An up-close video of San Quentin baseball players in action was posted on the The New York Times website recently.
The video titled San Quentin’s Giants was beautifully filmed by the Heist Media film crew and edited and directed by Clayton Worfolk. It highlights baseball’s effect on the rehabilitation efforts of incarcerated players.
“When I’m on that field, I’m not locked up. This is home field like no other,” said Anthony Sorrell, who played for the S.Q. Giants before paroling recently.
The video captures the Lower Yard’s Field of Dreams, a tier in North Block and the chow hall as the background of scenes featuring S.Q. Giants players Jeff “Dewey” Dumont, Chris Deragon, Frankie Smith, Anthony Sorrell and Jose Sandoval.
S.Q. A’s players Royce Rose, Cleo Cloman and Anthony Denard are shown strolling to the field before a game. A’s catcher John Windham was their featured speaker. A’s coach John “Yahya” Parratt was also shown in his cell, adjusting the many baseball card photos of S.Q. players on his wall.
Dumont’s fastball is shown in slow motion while he is heard describing a love for baseball. Deragon and Sorrell are pictured at bat and speaking of baseball’s positive effects.
“Baseball is a game of patience; you fail more than you succeed,” said Sorrell. “It’s not a time to get down on yourself … you have to think about what can I change? What can I fix? Then you have to be patient, just like life, just like doing time.”
“I owe a debt. Eric was murdered for nothing,” said Deragon, expressing remorse for his crime. He joined the team because he “wanted to make changes. I wanted to make my life about more than prison.”
“Baseball is a way for you to learn how to live in prison, to maybe find camaraderie and diversity,” Smith said. “You can throw away color, whatever gangs you were in. When you’re on this field, you’re a team.”
Baseball is like “a university, a place to learn and grow. To me, it’s school — at school we play ball,” said Windham with a smile.
“If it wasn’t for sports, who knows what I’d be going through right now,” said Sorrell.
“It was emotional,” said Smith after seeing the video. “It showed the genuine and humane side of us.”
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