Filmmaker: Carl Erskine's accomplishments transcend baseball

May 17—ANDERSON — Most people are familiar with Carl Erskine's exploits on a baseball diamond, but documentary filmmaker Ted Green is relating accomplishments away from the ball park.

Green is working on a documentary highlighting the lasting legacy of Erskine, his wife Betty and son Jimmy in a PBS program to air in 2022.

The premiere will take place at the Paramount Theatre in Anderson in June or July 2022.

"Ted Green did far more extensive research than I imagined," Erskine said Friday. "He talked to people from my past that I had forgotten about."

The former Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers star said he hopes the documentary is a positive reflection on what he has accomplished with the support of many people.

"I'm pleased they decided to do it," he said. "I hope it reflects some of the goodness that has happened. I have always been rewarded by my hometown."

Green, a former Indianapolis Star journalist, starting doing documentary work in 2010 and has produced programs on Bobby "Slick" Leonard, John Wooden, Roger Brown and Holocaust survivor Eva Kor.

"I try to do legacy pieces," Green said during an interview Thursday with The Herald Bulletin. "In 50 or 100 years people will wonder what Bobby Leonard and Carl Erskine were really like."

Green said he wanted to dive into Carl Erskine's life and his impact and what other people had to say about him.

"This is where they can turn," he said of the Erskine legacy. "This is my goal."

Green said it was Leonard who encouraged him to do a program on Erskine.

"Boy, you're doing a film on the wrong guy," Green said in relating the Leonard interview. "The guy you want is up in Anderson. His name is Carl Erskine."

Green said most people know only about Erskine's baseball career.

"Of course it will cover his baseball career with more color," he said. "The guts of the piece that might surprise people outside of Anderson is his impact in three major societal advancements over the past 80 years."

Those societal changes include battling racism, spiritual growth and better treatment for people with intellectual disabilities.

Green noted Erskine's lifelong friendship with Johnny Wilson and Jackie Robinson.

"From what I gathered, Carl was Jackie's best friend on the Dodger team and his biggest supporter," Green said. "Their friendship extended beyond their baseball career."

Green said the second point will be about Erskine's role in helping found the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

He said the third is the treatment of people with intellectual disabilities. Jimmy Erskine has Down syndrome.

"Carl was certainly the national leader in that field and was the leader along with Betty in Indiana and Madison County," Green said. "People can learn a lot from Carl, Betty and Jimmy. That is my goal."

Green said the Ku Klux Klan ran the state of Indiana in 1925, the year before Erskine was born.

"When Carl was born, the Klan was starting to go away, but there were racists," he said. "Imagine Johnny Wilson spending more time at Erskine's house than his own."

Green said the documentary is to celebrate the legacy of a special couple.

"Betty was very nervous at first," he related. "She knew what the piece was going to be. She wanted to weigh in on Carl and her family."

Green said Carl and Betty's impact is on both the micro and macro level when it comes to people with intellectual disabilities.

"Jimmy was born in 1960 and expected to live into his mid-30s at best," Green explained. "Last April he turned 61. He worked at Applebee's for 20 years and competed in Special Olympics for 50 years.

"Now when people are born with Down syndrome this is what they can expect. It's because of the pioneering work of Carl, Betty and other parents."

At the start of the 20th century, Indiana was one of the worst places for people who were intellectually challenged, according to Green.

"Now, by many measures, Indiana is at the top shelf," he said. "The Special Olympics in 2020, even though it was virtual participation in Indiana, was thrice as high as the next highest state.

"People there at the very beginning of Special Olympics and the Hopewell Center, will tell you Carl and Betty were the most responsible."

Green wants people to walk out of the premiere having learned all about the accomplishments of Carl and Betty Erskine.

"I want them to be moved to action. That's the best way to pay tribute to Carl and Betty," he said.

Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.