Rox skipper makes his pitch for MurrayGayle Fee and Laura Raposa, The Boston Globe, 5/28/2004
"I'd love to see Bill play me now and Brad Pitt play me young," Nottle told the Track. "Because they're both unbelievably handsome."
How to win those Brownie points, Ed!
Anyway, it's not just idle speculation on the big guy's part - there really will be a movie about Ed's life. It all started last year when Nottle, who managed the Rox to the Northeast League championship, was hired as a consultant by Boston-based producer Julie Campbell.
Campbell was making a feature film about a fictitious minor-league manager. But the more Julie talked to Ed about his five decades in the minors - and his passion for singing - the more she realized that Nottle's story was better than fiction.
"It's a story about disappointment and there's disappointment in all walks of life," said Ed, who never realized his dream to manage in the bigs. "But it's also about getting up every morning and loving what you do."
The film will portray the ups and downs of Ed's life - being named International League Manager of the Year in 1987 with the Pawtucket Red Sox only to lose out to Joe Morgan the following year in his bid to manage in Boston.
"If I ever went to Boston I would have sung my head off," he said. "I would have given a concert for the Jimmy Fund on top of the left-field wall."
Director Peter CB Masterson, brother of actress Mary Stuart Masterson, and screenwriter Eugene Corr were in Brockton last night - along with Murray - to soak up the local color and to cheer for Ed and the team as they received their Northeast championship rings.
"I love this team and I love this town," Nottle said. "And to have the guys here on the day that we get our rings is really special."
File Under: Rox Star.
