A Furie Remembers 1978

[GonzoNYC]

Rob Ryder, who played a Baseball Furie, went on to become a basketball coach/writer/movie advisor. He used to write a sports column for ESPN. He mentioned The Warriors in many articles. Here is a very cool excerpt about filming the fight scene. Long, but very interesting. Enjoy;

"It was June, 1978."

Craig Baxley, "The Warriors" stunt coordinator, was worried.

"Don't rush it! You rush it, you're gonna screw up the sequence, and someone's gonna get hit in the head."

It was nighttime. Riverside Drive Park.

I was standing there with a 36-inch Louisville Slugger in my hand. Wearing a knock-off Yankees uniform, black cap, black wig, my face painted a weird black and blue.

Two days earlier, I'd been a newly promoted location scout making $50 a day. Now, I was in front of the camera, playing a Baseball Fury, raking in the Screen Actors' Guild minimum of $300 for the first eight hours. Plus time and a half for overtime, and in the movies, there's always overtime -- 12- and 14-hour days (or nights) are not uncommon.

A real-deal stuntman had blown out his knee and the director, Walter Hill, had made good on his word and put me in his movie.

So there I was, about to face off with Swan, the warlord of the Warriors. He'd taken a bat off one of the other Baseball Furies, and I was the last obstacle to his escape.

You're not alone if you consider "The Warriors" to be one of the all-time great tough-guy movies, but let's be real -- most of the actors were wimps.

Short, skinny. Soft. Pouty lips and poofy hair.

There were two exceptions: Michael Beck, who was playing Swan. He was muscled up, an obvious athlete, with a quiet, steely intelligence.

Then there was James Remar, playing Ajax. Remar had big biceps and an uncontrollable sneer and was an obvious lunatic.

The Warriors wore those open, sleeveless leather vests, and before each take, Beck and Remar would knock out a bunch of push-ups to pump up their arms.

At first, the other Warriors had tried the same thing, but everyone laughed, and they gave it up.

I was glad to be facing off against Michael Beck instead of James Remar.

Remar delivered that memorable line: "I'm gonna take this bat and shove it up you're a-- and turn you into a popsicle."

He would go on to play a whole string of tough guy roles.

While Michael Beck would go on to play the disco-roller-skating love interest to Olivia Newton-John in one of the worst movies ever made, "Xanadu" (also produced by Larry Gordon).

But there we were. Two young bucks. Mano a mano. Bats in hand.

The scene is set. Swan and I face off under the bright white klieg lights. The A.D., David Sosna, calls for quiet, then calls, "Roll sound."

"Rolling."

And the two camera operators call out, "Speed." "Speed."

Walter Hill takes a moment, then quietly says, "And&action."

Swan and I swing and duck through our routine. The last piece - I raise my bat high, and Swan takes a full swing, catching me in the solar plexus.

I fly backwards, land on my ass and roll onto my side. Gasping for the wind that's been knocked clear from my lungs.

I vaguely hear Walter yell, "Cut."

Swan and the stunt coordinator hover over me, "You okay?"

Here's the deal - stuntmen never show they're hurt. Never. You end up with a splintered tibia sticking six inches out of your shin you say something like, "Aw s---, I hate when that happens."

Now for an entire generation of suburban white boys who grew up just yearning to show Mommy their latest boo boo, this can be a jarring new reality.

But somehow, staying curled up in the grass in a fetal position on a movie set just doesn't cut it.

Jim Brown once said, "When you get brought down, always get up slow. Don't bounce up, that's stupid. Get up slow, so when you're really hurt, nobody's gonna know."

I get up slow.

Walter looks from Swan to me. "That's it? Let's do it again."

So we do it again. And again.

After the third take, I'm really hurting. Baxley comes over, "Think you can go again?"

My ribs are on fire. I can't get enough air into my lungs. "Oh, man, jeez, Craig&"

"You know you get a 50 dollar stunt adjustment for each pop you take?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Fifty dollars?"

"Each take."

I bounce to my feet, waving my bat.

"Hey, Walter, that last one sucked, let's go again!"

[snowball fury]

Awesome article man! I enjoyed it!

[BigMike7]

That's cool! Great insight from someone who was there...

[ajax]

well done bro........cool article

[skt4477]

Thanks for the article. It sounded like they all had a good time filming the Baseball Furries Melee scene, They all looked like they had fun while they were filming and it showed.

[emissary]

All this time I had never seen that.  Good article.  He mentions WL which made me laugh.  Plus the push-ups.  We used to do that before Jones beach. 

[War Chief]

Nice one Emissary. This topic definitely deserved a "bump". I can't believe it escaped into oblivion. 

[cowboy rules]

What a find Gonzo, it was actually a very interesting article regardless that it was about the warriors. Karma for you!......and I just gave it to the wrong person somehow  Dont worry It'll come.

[Cubs On The Red Carpet]

great find gonz absolutely brilliant  =D> =D> =D>