Connecticut Public premieres Tom Chiappetta’s documentary film Far From Home: The Steve Dalkowski Story. Thirty years in the making, the film features exclusive interviews and rare footage never previously aired in telling this once-in-a-lifetime sports figure’s extraordinary story.
The story chronicles the on and off the field feats of the “greatest baseball pitcher who never was” in New Britain, Connecticut’s own Steve Dalkowski. A high school sports hero blessed with athletic talent and a left arm labeled a “gift of the gods” by baseball experts in the 1950s, the film examines the frustrations and obstacles he faced, including a lifelong struggle with alcoholism, but didn’t prevent Steve from becoming a “living legend.” While never pitching a single day in the major leagues, the film documents and reveals the boundless mythical stories surrounding “Dalko.”
Far From Home: The Steve Dalkowski Story originally aired on October 10, 2020 on CPTV.
More About the Program
Far From Home: The Steve Dalkowski Story follows Dalkowski’s life through interviews with coaches, teammates, friends and family, and testimonials from some of the greatest names in baseball. Also featured is insight from two of Hollywood’s top baseball film directors in Ron Shelton (Bull Durham) and David S. Ward (Major League).
Steve Dalkowski had “the most God-given ability of any one pitcher I ever had,” according to Hall of Fame Baseball Manager Earl Weaver. “Grab your helmets and run behind buildings, this guy throws unguided missiles,” remembers MLB Hall of Famer Lou Brock. “Steve was probably blessed with the greatest left arm anybody in the world ever had,” says former teammate Frank Zupo. Former Baltimore Orioles skipper Cal Ripken, Sr. relates “Dalkowski threw the ball 110 or maybe 115 miles per hour.”
This is Chiappetta’s filmmaking debut. A Dalkowski and baseball historian, the Norwalk resident combined 20 interviews with people that play a part in the Dalkowski tale with years of factual research to create a compelling portrait of this culture and sports folk hero. His experiences as a former Connecticut sportswriter, sports TV executive and lifetime Orioles’ fan help bring to life Dalkowski’s journey from being signed right out of high school by the Birds in 1957 to his passing in April 2020.
“We’re so pleased to be able to share Steve’s legacy with our viewers,” said Tim Rasmussen, Chief Content Officer for Connecticut Public. “As a native of Connecticut, his story offers insights into a unique time in sports history and how, despite a lifetime of up and downs, hope and redemption can be achieved with the help of family and friends.”