HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas — A free public screening of the documentary film “Fastball,” narrated by actor Kevin Costner, and a baseball card show have been added to the schedule for the 2023 Hot Springs Baseball Weekend August 25 – 26 at the Hot Springs Convention Center.
That’s in addition to the previously announced lineup of five Major League Baseball legends who will talk about baseball with fans and conduct panel discussions during the weekend. Four MLB Hall of Famers — Rollie Fingers, Wade Boggs, Rich (Goose) Gossage and Steve Carlton — will join Al (The Mad Hungarian) Hrabosky for the panels and interactions with fans for the Sixth Annual Hot Springs Baseball Weekend.
The ”Fastball” documentary, which will be screened free for the public at 7 p.m. Friday, August 25, features legends Hank Aaron and Derek Jeter, with Kevin Costner narrating, in an exploration of the magic 396 milliseconds it takes a fastball to reach home plate from the pitcher’s hand They and a large cast of other baseball greats decipher who threw the fastest pitch ever.
The documentary examines the primal battle between the pitcher and batter, but the magic of the game arises from that confrontation, only 396 milliseconds in the making.
The mysteries and memories of baseball’s greatest heroes are revealed in the movie, featuring interviews with dozens of former players, from legendary Hall of Famers to up-and-coming All-Stars. “Fastball” is peppered with archival footage of baseball’s greatest moments plus original high-speed footage and motion graphics that unlock the secrets hidden within a ball traveling over 100 miles an hour. While players, historians, and scientists might disagree on who was actually the fastest pitcher in history — and yes, the film does the physics and concludes with a clear verdict — “Fastball” tells the story of the game itself.
The full schedule for the weekend includes:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 25
• 7 p.m. — Free Screening of the documentary “Fastball.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 26
- 8:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. — Society for American Baseball Research Meeting. (Nonmembers welcome). Convention Center Room 102.
- 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. — Baseball Card Show Open
- 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. — Talking Baseball with Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers. Hot Springs Convention Center – Horner Hall.
- 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. — The Goose Is Loose – Hall of Famer Goose Gossage on the State of the Game
- 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. — Al (The Mad Hungarian) Hrabosky Talks Pitching with Hall of Famer Steve Carlton.
- 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. — Talking Hitting with Hall of Famer Wade Boggs.
- 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. — Ask the Pros featuring Goose Gossage, Wade Boggs, Steve Carlton, Rollie Fingers, and Al Hrabosky.
Hot Springs Baseball Weekend celebrates the city’s place in baseball history as The Birthplace of Major League Baseball Spring Training. Hot Springs was the first place where — beginning in the late 19th Century — major league teams brought their players to enjoy the good weather, the world-famous thermal waters, the mountain trails and everything else America’s Spa had to offer. Dozens of future legends of the game from Honus Wagner and Babe Ruth to Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron came to Hot Springs through the 1950s. A Historic Baseball Trail lets fans take a self-guided tour of the locations throughout the city where immortals like Ruth trained and played. An eight-foot bronze statue of Ruth — one of only three in the world — was dedicated this spring at the city’s Majestic Park baseball complex, which is on the site where Ruth, Wagner, Robinson and Aaron played and trained.
For more information call Steve Arrison at 501-321-2027.