By: Jeff Meade

John Fitzgerald

The Newtown Theatre has seen bigger crowds.

Unfortunately, fans filled only two or three rows of the historic red-brick movie house on State Street for the Saturday screening of "The Emerald Diamond," filmmaker John Fitzgerald's documentary homage to the Irish National Baseball team.

Small or not, it was an enthusiastic crowd—mostly Hibernians, based on the jacket logos.

Their enthiusiasm is justified. "The Emerald Diamond" traces the history of Irish baseball, from its humble, indistinguished origins to their silver medal appearance in the European championships last summer.

"What's happening now is, they're really getting ready for 2008," Fitzgerald told his audience after the screening. The team had set its sights on eventual Olympic competition, he explained, but the decision by the International Olympic Committee to drop baseball  from the games put the kibosh on those dreams. But a gold medal in the European championships would put the Irish National Team in contention for the World Baseball Classic. "The Classic is their only chance to get out there," he said.

Happily, Saturday was not your only opportunity to see "The Emerald Diamond." In fact, you can own it on DVD. The DVD, T-shirts and other goodies are available here. 

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