It’s no secret that Esquire has a favorite sports documentarian. For the uninitiated, that man is Greg Whiteley. The 55-year-old filmmaker has compiled—across four docuseries on Netflix—a sweeping and remarkably candid portrait of American sports. His projects include Last Chance U, Wrestlers, Cheer, and America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, which saw little-known (or simply unknown) athletes share their hopes, dreams, trauma, and joy.
Whiteley’s next magic trick? He spent—wait for it—an entire season with the Boston Red Sox. Please allow us to introduce The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox, an eight-episode docuseries that captures the iconic franchise’s 2024 season.
Here’s the official logline, per Netflix: “This immersive series grants unprecedented access to one of sports’ most historic teams: the Boston Red Sox. Follow the 2024 Sox on and off the field for a never-before-seen glimpse into the personal and professional lives of MLB ballplayers as they grapple with the mental pressure and physical demands of a grueling 162-game season.”
Now, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that this is some bird’s-eye view of the Red Sox’s 2024 season, full of locker-room monotony and manager Alex Cora kicking cameras out of the dugout. But it’s not. Watch the first trailer for The Clubhouse below, where you’ll see Cora opening up about loneliness, executive vice president Brian O’Halloran sweating in his office, and infielder Triston Casas simply going through it.
“Of all the sports shows we’ve produced, the sport itself has served as merely a backdrop to tell highly personal stories,” Whiteley wrote in an email. “While shooting the Red Sox 2024 season, we were astounded to discover that baseball is the exception—it’s so all-consuming that it leaves virtually no room for a personal life away from the ballpark.”
So what can you expect from The Clubhouse? Well, the result is out there for you to find yourself—but considering this is a Whiteley jam, you should prepare yourself for quite a few surprises. You knew who made the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad, but were you any less devastated when Charly and Ari didn’t make the team? I thought so.
“All sports are mentally demanding, but the frequency of failure (and the sheer length of the 162-game baseball season) requires a remarkable kind of fortitude,” Whiteley added. “Even ardent baseball fans will be surprised at the intensity of those mental battles—transpiring in the dugout, a hotel room, or the clubhouse—far away from the spectators’ usual view.”
All eight episodes of The Clubhouse hit Netflix on April 8—which is also just a few days after this year’s MLB season begins. Is there a better place to ring in Opening Day than at Fenway?
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