On the trail of sports chemistry
Film project has cousins tapping views of Red Sox, fans
If you run into Dr. Eric D. Leskowitz at Fenway Park, don't be surprised if he's less excited by closer Jonathan Papelbon's 96-mile-per-hour fastball than by the numbers blinking on his laptop.
Leskowitz, a psychiatrist who lives in Needham, will be testing some pretty eyebrow-raising theories about Fenway Park. He wants to see if fans, with their emotions, can will the Red Sox to victory. The experiment is part of a documentary film, "The Joy of Sox: 'Weird Science' and the Power of Intention," that he is coproducing.
Leskowitz, 55, leads an alternative medicine research and treatment program at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston. His cousin, Joel Leskowitz, is a documentary filmmaker in Oregon. Inspired by the idea of exploring the roles played by team chemistry and fan energy, they formed 2 Cousins Productions in 2005, and have spent much of their vacation days on the road filming.
Last month, they traveled to Fort M yers, Fla., for spring training. Scoring press passes, they interviewed two former Sox players.
Kevin Millar , now a Baltimore Oriole, recalled the player-fan relationship during Boston's 2004 championship season. Eric Leskowitz said Millar attributed the intense emotional bond to fans perceiving the players as a scruffy crew of everyday people, not a collection of oversized egos.
The cousins also talked with 87-year-old Johnny Pesky , who played for the Sox six decades ago and now serves as a good-will ambassador and elder statesman for the team. Pesky told them that his on-field chemistry and personal friendship with Ted Williams made them both better players.
The cousins said Red Sox president and chief executive Larry Lucchino was intrigued by their project, but asked that they hold off interviewing current players until the regular season.
As publicity spreads about the documentary, Eric said, he's received e-mails from three fans who take credit for breaking the Curse of the Bambino . One, a soldier serving in Afghanistan, said he noticed that the Sox lost every time he shaved, so he let his beard grow during the '04 World Series.
At Fenway, Leskowitz will be testing a theory that says events are less random in sacred places or when masses of people are concentrating on the same subject. It draws from research into alternative medicine by the Global Consciousness Project .
He will hook a hand-held device that spews out random numbers to his laptop. During the game he'll see if fan vibes create patterns in the output.
It may sound like a wild pitch, but Leskowitz says the truth is in the numbers.
For more information on the 2 Cousins Productions project, go to thejoyofsoxmovie.com. 