Venerable Baseball Artist Has Variety of Subjects

By Noel P. Roby

[Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a lengthy essay on a great baseball illustrator.]

I was over-the-top intrigued about learning more about the illustrator and genius behind one my favorite sports cartoons of all time.

I wanted to pace myself with the questions and the pitch to see the original cartoon drawings by Mr. Trondsen. So, I decided to take a short break from communication and a peek at the movie credits online to see if Mr. Trondsen's name was mentioned anywhere, to see if he received credit for the illustrations in The Natural.

Robert Trondsen was a great baseball artist.Photo byWikimedia

But, I was not able to find anything listed anywhere that credited Mr. Trondsen to the iconic movie cartoons. This brought me back to Peter and some additional questions about the work. With the blazing speed of a Roy Hobbs fastball, I fired off this line of questions to Peter:

“How was your father chosen for the work on The Natural? Was there a connection to the movie studio through his advertising work? Can you tell me a little more about the process by which he came to draw those cartoons? Was he given a script or did he have meetings with the writer on the characters he was to draw? Did your father draw upon any personal remembrances or characterizations of players he idolized as a kid?

“When the movie came out, and your father's drawings were there on the screen, how did that moment feel? After all, it is one of the most iconic baseball cartoons I have ever seen. Did your father get to meet the two figures in the cartoon? Joe Don Baker and Robert Redford? Did the movie studio doctor it at all, or is the photo in the film the actual one your father drew?”

I didn't want to miss a single detail of the story and Peter was up to the challenge of my fastball line of questions, drilling a line drive into the gap with a set of powerful answers.

“He did a lot of work for a production designer named Mel Bourne in the 1980s. And Mel contracted him to do the drawings for Max Mercy. My father and Mel Bourne copied the cells on copier and used magic markers to make them darker, as they needed to be darker for the camera to pick them up.

As for me personally, it was an exciting time in his career and it was great for me as a kid and avid baseball fan to see his work on screen. According to my father, he never did get to meet Robert Redford. I can speak to my Dad and see if I can set up a time to chat or email with you to discuss further. I know he has the original reproductions of his drawings.”

Those last few words jumped off the page: "I know he has the original reproductions of his drawings."

And here they are…

Peter and I communicated a number of times via email before I had to ask a rather personal question about his father's work. After all of my research online, I could not find a single notation about Robert Trondsen drawing or contributing or assisting anything for The Natural, and that bothered me because I feel he deserves some type of credit, a mention, a notation, a footnote somewhere in the credits that he was the one, he was the real-life Max Mercy drawing out those baseball scenes for Roy Hobbs, the NY Knights baseball club, the hero vs. goat cartoons, the strikeout of The Whammer.

So, I asked Peter the following:

“Does he, meaning your father, feel left out at all because of the lack of recognition? Or does he feel that his work was recognized in a way he is comfortable with?"

With humility and poise and with respect to his father, Peter answered.

“While my father (Robert Trondsen) never got credits on The Natural, it never bothered him. He’s a true artist and he was happy to work on an exciting project and contribute his art."

Well, if I am the first or the 500th to credit him, so be it.

Robert Trondsen is a living legend of baseball history and artistry in my opinion — a man who expertly illustrated and helped produce the sports cartoons in one of the greatest baseball movies of all time.

Robert's work continued with contributions to films like Fatal Attraction, Wall Street, Kiss of Death and Woody Allen's Zelig.

And Robert's work continues to shine in his home state of New York where he is a landscape and still-life painter. Check him out online.

Huge thanks to Peter Trondsen for the great communications and insight on his father, Robert. Peter was patient with my persistence for the story and I cannot thank him enough for his engagement during this interview process.

Peter, all the best to you.

The writer can be reached via this email: ribaseballexperience@gmail.com