A Russian refugee becomes Japan's baseball god while the world tears itself apart. Curveball: everything.
As a child, Victor Starffin fled the Russian Revolution and settled in Japan, where he grew up to find success as a baseball superstar. However, he constantly battled to overcome many hardships such as poverty, xenophobia, and a world war. Starffin is survived by his two daughters who take us on a wild ride of shifting identities, international rivalries, tragic love, and one heck of a fastball.
Direction
Tchavdar Georgiev weaves archival gold into epic tragedy.
Editing
Seamless jumps between 1920s Russia and postwar Japan.
Production
Daughters' interviews transform this from sports doc to family elegy.
Director
Tchavdar Georgiev
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Starffin remains the only pitcher in Japanese pro history with two 40-win seasons. The 'Japanese Babe Ruth' label? He actually played against Ruth in a 1934 exhibition.
The film exposes how Japan's 'pure-blooded' sports mythology systematically erased foreign-born athletes—even its greatest champion. Starffin's 42-win 1939 season coincided with Japan's wartime push for ethnic homogeneity.
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