Again in January 2024, MLB Community introduced that the following MLB Community Presents could be about legendary Royals participant George Brett. Sadly for a lot of, together with myself, it was introduced as an MLB Community unique that may not be streamed anyplace however on the Community web site, accessible solely to these with cable or streaming TV subscriptions that included the channel. As a subscriber to YouTube TV, we had been not noted within the chilly.
Then, excellent news! Towards the top of the season, MLB introduced that anybody who paid for a subscription to the MLB.TV service – together with many, like myself, who comply with their groups from exterior the market – would have entry to MLB Community by means of the MLB app, together with at the least a few of their MLB Presents assortment, however particularly together with their Brett documentary.
I don’t know in the event you seen, however issues had been fairly busy for the Royals and for Royals followers on the time of that announcement. However I’m lucky sufficient to have the week between Christmas and New Yr’s Break day, so I took benefit of the free time and a go to with my household to look at the documentary with my father. Spoilers, however we had fun!
There may be little or no to complain about when discussing the practically 90-minute documentary. In reality, my solely actual grievance was that the Closed Captioning supplied was spotty at finest, often misspelling phrases, placing the incorrect phrases in, placing phrases in on the incorrect time, or omitting complete sentences fully.
However in the event you ignore the accessibility points, the manufacturing was completely incredible. They’d a lot of nice footage and a few actually enjoyable interviews. In these 90 minutes, they managed to hit each well-known George Brett matter both my dad or I knew. It seems my dad was the one one in all us who knew about Brett’s hemorrhoids within the 1980 World Sequence, however I used to be “lucky” sufficient to be the one who had already heard the Bellagio story. Nonetheless, each of us realized just a little one thing and had a great chuckle alongside the best way.
The throughline all through the documentary, although, was George Brett’s concern, seemingly led to by his father’s bodily abuse as a baby and verbal abuse as an grownup. It gave us each a complete new perspective on Brett’s profession and legacy. It made one of many final beats of the documentary – the place George burns a tri-tip steak he was cooking for household dinner as a result of he’s speaking to his kids.
He blames the documentary crew for the error, saying they informed him to speak to his children, nevertheless it says one thing in regards to the man that he took the directive and ran with it to the diploma of forgetting in regards to the steak till it had heated to just about 20 levels greater than Brett had initially meant. He claims he was 5 – or perhaps 8 – minutes late, however my expertise with grilling giant hunks of meat suggests it was in all probability fairly a bit greater than that.
One factor I really appreciated in regards to the documentary was that it didn’t utterly keep away from Brett’s foibles or character flaws. It didn’t harp on them and switch the factor into successful piece, however they had been talked about with sufficient time that the viewing viewers could be effectively conscious that he was one thing of a womanizer in his youth and could possibly be lazy at instances, each of his personal admission.
Truthfully, the entire story jogged my memory of the arc Jamie Tartt goes by means of within the glorious Apple+ TV sequence, Ted Lasso. Tartt additionally begins his profession as a womanizing over-talented, underworking participant. Because the story continues, you be taught that a variety of his motivations come from having an abusive father. Tartt even struggles along with his play when proving his father incorrect stops being a motivating issue for him in the identical manner Brett did. It makes me suppose that if you wish to get a very good thought of what it felt to know Brett, you would do worse than watch that present and give attention to Tartt.
Finally, the documentary must be thought-about a wonderful instance of the medium. Celebrating a participant in a enjoyable and considerate manner and serving to be sure that he isn’t forgotten by a brand new technology of followers.
Bonus: Reviewing the 2014 AL Pennant Reunion documentary
After we completed MLB Community Presents: Brett, my dad and I made a decision to scroll across the app and see what else may catch our eye. We found that additionally they had the documentary in regards to the Royals 2014 AL Pennant Reunion on there. It was produced by Eric Hosmer’s new firm, MoonBall Media. It can be seen on YouTube at no cost.
Coming in at 17:38, the documentary is brief and candy and full of affection for that crew and its idiosyncracies in the best way that you simply’d think about an organization owned and operated by former gamers who made their mark on the game by taking part in for that crew would. I watched it on YouTube when it got here out a number of months in the past and loved it immensely, and it was nonetheless fairly good on a rewatch.
If, like me, you end up with some further free time this vacation season, and you’ve got an MLB.TV subscription, you would do quite a bit worse than to look at these two documentaries. For some, like my dad, will probably be a enjoyable journey down reminiscence lane. For newer followers, will probably be an amazing alternative to study a participant who, in some ways, defines how the Kansas Metropolis Royals are perceived even immediately.
