Playing for Peanuts

For a limited time, get a free copy of The Emerald Diamond DVD and CD soundtrack ($25 value) when you buy the Playing for Peanuts 3-DVD Box Set for $19.99 AND FREE SHIPPING!

This collection makes a great affordable gift for any baseball fan.

The Playing for Peanuts 3-DVD Box Set includes the 10-episode TV documentary series and lots of bonus features. You can watch the first episode below:

The Emerald Diamond DVD contains the 90-minute documentary that won the Critic’s Choice Award at the Baseball Hall of Fame Film Festival in Cooperstown, NY as well as 80 minutes of bonus footage, featurettes and deleted scenes. You can watch the first few segments of the film below:

The Emerald Diamond CD Soundtrack contains 24 songs plus quotes from the movie.

Now you can watch Playing for Peanuts the way it was originally intended – uncensored!

Download the entire uncensored series (10 episodes) for $9.99 – CLICK HERE!

Each episode is available for download for $1.99 each:

Purchase Uncensored HD-Quality Episodes for $1.99!

Episode 1 – Buy Now

Episode 2 – Buy Now

Episode 3 – Buy Now

Episode4 – Buy Now

Episode 5 – Buy Now

Episode 6 – Buy Now

Episode 7 – Buy Now

Episode 10 – Buy Now

For a preview, check out these censored versions of Episodes 1, 2 and 3, from the original TV broadcast:

Episode 1 – “Where’s Wally Backman?”

Episode 2 – “Life on the Road”

The first episode of Playing for Peanuts in its entirety. Note: You can download the uncensored version of this episode for 99 cents by clicking here.

ORDER THE DVD BOX SET (3 Discs, 10 Episodes + Bonus Features) – http://bit.ly/peanutsdvd

BECOME A PEANUTS FAN ON FACEBOOK – http://www.facebook.com/baseballvideos

For more information on Peanuts manager Wally Backman, visit http://southgeorgiapeanuts.net/roster/coaching-staff/wally-backman or http://www.wallybackman.com

For more information on Playing for Peanuts, visit http://www.southgeorgiapeanuts.net

All videos on this channel are © Peanut Pictures LLC. For licensing and media inquiries, contact John Fitzgerald at playingforpeanuts@gmail.com

Quick note: I just did a Q&A with Bus Leagues Baseball. Check it out and be sure to take a look around the Bus Leagues site. It’s one of the more interesting minor league sites out there.

Quick note: I just did a Q&A with Bus Leagues Baseball. Check it out and be sure to take a look around the Bus Leagues site. It’s one of the more interesting minor league sites out there.

I am uploading a massive amount of video clips to the web – new clips are available every weekday at PlayingforPeanuts.com and SouthGeorgiaPeanuts.net.

Jeff Pearlman on Wally Backman, Arizona Diamondbacks & the ’86 Mets

Following the insanity of the 2007 South Coast League season, I sat down with author Jeff Pearlman for an extensive interview about Wally Backman. Over the course of the interview, Pearlman gave his opinions on Backman’s temper (short), managerial abilities (major league caliber), his future as a manager (limited) as well as the handling of Backman’s hiring and firing by the Arizona Diamondbacks (amateurish) and the 1986 Mets (gritty, dirty and out-of-control).

Pearlman is the author of several books on baseball, including “The Bad Guys Won,” which tells the inside story of the 1986 Mets. You can read more about Jeff and his new projects at JeffPearlman.com.

These interviews were shot in front of a blue screen at a local public
access TV station. For the purposes of releasing the clips on the web,
I haven’t replaced the blue screen with the background you see in the
actual TV show

If you click the PLAY button, each of the 10+ clips will play automatically. Just sit back and relax.

Alternatively, you can use the left and right arrow buttons to skip through different clips:

I am uploading a massive amount of video clips to the web – new clips are available every weekday at PlayingforPeanuts.com and SouthGeorgiaPeanuts.net.

Peanuts Home Opener (May 24, 2007)

The clips below came from the South Georgia Peanuts home opener at Paul Eames Sports Complex in Albany, GA. As general manager Keith Michlig and manager Wally Backman explained in previous interviews, Albany has had trouble keeping pro baseball teams in the city. For many reasons, the Peanuts’ return to Albany presented an interesting challenge for the South Coast League and the city of Albany.

The clips begin with former major league slugger Cecil Fielder watching batting practice.

If you click the PLAY button, each of the 20+ clips will play automatically. Just sit back and relax.

Alternatively, you can use the left and right arrow buttons to skip through different clips:

Game Summary

The Peanuts (6-0) entered the game fresh off an undefeated road trip to start the season. They would be facing the winless Charlotte County Redfish (0-6). The Peanuts had swept the Redfish to start the season.

When Wally Backman removes starting pitcher Dustin Taylor, he brings in Jared Sutton. It would be Sutton’s final appearance with the Peanuts – he would be picked up by the Milwaukee Brewers two days later.

Over the course of the game, the Peanuts missed several signs and butchered a squeeze play, much to the chagrin of manager Wally Backman. Despite his impatience with his own team, Backman seemed to have a great deal of patience with the opposing manager and home plate umpire – both of whom required help to understand the National League-style rules  that the South Coast League was using. The league was the only independent league to play without a designated hitter.

The Peanuts lost the game by a score of 6-5.

