At first seeming like a study simply in the sport, its players and its fans, all with a distinct down home feeling, Jeremy Spears' documentary soon delves deeper and, for better or for worse, does a commendable job of capturing both the life of the players (as he soon joins one of the teams as their shortstop) and the role that, even in a smaller league, money has begun to play. Because he joins up with the Ashland, Ohio Abbot Labs team, much of the focus of the documentary is on this team, from the manager who is forced to bankroll his team and their lodging at home and on the road, to the star player of the team, Shane Hunnuhunnu, a New Zealander who has a knack for slamming home runs and is the object of affection for many local ladies of Ashland.Spears' focus on the one team allows the viewer to experience all the highs and lows of the game, although it is Spears' other fascination, a team called the Tampa Bay Smokers (while Major League Baseball removed cigarette billboards the Smokers' jerseys feature a cigar as does the team mascot) gives the viewer the unfortunate sense of where the game is going. The Smokers are bankrolled to the tune of $500,000 a year (compared to the $30,000 spent by other teams) by a man named Peter Porcelli, a multi-millionaire who sets out to buy the best players and field a championship team, with new uniforms for each game, parties for the players on his private yacht, and the commandeering of a radio station for the purpose of broadcasting the World Championship tournament games all the way from Wisconsin to Florida). Fans, players and coaches all seem to believe that the best players will follow the money and take better offers with teams that can pay more, leaving the less well-to-do teams without a local star player to look up to. It is somewhat disconcerting to hear even the most devout fans of the sport pronounce its impending death, but, as the documentary depicts Porcelli as somewhat slimy and slick, it seems to implicitly raise the question whether this is the future of the sport that will keep it on life support for a while longer.

Himself a virtual melting pot (Spears describes himself as a Chinese, Polish, German, half-Jew), Spears does a great job at examining the multicultural aspect of the game. While baseball routinely draws players from throughout Latin America and South America, the allure of fastpitch softball has brought a number of players from New Zealand (where fastpitch is huge) and led to the formation of a team called the North Americans, composed largely of members of the Lakota tribe. The documentary follows members of the North Americans as the talk to students at a local school about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and the manner in which it can interfere with ones dreams. Later, during the World Championships, the Star Spangled Banner and the Canadian national anthem are followed by a traditional Lakota chant.

The Picture
Fastpitch is presented in fullscreen video presentation and does suffer from the many problems documentaries often have. The image quality goes from very good to fair, however few problems may be attributed to the digital transfer itself.

The Sound
Likewise the sound transfer is about what one might expect from a low-budget documentary. The sound transfer is presented in Dolby Digital Stereo sound and is more than adequate for purposes of the DVD. In addition, little if any modification of volume levels is necessary for the DVD to be enjoyed.

Additional Materials
As can be expected, the DVD contains few additional materials. The DVD contains a one-screen short history of Fastpitch (just when and where it was invented and how it is differentiated from slow-pitch softball) and a list of other titles available from Docurama studios. Some, but not all of the listed titles also have trailers attached. While this does seem to be a relatively short collection of additional materials, because the documentary itself is narrated by Jeremy Spears, the writer, director and producer (as well as player), a commentary track is really not necessary with respect to this DVD.

Final Thoughts
While this documentary is unlikely to cause viewers to rush out and either play fastpitch softball or seek out an opportunity to watch it live, in the time of easy access to numerous sports web sites on a daily basis, it is somewhat surprising and very enjoyable to discover a whole sport that has remained under the radar. Spears' documentary is enjoyable and interesting and does a very good job of giving a viewer a sense of the game.