THE DIAMOND KING

The Film

THE DIAMOND KING is a feature-length documentary about the history of baseball, as told through the life and works of baseball’s Picasso, Dick Perez. The film features an on-camera narration by John Ortiz, as written by acclaimed sportswriter Joe Posnanski.

Mr. Perez was the official artist of the Baseball Hall of Fame for over 20 years, and has painted the entire history of the game - from the Knickerbocker era until now. He has painted every baseball Hall of Famer, a project he continues to this day at the age of 84. Through Mr. Perez’s work you see how the game has changed - from the ballparks to the uniforms, the crowds, the signage and, of course, the diversity of its players. For a certain set of baseball card collector’s he might be most well-known for painting the Donruss Diamond King cards between 1982-1996.

Like Mr. Perez’s own personal story, baseball is an immigrant story. The sport was created and popularized when a flood of Eastern Europeans came to the United States looking for a better life. By 1947 Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby broke the color barrier, and the 1970s gave birth to the Latin explosion in the game. More recently, some of the sport’s marquee players have made their way from Japan. Mr. Perez’s own immigration story started when he came to the United States alone, at the age of 6, and fell in love with baseball.

THE DIAMOND KING hits on big themes: immigration, the intersection of art and baseball, and eternity. Baseball players, especially the ones Mr. Perez paints, are heroes. Heroes are eternal. Art, when done at the level of Dick Perez, is eternal.

Through this film, audiences will be presented with the incredibly inspiring story of Dick Perez and enjoy the history of baseball through his eyes and work. Baseball is the greatest game ever created. The Diamond King will be a love letter to the sport unlike any that has ever been seen before.

The film will be released digitally on VOD Friday, April 25, 2025.