Fans needed for 1912 Baseball Film Reenactment

Photo Submitted Lamar Porter Field, Little Rock

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Men, women, boys and girls are needed to serve as baseball fans for a documentary to be filmed at historic Lamar Porter Baseball Field in Little Rock on March 21. The First Boys of Spring is a film produced by Emmy Award winning producer Larry Foley.

"It's the story of the birth of baseball spring training in Hot Springs," Foley said. "Nearly half of the ballplayers enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, trained in Hot Springs. These scenes we're filming at Lamar Porter Field are critical to the telling of this unique and important story."

Fans will need to dress in period costumes from 1912. A reenactment of a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox will be played, and filmed. Area adult baseball players are volunteering their time to dress in period uniforms.

Persons interested in sitting in the stands will need to provide their own period costumes, according to Foley.

Women of the time wore one-piece dresses, skirts and blouses. Skirts were narrow and straight, and blouses were front-buttoned with tight fitting sleeves. Large hats, Julie caps and brim style hats, decorated with flowers or ribbon, were popular.

Men wore suits, single or double breasted. Matching vests were common. Shirts were visible only at the collar. Sweaters were worn by working class men, including cardigans, V-neck pullovers, and turtlenecks. Men wore soft felt hats, driving caps and derbies.

Lamar Porter Field is located at 3200 W. 7th Street in Little Rock.

Fans are encouraged to be at the ballpark at noon on March 21.

The First Boys of Spring will premier at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival on October 10.

For more information, contact Jay Rogers at 501-224-4033.