Breaking News
Local News

Part of a Clemente Hall of Fame celebration

Steubenville native Bill Mikita involved as writer/producer of ‘Chasing 3000’

By JANICE KIASKI 10 min read

The 50-year anniversary of Roberto Clemente hitting his 3000th and final career regular season hit will be celebrated Sept. 30 at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.

And Steubenville native Bill Mikita will be a part of that.

"Chasing 3000," a 2007 American independent film about two brothers driving cross-country to Pittsburgh to see their hero become part of the 3000-hit club at Three Rivers Stadium, is the reason why.

Mikita, the writer/producer of the movie, and his producing partner Ryan Johnson touched base with the Hall of Fame earlier this year about its plans for the 50th-anniversary observance and came away with an invite.

"We had an excellent Zoom call with them in July. They invited us to take part in their celebration," Mikita communicated through e-mail, excited at the prospect.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime event," said the Clemente/Pittsburgh Pirates fan. "To be even a small part of this tribute is a great honor."

Mikita's participation plays out in two movie-related ways.

"Voices of the Game" at 2 p.m. will feature Mikita discussing the making of the movie along with the obstacles faced when creating the baseball film that he chased for 19 years from the time he wrote the story to its ultimate script-to-screen production that starred Ray Liotta, Lauren Holly, Rory Caulkin, M. Emmet Walsh, Seymour Cassel and Lori Petty.

At 5 p.m., family, friends and the general public will be welcomed to watch the movie in the museum's Grandstand Theater. Mikita and Johnson will facilitate a brief question-and-answer session following it.

Another sweet spot of the day is that the movie producers, on behalf of the entire cast and crew of "Chasing 3000," will donate to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum the "21 Pirates jersey" worn in the movie by Liotta, who died May 26 at the age of 67.

"It will be part of the Baseball in Films section," Mikita explained.

"With the untimely passing of Ray Liotta earlier this year, Ryan Johnson thought this would be the perfect way to honor him in this celebration," Mikita noted. "Ray is iconic in the Major League Baseball community because of his role in 'Field of Dreams,"' he said, referring to the 1989 film in which Liotta played Shoeless Joe Jackson opposite Kevin Costner's character Ray Kinsella.

The day of programming Sept. 30 dedicated to Clemente's career and the anniversary includes "The Plaques of the Gallery" at 11 a.m., a 20-minute guided tour about the history of the Hall of Fame Gallery and the process by which each plaque is made and installed. The tour starts by the Buck O'Neil Statue on the first floor.

"Artifact Spotlight: Roberto Clemente and Hispanic Heritage Pop-Up" from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. involves Hall of Fame staff sharing the stories of unseen artifacts from the collection of more than 40,000 artifacts not currently on display. These artifacts will be on display in the Learning Center and will focus on Clemente's 3000th hit.

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the interactive Hispanic Heritage Pop-Up experience will explore images and hands-on items from the Hall of Fame's education and museum collections that tell the story of Latino baseball players, according to the Hall of Fame's website.

Clemente played with the Brooklyn Dodgers' minor league team in Montrealbefore making his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1955. He led the National League in batting four times during the 1960s and starred in the 1971 World Series.

Just months after making his historic hit, Clemente died tragically on New Year's Eve in a plane crash while on a humanitarian mission to deliver goods to Nicaragua.

Mikita's screenplay for "Chasing 3000" is based on his close relationship with his brother, Steve, who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Steve was diagnosed at 18 months, and his parents were told he had six months to live.

But he survived and thrived.

Steve is 67, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, and worked for 39 years as Utah's assistant attorney general for disability before his retirement in 2021. An advocate for the community and the disabled, Steve did his undergraduate studies at Duke University where he was the first freshman in a wheelchair to be admitted.

He has no movement from the neck down.

Steve's SMA cause the two brothers to "an uncommonly close bond -- a bond that propels the movie," according to Bill.

The "Chasing 3000" storyline reads: "Mickey (Ray Liotta) recounts the cross-country journey of his 15-year-old self (Trevor Morgan) and his young brother, Roger (Rory Culkin), who suffers from muscular dystrophy, to see baseball player Roberto Clemente's 3,000th hit. Their mother (Lauren Holly) doesn't know where they went, so the cops track down the 'stolen' car as they travel to Pittsburgh. Determined to see their idol's historic event, the boys will do anything to get to the baseball stadium, including hitch a ride on a train."

Mikita was in his early 30s, practicing law, when he decided to pursue a lifelong interest in writing that led to the "Chasing 3000" screenplay.

"I wrote the screenplay in 1999. I re-wrote the script with my writing partner, Cris D'Annunzio, in a three-day period by locking ourselves in a room on Warner Bros. lot during a Fourth of July weekend," he explained. "Then, I rewrote the script with director Greg Lanesey -- the two of us never being in the same room at the same time," he continued.

