Dalkowski documentary, 30 years in making, debuts Saturday
On public television on Saturday night, Tom Chiappetta will finally tell Steve Dalkowski’s story, a story that he has carried with him since the early 1990s.
“Far From Home: The Steve Dalkowski Story” debuts Saturday night at 7 on CP TV, telling the story of the left-handed phenom from New Britain who never pitched a big-league inning but became a legend anyway.
“I’m very excited because obviously it’s been a long haul,” Chiappetta said. “I’m very fortunate I found the right people along the way, especially recently, to get all of this in order. It’s been with me every day of those 30 years.”
Chiappetta, who once worked for what is now the Connecticut Post, has been compiling interviews for almost 30 years. There are 20 people interviewed in the half-hour film, and that leaves out several more.
“A lot of people seem very anxious and excited to see it, and I hope we meet their standards,” Chiappetta said.
The film debuts Saturday at 7 p.m. on CP TV and reairs Monday at 9:30 p.m. and Oct. 18 at 6 p.m., and it will begin streaming on CP TV.org on Saturday night. CP TV Spirit will show the film twice later
this month.
Dalkowski died April 19 of complications of COVID-19, two months shy of his 81st birthday.
In the film’s trailer, late Hall of Famer Lou Brock describes Dalkowski’s pitching: “Grab your helmets, run behind buildings, because this guy throws unguided missiles, and he doesn’t know where they’re going.”
Over nine minor-league seasons, according to Baseball-Reference.com’s compilation , Dalkowski struck out 1,324 and walked 1,236 in 956 innings.
Battling alcoholism much of his life, he lived in a New Britain continuing-care center for his last 26 years, but Chiappetta takes some solace that Dalkowski was able to spend those years with his sister Pat after a long time apart.
“I think it is a happy ending. His passing in April, going through a lot of tough stuff — there’s also a lot of enjoyment that he was able to share in, in some way,” Chiappetta said.
The stars kind of lined up, Chiappetta said, in the last little while to complete the film. He’d received good advice and positive reinforcement from documentarian Steve Cohen of Stamford’s Triple Threat TV.
Chiappetta said he had surgery about a year ago and was ordered to rest. He reconnected by chance online with a former colleague who taught film in Los Angeles, strong in story development; that colleague knew someone who had the equipment to edit Chiappetta’s copious interviews and update the trailer.
Locals like Spencer Sabo and Noah Finz made key contributions in the late going; Finz narrates the film as well, Chiappetta said.
Dalkowski’s story was a bit of legend even while he was still pitching, the real-life version of the wild fireballers of every baseball movie of the past 50 years. The writer/ directors of two of them, David S. Ward and Ron Shelton, appear in this film.
Chiappetta said he’d worked with Shelton, who was particularly generous with his time and his contacts.
“It’s not something you think is going to happen, a person of his stature,” Chiappetta said.
Half of the 20 people interviewed in the film have died, including Dalkowski and Brock this year. Chiappetta said he contacted their families to get releases and found some of them excited to see footage of their loved ones, and to hear some of their stories as they tied in with Dalkowski’s.
“It made me feel it was worth the time and effort,” Chiappetta said, “because it’s more than just me, Steve, even Patty and the people in New Britain, the reason Steve was able to spend those last 26 years. It makes me more proud of the project and what we were able to accomplish.”