News

2024 ushered in phase II of the project, and much has been accomplished!

We’ve conducted interviews with San Francisco Giants clubhouse man Mike “Murph” Murphy, author Steve Treder (who wrote the excellent biography about Horace Stoneham), radio beloved Bay Area broadcaster Marty Lurie, and Carl Nolte, columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. All had to much to offer about O’Doul, the man, and his impact on the city.

Our team also captured “Lefty’s” induction by the Irish-American Baseball Hall of Fame at Oracle Park before a Giants game on May 10. It was great to see “Lefty” honored by his hometown, right next to the bridge bearing his name.

Part of our promotional efforts has been entering the short teaser about O’Doul’s 1949 Tour of Japan into film festivals, which has yielded three awards: two for Best Documentary Short and one for Best Picture from the Austin International Film Festival and the New Hollywood Directors Film Festival!

Lastly, the project was recently featured on The Sweet Spot’s Patreon August 2023 session, with producer Jon Leonoudakis, Tom O’Doul, author Dennis Snelling, and Tadao Kunishi celebrating and exploring O’Doul’s miraculous 1949 Goodwill Tour of Japan. View the Patreon session.

We have two more shoots to do in California and the state of Washington. Then, we are wrapped in the U.S. Phase III, which will take us to Japan at some point next year to interview former players, historians, and experts about O’Doul’s impact on baseball and Japan.

JOIN TEAM LEFTY! We remain a crowdfunded project, and every little bit helps! Donations can be made easily via Venmo (Evzone Media) or PayPal (Evzone Media and Experiential, LLC).

Upcoming Appearances:

LIVE SCREENING EVENT!

Join me and my team for a screening of our short film of “Lefty’s” 1949 Tour of Japan on August 24 at 1:00 pm at the Koret Auditorium in the San Francisco Main Library. I will be joined by “Lefty’s” cousin, Tom O’Doul, Tadao Kunishi, and author Dennis Snelling, who wrote the excellent biography “Lefty O’Doul: Baseball’s Forgotten Ambassador.” I’ll also be showing another recent film of mine, “Being Ty Cobb.”

– Jon

Filmmaker Jon Leonoudakis with Tadao Kunishi and Tom O’Doul in Petaluma, CA. Photo by Karl Mondon
Filmmaker Jon Leonoudakis with author Dennis Snelling in Los Angeles, CA.
Photo by Ted Baker.
Lefty was inducted into the Irish-American Baseball Hall of Fame at Oracle Park on May 10, 2024. Photo by Karl Mondon.
Jon with SF Chronicle columnist Carl Nolte. Photo by Karl Mondon.
Tom O’Doul holds art of Lefty O’Doul by Arthur K. Miller.
Photo by Karl Mondon

Jon with beloved Bay Area radio broadcaster Marty Lurie on the interview set courtesy of the Hotel Via. Photo by Berenice Monzano.
Mike Murphy, the longtime SF Giants clubhouse man of 50+ years, with producer-director Jon Leonoudakis. Jon is wearing a NY Giants replica ring of the 1933 World Series, a gift from Murph! “Lefty” got a critical pinch-hit to win Game 2 of the ’33 Series, which the NYG won. Photo by Karl Mondon.