WLRN’s New Documentary “Never Drop the Ball” Explores The Negro Leagues Influence in the Integration of Baseball and America
Miami Giants Negro League team / Photo courtesy of Michael Anderson
Fabian Cardenas and Michael Anderson’s “Never Drop the Ball” displays how black baseball players helped turn baseball into a global phenomenon while integrating sports – and the country – in the process. The co-producers are hosting an advanced screening of their new WLRN-TV Film on Wednesday, January 24th, at 6:30 p.m. at the University Theatre at Florida Atlantic University.
In their one-hour documentary, Cardenas and Anderson reveal the untold stories of the Negro Leagues from a fresh, South Florida perspective.
“Several years back, the Miami Marlins highlighted the Miami Giants, and the history behind its connection with the Negro Leagues,” says Anderson. The Miami Giants, who later became known as the Miami Clowns, were one of the most successful and longest-lasting baseball teams in the Negro Leagues. “It really connected with me, and I went to WLRN to see if this was a project we could create into a long-form documentary,” says Anderson.
It wasn’t until two years after the initial pitch, in 2023, when Cardenas came to work in-house for WLRN, that the production process actually began. “Michael had been telling me [about the Negro Leagues] for years before I came to WLRN… I was in love with the story,” says Cardenas, “so when the opportunity finally came, we took it.”
Originally from Ecuador, Cardenas grew up interested in soccer and admits he doesn’t know much about the sport of baseball at all. Still, his fascination with the unlikely story made this a project easy to buy into.
“Everybody that helped with this documentary was so generous and open minded,” says Cardenas, explaining that it wasn’t difficult to find others with similar mindsets. “I started falling in love with the research.”
The duo expresses that finding voices for their documentary wasn’t difficult either, as most people they reached out to were just as eager to put the story into the spotlight. “It’s important that this story in particular is told,” says Anderson. “Especially here in Florida, with so much Black history being pulled from education.”
While one responsibility of the film is to inform, its producers want viewers to walk away inspired. “I want them to say, ‘Wow, this is how you face adversity,” says Cardenas. “It’s not just about what they did for this sport, It’s about what they did for this country.”
