American Yankee - Last Walk to the Mound

 

 

 

Title: American Yankee

Genre: Political Third World Love Story Inspired by: Real events

Locations: NY, Managua Nicaragua

Period: Iran-Contra

Logline: In 1990, a failing MLB pitcher joins a Nicaraguan baseball team with the hope of getting his career back on track, and inadvertently becomes a force in helping to secure the country's first free election in decades.

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Brooks Crawford, once the high-profile ace of the New York Yankees, has hit rock bottom. Personally betrayed—his wife caught cheating with his former best friend, the Red Sox’s star right-fielder—and professionally humiliated after losing his legendary 100 MPH fastball, he’s washed-up. Fed up with whispers that end his career, he drops everything and heads to Nicaragua, determined to reclaim his power—and his pride—by training under the legendary Nicaraguan pitcher Osniel Echevarría.

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Arriving in Managua, Brooks enters a country on the brink: its first democratic election in a century, but also teetering on the edge of renewed violence between Sandinista forces and U.S.-backed Contras. He’s met by Clayton Ashton, a sharp-eyed American scout working locally—and immediately impressed by the world-class facilities and fierce passion for baseball. In Managua’s National Stadium, afternoon games resemble European soccer matches: fans erupt like a wave, players bunker in their dugouts flanked by soldiers with automatic weapons. Brooks senses not just pride, but political tension.

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Then he meets Faith St. Thomas, a determined American NGO advocate with Witness for Peace. Her mission: to help shepherd these fragile elections toward safety, fairness, and transparency. As Brooks and Faith grow close, his name and presence become tools in the unfolding political drama—raising expectations on one side and ire on the other.

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Gradually, Brooks rediscovers his fastball—just as the real stakes begin. Faith’s NGO is threatened: their offices torched, teammates and players harassed or jailed. Forces pushing for a CIA-backed candidate, Vialetto Chamorro, ramp up intimidation efforts. Faith and Brooks find themselves marked targets. Brooks chooses something far greater than baseball—standing alongside Faith in a perilous fight for democracy.

As tensions erupt and Managua descends into unrest, Brooks faces a choice: leave as the corrupt police pressure him out, or stay and fight. Faith urges him: “Look at the impact you’ve made—and imagine what might happen if you walk away.” Inspired, Brooks summons a ragtag squad of eleven retired American major-leaguers and his Nicaraguan teammates to barnstorm the country—playing exhibition games at polling locations from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Their presence deters violence and inspires voters: a living symbol of free and fair elections, and a celebration of real American values.

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On election day’s final game—a Central-American “World Series” showdown—Brooks gets called back to MLB: the Cincinnati Reds want him. Torn, he makes a decision. He stays just long enough—for one last pitch toward democracy—and then accepts the call. He’s leaving behind a safer Nicaragua, a deeper purpose, and a renewed drive for the 1990 World Series.

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