Bang the Drum Slowly

"Bang the Drum Slowly" was an American television play that was broadcast live by CBS on September 26, 1956, as part of the television series United States Steel Hour. The play, about the friendship between two baseball players, starred Paul Newman. It was based on the 1956 novel Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris. Plot The play begins with narration by Henry Wiggen on a dark set telling the audience that he wrote the play based on a book he also wrote. Wiggen is a pitcher for the fictional New York Mammoths; he was voted Most Valuable Player in 1952. He explains that the play is about his roommate, Bruce Pearson, who is the team's third-string catcher. In their shared hotel room, Pearson, a country boy, irritates Wiggen by talking about how the wind affects the path of his spit as it drops from the window. Pearson complains about taxes. In the locker room, players ridicule Pearson. The team's manager, Dutch, chastises Pearson for calling the wrong pitch and tells him he has no brains. Eight months later, Wiggen gets a call from Pearson who says he is in the hospital in Rochester, Minnesota. He asks Wiggen to visit him. Wiggen visits the hospital, and Pearson reveals that he has a disease that's "kinda fatal." According to the doctors, Pearson has six months or a year "or maybe tomorrow." Wiggen and Pearson agree that nobody else can know, or else Dutch will get rid of Pearson. Spring training arrives, and Wiggen is holding out due to a contract dispute. A new catcher, Piney Woods, is competing for Pearson's spot on the roster. Wiggen meets with the team's management. He agrees to sign but insists that he's tied together in a package with Pearson. Four months pass, and Pearson's condition is deteriorating. He struggles to make it look like everything is fine. Wiggen tries to persuade a teammate to stop giving Pearson a hard time and reveals that Pearson is dying. Word of Pearson's illness reaches the manager, and Dutch tells Wiggen that Pearson is through.