“Lost Son of Havana” Director Jonathan Hock Talks to BBD

The powerful documentary Lost Son of Havana, which chronicled the struggles of Cuban-born pitcher Luis Tiant playing in the Majors while living away from home, unable to see his family for more than 15 years, as well as his sentimental visit to Havana years later, was released this year and was also seen on ESPN, ESPN Classic and ESPN Deportes.

The movie’s director and writer, Jonathan Hock, recently discussed Tiant’s life and the making of Lost Son with Baseball Digest.

BBD: What was it about Tiant’s story that made you want to make a documentary about it?
JH: When the Farrelly Brothers [executive producers Bobby and Peter] asked me if I was interested in going with them to Havana to direct a film about Luis Tiant, it was about the easiest decision I’ve had in 25 years making sports films. But it wasn’t until I learned more about Luis’s father, “Lefty” Tiant, that I knew we had the makings of a great film. Lefty was a pitcher himself, universally admired and loved in Cuba, and he was denied the major league dream twice – first when he was pitching and black players weren’t allowed in the major leagues, and second when his son was pitching and Castro wouldn’t let him leave Cuba to watch Luis live out his dream. So the Tiant family story is not only an incredible baseball story, but a political one and , most importantly, a family drama where Luis tries to piece together a Cuban family torn apart by politics. Millions of Cubans, and also millions of other American immigrants and their children, can relate to the story.

BBD: What was Luis’ first reaction when you said you wanted to bring him back to Cuba?
JH: Actually it was Luis’s desire to return that sparked the idea for the film. Kris Meyer, our producer and the co-producer on all the Farrellys’ Hollywood comedies, met Luis in Boston. Luis told Kris how he was hoping to return home after 46 years in exile. Kris asked him if we could bring cameras with him and make a movie, and Luis replied, “If you can get me into Cuba, you can do whatever you want!” Bobby and Pete got behind it and then we had the hard part – getting everyone, including Luis, into Cuba.

BBD: We’re intrigued by the fact that you had to assemble a baseball team from your film crew – with Luis as the “coach” in order to get in to Cuba. Did you get any resistance once officials realized it wasn’t really a baseball team?
JH: Both the American and Cuban governments denied our initial requests to travel to Cuba to make the movie. Then we met Mike Micheli, our hero behind the scenes, who had permission to bring 20 amateur baseball players to Cuba under a provision for “goodwill” gestures between the American and Cuban people. He — like everybody else who saw Luis pitch — was a huge Tiant fan and offered us six spots on the “roster.” We never intended to play, but on the day before we left, we received a phone call from our contact in Havana, a gentleman there who works with foreign film crews. He told us that he had just received a call from the government, and they told him that they recognized our names as a film crew from our previous application, and that they were going to be at our baseball game and we had better be playing in that game! So we suited up and played, which was a little embarrassing but also kind of a thrill (I hit a single off the pitcher who won the gold medal game in the 1985 World Championships). The rest of the team was a legitimate amateur American team and the game itself was legit. Once the Cuban authorities saw us playing, they left us alone and we shot for eight days with no interference whatsoever.

BBD: Who do you think was more of a “Lost Son of Havana,” Luis Sr. or Luis Jr.?
JH: That’s an interesting question because both of them lost so much in their lives to forces beyond their control. But in our minds, Luis Jr. was the “Lost Son of Havana.” Before returning to Havana, he did not know how to make peace with his life – the 46 years away from his home, and the family he left behind that was forced to live with the extraordinary deprivations that ordinary Cubans suffer. He needed to go home to “find himself” and what his life has really amounted to. He needed his family in Cuba to help him to accomplish that, and it was so emotionally powerful when it happened and we captured it on film.

BBD: Near the end of the film, Luis told his family that he’d be back to visit Cuba in a few months. Do you know if he returned?
JH: Luis has not been back yet. He wants to return with his wife and children, and his wonderful wife Maria is a Mexican citizen with permanent residency in the US (she has lived here since 1974). The history of relations between the US and Cuba is so absurd that the family is afraid that there will be a bureaucratic mix-up and that Maria might have a problem getting back into the US, so they are trying to get her American citizenship secured before they go back.

BBD: What do you think made Luis such a popular figure everywhere he played?
JH: Luis is one of the funniest and most gracious people you’ll ever meet. Seeing him handle the hardships of exile and racism and injuries, and fight back and conquer adversity time and again with a smile on his face, you can’t help but love the man. And he had the biggest heart in baseball. Whether he was throwing over 160 pitches to beat the mighty Big Red Machine in the World Series or throwing 15 innings against Nolan Ryan, the force of his will made you believe that the impossible could happen, which is when the game of baseball becomes really magical.

BBD: What was the most eye-opening experience for you regarding the entire project?
JH: The pure love of baseball in Cuba. We took Luis to Havana’s Central Park to the “Esquina Caliente” (“Hot Corner”) where hard core baseball fans gather to talk and argue about baseball 24/7. Since Luis played away from Cuba after the Revolution, he has been effectively scrubbed from the official history of Cuban baseball. But everyone there still knew about Luis and were so honored to meet him. And so appreciative that he would return and honor them with a visit. One older man had the most joyful smile I’d ever seen as he shook Luis’s hand and told him that he remembered Luis from when he pitched for Havana in 1960 and ’61 (Luis was rookie of the year in the last season of the Cuban professional league).

BBD: One of the things that makes the movie work so well is that Luis’ life has had so many highs and lows, triumphant moments and sad, tragic ones. How did you decide on which of these to include?
JH: You’re right, there were so many triumphant moments we couldn’t include, especially some of his amazing pitching feats (such as starting and winning three of the Sox final eight games in 1978, including a two-hit shutout to get them into the playoff game against the Yankees, his two 40+ consecutive shutout inning stretches, on and on). Our story was built around the drama of his return to Cuba, so the moments that we could weave most tightly into Luis’s experience in Cuba were the ones we kept.

Jonathan Hock

BBD: What would be one thing that you hope viewers get out of watching LSOH?
JH: In life you’d like to believe that a good heart and an indomitable spirit, that true courage and determination, can help you to overcome any challenge. Luis has faced incredible challenges with even more incredible spirit, on the mound and off. I thought I knew who Luis Tiant was before we started the film, but after making the film, I discovered a man who is truly unconquerable. He is an inspiration to me and I know his story will inspire everyone who sees the film.

BBD: I see that you will be releasing a film about Marcus Dupree in 2010.  Can you share some info about it, and do you have any other baseball-related documentaries in the works?
JH: The Dupree project is for ESPN’s 30 for 30 endeavor. It’s called The Best That Never Was, and anyone who remembers Marcus from his meteoric career at Oklahoma, or his career as maybe the best high school running back ever, will know why. The NFL record books would have had his name all over them if fate had broken just a little differently for Dupree. No baseball projects in the works, but I am working on an amazing basketball story of a Native American family which left the Reservation so the mother could coach her daughters in high school. The older daughter, Shoni Schimmel, is a senior and one of the best players in the country. Basketball on the Reservation is like basketball in the ghetto, and we will see more and more Native kids at the highest levels of the game in coming years.

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Topics: American Immigrants, Baseball Digest, Baseball Story, cuba, cuban baseball, Cuban Family, Cubans, Director Jonathan, documentary, ESPN, ESPN deportes, Executive Producers, Family Drama, Farrelly Brothers, feature, History, Hollywood Comedies, Jonathan Hock, League Dream, Lefty, Living Away From Home, Lost Son, Luis Tiant, movie, Pitcher Luis Tiant, Q&A, Sports Films

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