By then, Bernstein had gotten used to the country’s crowds, its constant standstill traffic, and its disorderly method of doing business. Singh and Patel would eventually go on to win the contest, travel to Los Angeles, train with USC pitching coach Tom House, and get signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates organization-this only 13 months after picking up a baseball for the first time in their lives.Īfter the success of its first year, Million Dollar Arm returned to India in 2011 for a second round, with the same goal in mind: find a young, undiscovered Indian athlete with the raw talent, drive, and determination to become a baseball pitcher. Fortuitously for Bernstein and his team, they not only found one, but two: Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, two javelin throwers from Uttar Pradesh. Starring Jon Hamm, Million Dollar Arm tells the tale of the Indian reality show’s inaugural season, and its struggle to find what, at the time, felt like a needle in a haystack. If you’ve watched TV in the last few weeks, you likely know that that first season of Million Dollar Arm was a success, as its story is now being released as a feature-length Disney movie (and c’mon, what Disney movie doesn’t have a happy ending?). Despite the possibly insurmountable challenge that lay before them, Bernstein and company forged ahead. The catch, though, was that this contest would take place in a country that didn’t give a hoot about Babe Ruth its national pastime was cricket, a sport millions of Indians grew up playing. On the surface, the program’s premise was straightforward: find the next great baseball pitcher and offer him a shot at a Major League tryout. He had recently partnered with venture capitalists Will Chang and Ash Vasudevan for a new reality show set to take place in India. Overall, this was a scene closer to rush hour at JFK than the middle of the night.Ĭonsidering the adventure Bernstein was about to embark on, the frantic atmosphere was kind of fitting. Inside, hundreds of people were running around the terminal outside, a line of chauffeurs about three football field lengths long were offering rides. While most airports at that hour would be desolate, save for a few stragglers sleeping until their next flight, Bernstein was shocked to find the exact opposite: mayhem. Bernstein first arrived in India at 2:30 in the morning.
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