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Baseball TV show being filmed in St. Petersburg
There's a baseball show called 'Heavy Hitters' being filmed in St. Pete. FOX 13's Mark Skol Jr. reports.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - St. Pete may be a baseball town.
However, over the last few weeks, the Sunshine City has been the set of a baseball TV show.
"St. Pete has a huge baseball history, very, very rich baseball history," director Candice Cain said. "We just have a great opportunity to film in a baseball city. All the different fields. This is insane."
The show is called "Heavy Hitters."
What they're saying:
"I feel really lucky to be a part of it," Actor Aidan Thomas Dyson said.
The show follows baseball players who are attending draft camps and combine to hopefully fulfill their lifelong dreams of playing in the big leagues.
"It's going to be awesome," Cain said. "I just know it is going to hit a real sweet spot."
The cast and crew are doing everything they can to make the plot as realistic as possible. They've talked with the MLB and former big leaguers to portray the draft process as close as they can.
"We're able to structure our show around how the league actually plays," Dyson said.
But that's not all. There are several actors who are baseball players first. Cain wanted to get people with baseball skills to star in the show.
Making it realistic
"Baseball in these baseball series has baseball on the periphery and all of the drama in the center," Cain said. "As you can see, we have baseball in the center and all of the drama in the periphery."
One of these baseball players turned actors is Teddy Rodliff, a former pitcher at Stony Brook University. He actually worked out for the Yankees recently and was the No. 4 pick in the Pioneer Baseball draft. He turned it down, however, to focus on his career as an engineer in New York City.
"I am a baseball player at heart," Rodliff said. "I was an athlete. I never had anything to do with theater or TV or anything. I was in a play once when I was five but other than that just a regular kid who was an athlete."
Having a cast that understands the intricacies of baseball helps the sport shine through. Authenticity is what they are striving for.
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"It's not easy to replicate baseball," Rodliff said. "It is one of the hardest sports to play. These guys come out every day and really try to get it right."
They think that extra effort will make the show very realistic.
"I think people are going to be surprised when they watch how true it is to life and baseball," Dyson said.
They believe that combination will be must-see TV.
"If you love sports, and you want to see a good TV show, check it out," Dyson said.
When is it coming out?
The show is set to release its first season on November 1, the day after the scheduled Game 7 of the 2025 World Series.
It has not been announced just yet what streaming service the show will run on.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Mark Skol, Jr.