Notes:

Postgame Speech:

Following the team’s first loss, manager Wally Backman ripped his team in a postgame speech. We decided not to bring our cameras into the locker room because it was early in the season and we hadn’t built up enough of a rapport with the team. Instead, we left Backman’s microphone on so we could capture the audio of his speech without intruding on the players.

Here is Backman’s postgame speech (caution: Explicit Language):

I am uploading a massive amount of video clips to the web – new clips are available every weekday at PlayingforPeanuts.com and SouthGeorgiaPeanuts.net.

This is an entire interview that we did with South Georgia Peanuts manager – and former major league infielder – Wally Backman. The interview was done at the RV park where Backman spent the 2007 season. That’s Wally’s RV in the background:

During the interview, he discusses everything from the ’86 Mets to his theories on managing.

Notes:
If you click the PLAY button, each of the 20+ clips will play automatically. Just sit back and relax.

Alternatively, you can use the left and right arrow buttons to skip through different clips.

Baseball season is right around the corner and this is a big week for “Playing for Peanuts.” At a cost of $300, I have purchased a half-hour block of airtime to broadcast one episode of the show in Albany, GA. The broadcast takes place this Sunday at 1pm, right before the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Basically, I have to sell 14 DVDs to break even. I made several unsuccessful attempts to get the DVD sold in local stores in exchange for giving free TV commercial time to the stores. Long story short, the economy and the perception of the South Coast League by local businesses isn’t the greatest. But if I can sell 14 DVDs through the show’s website, it will justify buying more airtime in the future…

And of course, I am still releasing new video clips to the web – new clips are available every weekday at PlayingforPeanuts.com and SouthGeorgiaPeanuts.net. 

This week’s clips include the TV commercial that is promoting this Sunday’s broadcast and several more interview clips with Peanuts manager Wally Backman. Dig in:

“The Peanuts Are Back” – Fox-31 TV Commercial
This commercial is airing all week on Albany’s Fox-31. Thanks to Fox-31 for promoting the hell out of a show that is essentially paid programming – granted, it is a special case, but it is still much appreciated. You may remember the song and some of the clips from last year’s commercials that aired on Comcast Sportsnet. This is essentially the same commercial that SNY refused to air because they were afraid Wally Backman would become the fan favorite to manage the Mets.

Note: The music in the commercial is “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” by Whiskey on a Sunday (click here to download for 99 cents) and also an organ version of the same song from the StadiumSounds CD.

Wally Backman Didn’t Want to Return to Independent Baseball
A clip from the Wally Backman RV Interview. In this clip, Wally
discusses how he didn’t want to return to independent baseball. Backman
managed in independent ball from 1997-2001 and affiliated baseball from
2002-2004. In 2004, he was named manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He was fired four days later after the team was threatened by a sponsor
of the minor league Birmingham Barons (White Sox AA affiliate). For
more on that story, click here.

Wally Backman Explains How He Wound Up with the Peanuts
A clip from the Wally Backman RV Interview. In this clip, Wally
explains how he was hired by the South Coast League to manage the South
Georgia Peanuts.

Wally Backman Discusses Albany, GA
A clip from the Wally Backman RV Interview. In this clip, Wally
discusses the response of the city council and fans in Albany, GA. The
city council was initially resistant to the return of pro baseball,
while the fans were more receptive.

Wally Backman Explains How He Built the Peanuts Roster

A clip from the Wally Backman RV Interview. In this clip, Wally
discusses how he built the Peanuts roster. Essentially, he built the
team around players he had managed previously in the Diamondbacks
organization and players who he had seen playing with his son in the
Texas Rangers organization.

Backman also goes into how
independent baseball gives recently released players a chance to prove
that they can succeed by playing everyday. He also mentions how he
learned to put players in proper roles by playing for good managers -
specifically, current Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland.

Related Links:
Visit SouthGeorgiaPeanuts.net
Follow Peanuts on Twitter
Buy the DVD set (3-DVDs for $24.99)P

I am in the process of releasing a massive amount of video clips to the web – new clips are available every weekday at PlayingforPeanuts.com and SouthGeorgiaPeanuts.net. 

This week, the clips focus on the city of Albany, GA – home of the Peanuts.

Footage of Albany, GA (Part 1)
Random shots of Albany, GA that were taken throughout the 2007 baseball season. You may notice many of these shots from the show. These were shot with Jay Lavely‘s JVC GY-HD250U (720p) camera.

Footage of Albany, GA (Part 2)
More footage from Albany, GA. This stuff was shot in January 2008 when we returned to Albany to get more shots for the show with my Sony-V1U 1080i HDV camera.

Ray Charles Plaza – Albany, GA

This is footage from Ray Charles Plaza in Albany, GA – home of the South Georgia Peanuts
and birthplace of Ray Charles. Although the plaza wasn’t constructed
while the Peanuts were playing in 2007, we shot this extra footage
during a trip to Albany in January 2008.

The plaza consists of
two statues of Ray Charles on the banks of the Flint River. The larger
statue rotates – I beieve it rotates fully each hour. According to what
I was told, the smaller statue is a representation for blind visitors
to touch so they can get an understanding of what the larger statue
looks like. The plaza steps contain musical notes and piano keys and
Ray Charles songs play all day and night.

Apparently, the project was controversial. I’m not sure of the details, but the result is surreal (note: organ music is courtesy of StadiumSounds.com:

Related Links:
Visit SouthGeorgiaPeanuts.net
Follow Peanuts on Twitter
Buy the DVD set (3-DVDs for $24.99)P