf in a charity event with Gorman [Thomas] about a decade ago, and he’d share the stories Gorman told him about that team with me—most of them about all of the fun they had on and off the field together. (Gorman’s stories were almost exclusively about the off the field adventures.)
So, about four years ago, Kelly and I decided that we either tell this story now or never. Turns out that it was a great call timing-wise. All of the players we interviewed are still, as we say, young enough to remember every glorious and emotional detail of that season, and old enough not to give a s***. I actually think it worked out perfectly. The guys were ready to tell us everything: the good, the bad, and the emotional. Wait until you see the interviews they gave us! They’re epic.
Was there a story that you hadn’t heard before that you found especially enjoyable or surprising?
Definitely! Gorman’s interview alone was nearly four hours! Talk about a storyteller. The shenanigans off the field are so much fun to listen to.
But for me, the most surprising story was how close this ‘82 team was to winning that seventh game of the World Series. To be honest, I hadn’t rewatched game seven until we started this project because I didn’t want to relive the pain I felt when I was 14 years old literally on my knees praying in our hallway bathroom that we’d find some way to come back and win that game after we fell behind in the bottom of the sixth inning.
In the film, we dissect one play, one pitch in fact, at the bottom of the sixth inning in that game seven through Robin [Yount], Paul [Molitor], Vuke [Pete Vuckovich], & Ted’s [Simmons] recollections. Robin, at shortstop, could see all of the signals that Ted was flashing as he always did, and Robin would relay that information to Paul to adjust his positioning at third. During that at-bat, the crowd (in St. Louis) was so loud that Paul couldn’t hear Robin’s whistle. If Paul had heard it, he would have moved a step closer to the third-base line.
Vuke delivers, and that pitch is hit (by Lonnie Smith) right down the third-base line. Paul dives but misses the ball by six inches. Had Paul heard Robin’s whistle (Robin blames himself for not whistling loud enough) Paul would have caught that ball and we go to the top of the seventh up 3-1 instead of down 4-3.
That’s how close the ‘82 Brewers were to winning the World Series. Six inches.
The appeal of this film is obvious for those who were around to experience the 1982 team. For those Brewers fans who weren’t, what would you tell them to get them excited about that team (and this film)?
I’d tell younger Brewers fans who weren’t there to experience the joy in ‘82, that there are so many similarities between that 1982 World Series team and this current Brewers team!
It starts with the managers, Harvey Kuenn then and Pat Murphy now, who are cut from the same cloth. Both old-school, down-to-earth, kind of like father figures that both relax the clubhouse and fire up the guys each and every day.
Both teams have All-Star catchers (Simmons and Contreras) and All-Star relievers (Fingers and Williams). And just as the ‘82 Brewers had a young core develop and win (Yount, Molitor, Cooper) the current team has a young core developing and winning together (Chourio, Turang, Frelick).
But I think, most of all, the joy the team and fans felt in ‘82—we’re feeling that exact same type of joy with this team right now. The energy then, and now, is contagious and so much fun to be a part of. The timing couldn’t be better for a young fan to come see the film in September to experience the joy of that time, and then experience joy in real time as we win the World Series in October!
You and Kelly were both teenagers in 1982. Did you have favorite players on that ‘82 team?
Robin was my guy and Gorman was Kelly’s guy. But we loved them all. How could you not?
You’ve got a premiere event on September 11th at Marcus Majestic Cinema in Brookfield. Tell me a little bit about that event, and how can Brewer fans in other parts of the state and beyond see the film after the premiere?
The world premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at the Marcus Majestic of Brookfield is going to be an incredible night. A dozen players we interviewed from the ‘82 team will be there along with Mr. [Bud] Selig and the one-and-only Bob Uecker. That event is nearly sold out (it might be sold out by the time this is published).
Breaking news: we’ve just added a sneak preview screening on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 12 at the Marcus Majestic of Brookfield with a Q&A following the film! I will be there along with Kelly, and we’ll have a few players joining us for that event as well.
The statewide Wisconsin theatrical release is on Friday, Sept. 13 at Marcus Theatres across seven Milwaukee-area locations along with Madison, Green Bay, Appleton, Sheboygan, and Oshkosh. With pre-sales going so well, Marcus has just added La Crosse and Wausau to the list! I’d recommend that people buy their tickets now—we’re nearly sold out for a few of the Friday night showings already.
And Marcus Theatres is, literally, the only place to see “Just A Bit Outside: The Story of the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers.” There are currently no other distribution deals in place. So, come and see the film in theaters while you can.
You can buy tickets for the sneak preview (9/12) and statewide release (9/13) now here, and you can find all of the current information about the film at the website, www.justabitoutsidethemovie.com.