Road Trip - Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey airs Saturday, May 1st at 12:00 pm CST May 01, 2010

Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey is a documentary about former Boston Red Sox great, Bill “The Spaceman” Lee.  The ultimate gonzo player, Lee was a brilliant left handed pitcher who defied every manager or front office executive who tried to control him.  The fans loved him, and so did sportswriters, who delighted in asking the usual baseball questions – only to get philosophical responses involving the relationship between existentialism and the curveball, or the effects of karma on a pitcher’s rotator cuff.

Exiled from professional baseball in 1983, Lee began to roam the world in search of opportunities to play the sport he loves.  Harkening back to the days of barnstormers like Satchel Paige, Lee’s adventures have taken him across the United States, to China, Russia, South America, and every province in Canada.  Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey follows Lee to Cuba, a bastion of amateur baseball and a place where the game is free of overpaid players, steroid scandals and outrageous ticket prices.

Approaching 60, Lee is still a fierce competitor on the field.  He relishes the competition and the opportunity to play with people from a culture as in love with the purity of the game as he is.  Along for the ride, Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey captures the essence of Lee’s vagabond lifestyle.  During the journey, we see photos and footage from Lee’s eccentric past and hear from former teammates, family members, sportswriters, fans, and Lee himself about the long, strange trip that has spawned a legend.