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'Imitation Game' producer to helm film on baseball player

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Press Trust of India Los Angeles
Teddy Schwarzman, producer of Benedict Cumberbatch-starrer 'The Imitation Game', will now helm 'The Rocket', a drama that tells the story of fallen baseball hero Roger Clemen.

This becomes Schwarzman's second biographical film after 'The Imitation Game', which was based on the life of war hero Alan Turing.

Newcomers Jeffrey Gelber and Ryan Belenzon wrote the script, which delves into the latter half of the career of Clemens, one of the greatest pitchers of all time who was nicknamed 'The Rocket' for his unhittable fastball, said The Hollywood reporter.

Clemens, an All-American at the University of Texas, who started his professional career with the Boston Red Sox, also became something of a tarnished figure in the sport after his former trainer, Brian McNamee, claimed that the pitcher used steroids.
 

The story chronicles the relationship between the two at the point in Clemens' career when he began to lose his fastball.

Clemens was called before Congress and denied McNamee's allegations under oath. A federal grand jury indicted Clemens on six felony counts involving perjury, false statements and obstruction of Congress, to which Clemens pleaded not guilty.

He was eventually found not guilty on all six counts in 2008, one year after he retired from baseball after 24 seasons. Despite his unparalleled career, he has not been elected to the Hall of Fame.

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First Published: Mar 07 2015 | 1:22 PM IST

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