The Life of Mark Belanger
Grab a cup of coffee and carve out some free time. This post features a link to an excellent documentary about the Orioles' legendary shortstop. The producer tells me how it came to exist.
In 2015, Dominic Dastoli was working as a features producer for the Golf Channel, but he wanted to try making a longer documentary. And he knew the story he wanted to tell.
Dastoli had grown up in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, also the hometown of Mark Belanger, the Orioles’ legendary shortstop from their glory years. Dastoli, with his professional’s nose for narrative, knew a compelling story lurked in the life of Belanger, who is among the most adept fielders in baseball history, worked for the players’ union after his on-field career and died at age 54 in 1998, succumbing to lung cancer after years of heavy smoking.
“As a kid, I was a member at Berkshire Hills Country Club, where Mark's brother, Al, belonged,” Dastoli told me in a recent email exchange. “I remmeber when Al held a tournament in Mark's memory. Don Fehr (former executive director of the players’ union) walked into the pro shop. That struck me, ‘Whoa, Mark must have been a big deal.’ I had heard about Mark's career and was always intrigued how he made it to the majors from such a small town. Subconsciously, I must have stored that away until 2015, when I approached Al about producing a documentary. The idea of producing a longer-form story seemed like a great challenge and a real chance to celebrate Mark, arguably the greatest athlete from Pittsfield/Berkshire County.”
He spent the next two years traveling around the country, interviewing Belanger’s friends, former teammates and family members. One weekend in Baltimore was especially fruitful thanks to Dan Duquette, the Orioles’ general manager at the time, who was also from the Berkshires region of Massachusetts.
“He grew up idolizing Mark like so many others,” Dastoli commented. “He helped connect me with Mark's former teammates.”
The documentary eventually featured interviews with a who’s who of former Orioles such as Jim Palmer, Boog Powell, Davey Johnson, Ken Singleton and Rick Dempsey.
“I was struck by their warmth for Mark, the bond that they shared as teammates,” Dastoli commented.
The compelling story that Dastoli had envisioned comes to life dramatically in his 70-minute film titled Belanger. Big league ballplayer. Small town story.
Watching it recently, I learned so much about Belanger that I started writing down what I didn’t know until I watched the film. For instance:
He was a superb basketball player in high school, quite possibly better at that sport than baseball — so good that the University of Connecticut’s powerhouse basketball program recruited him and signed him. When he chose to play baseball and sign with the Orioles, playing basketball at UConn was the most attractive alternative he turned down.
The future defensive wizard committed 20 errors in 44 games in his first pro season, with the Orioles’ rookie-ball team in Bluefield, West Virginia. He eventually emerged as the likely successor to Orioles shortstop Luis Aparicio, who felt threatened by Belanger and didn’t help or mentor him, as veteran players sometimes do with prospects.
A career .221 hitter widely acknowledged for his offensive ineptitude, Belanger thrived at the plate in 1969, hitting .287 under the tutelage of Charlie Lau, a former Oriole destined for a legendary career as a hitting coach. Lau had Belanger choking up on the bat, punching the ball and getting on base. But Lau only lasted one year as a coach under manager Earl Weaver, and Belanger never hit as well again once Lau was gone.
Money was scarce enough for him even into his days as a major leaguer that Belanger went home to Pittsfield during the offseason and worked at a men’s clothing store.
He was the first former player hired by the union. “The theme that resonated with me and guided me was that Mark spent his life defending - his position (as a player) and all players (during his time at the union.) It was just in his nature,” Dastoli commented.
The film premiered as a 2018 party in Pittsfield with 500 people attending.
“Al got up and spoke fondly about the film. That was enough for me. He was the first person I’d spoken to about doing it, and he was with me every step of the way. I wanted to do right by him,” Dastoli commented.
Full disclosure, I was off writing books and columns abut pro football when the documentary first came out, and I missed that it existed until a Bird Tapes subscriber, Joel from Simsbury, Connecticut, alerted me to it via email. A lifelong Belanger fan, he had purchased a DVD copy when it first came out. He sent me photos from the packaging that contained terrific photos of Belanger.
Joel’s background as a longtime Oriole fan is interesting in its own right. He has never lived anywhere near Baltimore, but it’s where his mother grew up and went to school, and when he’d visit her family during summer vacations back in the day, his uncles took him to games at Memorial Stadium. He’s been a fan ever since despite living in New England, where he is surrounded by Mets and Red Sox fans.
He explained how, as a youngster, he’d settled on Belanger as his favorite player.
“Boog and Brooks and Palmer already had so many fans. I wanted someone more obscure. Plus, Belanger was from New England, like me,” Joel told me.
He’s such a fan that he visited Belanger’s grave in Pittsfield years ago during a visit to the Berkshires to see a musical concert at Tanglewood. Accompanied by his best friend Eric, Joel identified the location of the grave online but arrived to find the cemetery much larger than he’d anticipated. He had to ask a dog walker for help in locating Belanger’s grave. Eventually, he found it.
The stone marker features an engraving of a glove and Belanger’s uniform number with the Orioles (7).
Distoli’s documentary doesn't shy away from chronicling the heavy smoking habit that eventually contributed to Belanger’s health spiraling in the wrong direction when he was still relatively young. His divorce from his first wife also is featured. (As some fans may know, Mark’s son Rob died even younger, at 47, from prostate cancer. Rob’s cancer had been detected when Distoli interviewed him for the documentary.)
I asked Distoli if Belanger’s family went all in on the project, warts and all, because they believe Mark has never gotten the due he deserves?
“I think that's fair,” Distoli commented. “Maybe because Mark wasn't a prodigious hitter (or even an average one), or maybe because he passed so early, his story hasn't been as celebrated as other players through the years. But his story means a great deal to people in Pittsfield and the Berkshires. Mark's entire family was incredibly supportive throughout this entire process. I spent an entire evening with his first wife at her home, pouring through family photos and old articles. And Al accompanied me on every shoot for the film, even when I went to Baltimore.”
Now a producer of narrative podcasts for PGA TOUR Radio on Sirius XM, Disoli has never produced another full-length documentary.
“There was just something that intrigued me about Mark's story that compelled me to do it,” he commented, “with the support and guidance of his family and friends.”
(Note from John Eisenberg: Click on the link at the top of this post to watch the Belanger documentary via YouTube. And a reminder, annual subscriptions to the Bird Tapes are on sale through Friday as part of my Opening Day celebration. Just click on the “subscribe now” button to access the sale.)
And if Joel from Simsbury is reading, Go Huskies! :)
What a great profile. I had the privilege of seeing Belanger play at Memorial Stadium in my youth and young adult life. I remember his nickname: The Blade. I was almost as impressed with Dee. What a supportive wife! (And thanks to her for “Country Boy”.)