(Long Island, N.Y.) Media and baseball fans gathered at The Official New York City Movie kickoff party for former New York Yankee and Texas Ranger Baseball Player Billy Sample’s upcoming hilarious film “REUNION 108” at Foundation Cocktail Lounge located in lower Manhattan on Essex Street.
The synopsis of this comedy not only explores the sport of baseball but behind the scenes and follows our favorite sports and baseball players in the most intimate scenarios. The film takes us …behind the doors and under the sheets!! A no holds barred behind the scenes and in your face look into the world of professional baseball.
During our interview charming former Yankee Billy Sample spoke about his love of baseball and “Old Hollywood.” “I enjoy movies, I watch Robert Osborne on TCM and he and I are really tight, only he doesn’t know it yet” Billy revealed.
Mr. Sample also enjoys writing so he decided to document and share some of the interesting stories he encountered as a baseball player. “I thought I have the ability to write. I have always been a writer and I had some unique stories to tell so ‘REUNION 108’ is one of those collections of stories. It’s an edgy satirical comedy with parody, R-rated, a lot like me. It’s about two generations of minor league ballplayers returning for a reunion,” stated Mr. Sample.
Billy was raised and educated in Salem, Virginia. He was a proud graduate from Salem’s Andrew Lewis High School in 1973. Between studies he practiced football, basketball, and baseball. Still a youngster, Billy triumphantly scored the winning touchdown in a 1971 state AAA quarterfinal game. After much success in sports Sample enrolled at Madison College now known as James Madison University for three years and was later drafted by the Texas Rangers in 1976.
Sample’s record was astounding nailing his first major league pitch in 1978. Later he accomplished the Topps All Rookie Team in 1979 and had his longest hitting streak of 19 games in 1981. Billy was the tenth toughest to strike out of the game. Sample finished his baseball career with an average of .272.
Mr. Sample decided to switch careers and worked as a broadcaster/writer for the Braves, Seattle Mariners, and California Angels. He has also contributed to NPR, CBS Radio, ESPN, and MLB.com.
Sample’s work has been published in Sports Illustrated and The New York Times and was one of the columnists at the inception of USA Today’s Baseball Weekly (now Sports Weekly). Mr. Sample also served as a baseball consultant for Showtime’s production Joe Torre “Curveballs Along the Way,” The production chronicled the Yankees season of 1996.
Sample’s children are also sports enthusiasts and athletes. His daughter, Nikki, lettered in track (javelin) at the University of Rhode Island and his oldest son, Ian, caught 10 of Colt Brennan’s NCAA record 58 touchdown passes at the University of Hawaii in 2006. Later Ian played football in Japan.
The film is also directed by James Suttles, from documentaries to feature films, James Suttles has always collaborated in the world of art and storytelling through films. James discovered his passion of filmmaking as a youngster creating and editing short films based on Richard Connell’s favorite “The Most Dangerous Game” and W. W. Jacobs’ “The Monkey’s Paw.”
His love of motion pictures led him to produce the award-winning documentary “Three Cultures of Appalachia.” The story unfolds by telling us of three very different women, an African-American, European immigrant and a Cherokee Indian growing up in the Appalachian Mountains. Although these are three very different and unique women their beliefs and values were surprisingly similar.
Filmmaker James Suttles co-founded Eljapa Media Group, Inc., a production company that focused primarily on various media campaigns for Tourism and Economic Development of government and private organizations in 2000.
He continues to create compelling films and his recent release “Red Dirt Rising” where he served as producer, co-director, DP and editor is currently available nationally at Blockbuster, Netflix, Redbox, Walmart and many other retailers. Besides “REUNION 108” he is working on a feature film “Seven Days in Nashville” that follows the story of a struggling single father musician as he makes his last attempt at fulfilling his destiny.
For more information on his films please visit www.suttlefilm.com; To learn more about the development of the film “REUNION 108” please visit www.reunion108.com and you can also follow the film on Twitter at @reunion108 and fan them on Facebook.
