Though you might not be aware of it, C.J. Nitkowski played an antagonist in this massive blockbuster released less than ten years after he was a player for the Braves in 2003.
The Braves announced last month that C.J. Nitkowski, a former MLB pitcher, will replace Jeff Francoeur as the team’s principal commentator. Francoeur, who assumed leadership as the main commentator in 2019, explained his decision to reduce his game by stating that he wanted to spend more time with his family.
Nitkoswki’s name is probably most familiar to longtime Braves fans from his 2004 tenure, in which he played in 22 games and recorded a 4.50 ERA in 20 innings.
His visage may be recognizable to other admirers, but they may not be aware of its source. After all, you might not know where to find his face if you weren’t a baseball fan during his playing career (his final major league game was in 2005) or if you weren’t a fan of the Texas Rangers broadcast feed.
However, if you’ve ever watched the 2013 motion picture “42,” you’ve seen C.J. Nitkowski pitching.
C.J. Nitkowski is the pitcher who lets Jackie reach on a single, steal, and score the game-winning run in the scene where Jackie is being verbally abused by the Phillies manager, Ben Chapman (played by Alan Tudyk).
Or, if you’re not an actor, that’s a lot of screen time. In his blog post, Nitkowski said that he had attended tryouts when attempting to rejoin the Mets in 2012, but he was unable to read lines. He got in touch with the casting director once again after realizing that things weren’t going to work out with the Mets.
A few weeks later, as I began to realize that the Mets agreement was unlikely to go through and that my calendar would open up, I asked if there was any chance I could appear in the film as an extra background character. The tryouts and interviews hadn’t yet taken place. I was instructed to come down by Rose, the casting agent.”
C.J. Nitkowski
He managed to secure an audition, did a fantastic job on the read, and received a callback right away. Although Nitkowski is a lefty and Leonard is a righty, he was cast as Dutch Leonard a few days after his second audition.
Remarkably, Nitkowski has more acting credits than just “42.”. The former MLB reliever was hired as a technical consultant and writer for the 2016 TV series “Pitch” four years later. In addition, he frequently makes appearances on TVs throughout the series in his own persona, giving background information on events taking place in the Padres’ world.
The new Braves analyst has an outstanding resume. We’re eager to hear his thoughts on this entertaining Braves club come playoff time.
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