"Pitching the story to producers proved to be frustrating, as life as a struggling screenwriter can get. So I decided to raise the money myself to make the movie," Mikita commented. "With help from investors and family in Cincinnati, I did just that. I like to say that 'Chasing 3000' is a Hollywood movie, about a Pittsburgh story, made with Cincinnati money!"

That whole process he'll revisit during his program Sept. 30. He'll offer insight in general and advice specific to any would-be screenwriters themselves as one who has written five other screenplays.

Some of his talking points, he predicts, will be:

– "Follow your dreams but be realistic. That is, set realistic goals. Be ready to work harder than you have ever worked in your life."

– "I like the line from the AC/DC song -- 'It's a Long Way to The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N Roll)."

– "I'll tell you, folks, it's harder than it looks."

– "Finish your screenplay! Then, get someone to read it -- and listen to the feedback."

– "Develop contacts in Hollywood."

– "Learn to pitch your story in two sentences."

– "Read a lot of screenplays and watch a lot of movies -- it's invaluable."

The death of Liotta was cause for Mikita to reflect on the actor's impact on the film.

"Originally, we were going to make a small film, straight to video. Ryan knew Ray's manager and got her the script. Two weeks prior to filming in Pittsburgh, we still didn't have the lead cast, and Ray committed. It sent the project on an entirely new trajectory. Many cast and crew members wanted to be in a film with him," Mikita said.

"One of the highlights of my life was the night that Ray flew into Pittsburgh, and I had a chance to sit down with him one-on-one," Mikita said.

"The script resonated with him. He told me that he was adopted as a little boy, and, that he carried a chip on his shoulder, like Mickey in the story. He gave me notes. It was unforgettable."

Looking back on that time of his life when the movie was made, Mikita described it as part dream, part miracle.

"Going to the set every day, watching my story come to life -- it was surreal. Being part of this creative process was a glorious time. It was living my dream. Still, 10 years later, I ask, 'Did I really do that?'" he reflected.

"However, the post-production process, raising the last $200,000 of bridge money and securing distribution was the most complex, stressful situation I have ever faced -- harder than you can imagine, where you stare failure and complete financial ruin in the face every day," he continued, quoting filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson who said, "It's a miracle any film gets made."

"In many ways, it was a miracle. I have been told that what I did was one in a million," he noted.

Roberto Clemente was larger than life, according to Mikita. "He transcended a lot of things -- his language, his race, everything. All we saw was this great player. He was not only a great player, but a great man. He saw himself in larger terms than his humble beginnings or his profession," Mikita said.

"In many ways, it's like my brother, Steve. He sees himself as something larger than just a man in a wheelchair. His vision carried him well beyond his limitation," he said.

"As incredible as it may seem, somehow the story of two brothers playing wiffle ball in their driveway in Steubenville, Ohio, will now be a small part of the Baseball Hall of Fame," Mikita reflected, sharing a story that happened a few years back when a woman sent him a friend request on Facebook.

"She followed it up with a note. She said that she watched our film, and then turned to her husband and said, 'I think these boys lived across the street from my grandfather in Steubenville.'

"Our relationship as brothers is that singular," said Mikita.

He and Steve and their sisters Carole and Judith are the children of the late Dr. William B. Mikita and Mildred Lazich Mikita. Their father was an orthopedic surgeon at Ohio Valley Hospital, St. John's Hospital, Weirton General and the former Gill Hospital, as well as Cadiz and East Liverpool hospitals. He was the team physician for Steubenville High School and Catholic Central High School, and his office was located at 535 N. Fourth St., Steubenville, according to his obituary.

He was 87 when he died June 24, 2010. Their mother died when she was 61.

Since the pandemic, Mikita said he and his wife of 32 years, the former Pattie White, spend most of their time in Cincinnati where their four daughters -- Natalie, Jackie, Melissa and Madeline -- and 11 grandchildren -- 10 of them grandsons -- live.

"I am writing and producing," Mikita said of how he is spending his time. "I am also an attorney and live a good part of the year in Cincinnati, making my journey all the more improbable," noted Mikita, who graduated from Mercer Academy in Pennsylvania, the University of Cincinnati and Ohio Northern College of Law.

"My latest project, oddly enough, is another baseball story. We hope to get it into production before the end of the year."

"Brewer's Boys' is set in 1965 and is about a baseball team of high school players who win the LA Municipal League Championship during the Watts Riots. Lead by their coach and mentor, Chet Brewer, a former pitcher in the Negro Leagues, this group overcomes turbulent times to succeed in life. It's the greatest team no one knows about," Mikita noted.

Cast members include Tommy Lasorda and Rollie Fingers.

Starting at /week.