The Jungle League

Concept
for the Novel and
TV Mini Series.

It was observed in the field that our victory in World War II could be attributed to our country’s obsession with baseball, and how good our men were at throwing a grenade.

Based on real events.

The year was 1938. The small town of La Batterie Mississippi had a baseball team called the Warriors. They played in an after-college (town) team league called the Delta League. Most of the Warriors were scouted by the majors, and they were about to leave the family farm for big city pro careers when war was declared. They were sent to the Island of New Guinea to fight the Japanese and maybe get to play baseball in the Overseas Leagues against some big leaguers. They didn’t find out until after they deployed that they might ever get to play baseball again. They thought their pro baseball dreams were shot. But because of the style and tactics of warfare, and the intensity of the fighting on New Guinea, it was logistically impossible for Overseas Leagues to organize for morale on that island for most of the war. Being denied the morale and opportunity to participate in the Overseas Leagues, compounded by the hunger to play and the awareness that baseball was being played all around them in the South Pacific, in the end, made them bitter and thereby made them better than they already were.

So they had to gut it out. They played pick-up games when they could in pouring rain using homemade equipment, while getting shot at by snipers.

But finally, near war’s end, on leave and visiting the wounded, they forced a little match on the hospital diamond with a top Navy team on the Island of Manila. Word of the embarrassing ass-kicking of a top Navy team by a bunch of Army nobodies got all the way back to Ted Williams, stationed in Hawaii, and soon after, he and his Navy All-Stars Touring Team accompanied by a crew of Seabees arrived on New Guinea and carved a diamond out of that jungle, and a game it was... 

Logline - As an elite small Southern town baseball team packs to go to the Major Leagues, war is declared. They know their baseball dreams are shot. They deploy and fulfill their baseball dreams on New Guinea playing Ted Williams in the Overseas leagues.

Rancho

A Play in 4 Acts
Based on a True Story.

A swashbuckling tale of Santa Barbara set during the Rancho era (1813-1847) involving the De La Guerra family, the first fiestas, and a forbidden romance - Rancho will leave the audience transfixed as we learn some of the amazing history, passion, and drama that all contributed to our modern Riviera.

After the chaos of a ship battle between English Fur-traders and the Spanish Navy, two strangers arrive amidst the waves: Peggy Eayrs, the daughter of an English mutineer and granddaughter of a Pitcairn Chieftain, and her infant daughter, Lana. To avoid imminent capture and death, Peggy is encouraged to jump overboard with Lana to swim a long distance to shore. Near Death they were discovered near East Beach and taken to the Santa Barbara Mission and adopted by Commandant Jose De La Guerra and his family.

After many years, Lana is now a beautiful 18-year-old woman; refined and educated like De La Guerra’s other daughters – but also a free-spirited artist — and though her hand is promised to the Spanish Nobleman Diego Tomas, she finds new love with the dashing English adventurer, Isaac Sparks.

Amidst rodeos, fiestas, and whispers of revolution, we discover the story of how Diego loses both his engagement gift, the Huasna Rancho and the heart of his promised bride-to-be — one through an unpredictable game of poker, the other through the unpredictable game of love — to the newcomer, Sparks.

In return, Sparks loses an eye, his freedom, and nearly his life.

After facing bandits, pirates, and officers of the law, Sparks survives with skill and charm, until we are presented with the grand climax during a banquet at Casa De La Guerra – a final duel between bitter rivals Diego and Sparks – ending with one of them a victor — and the other with a sword through his chest.

Rancho comes full circle – with a return to the seashore – and the revelation of Lana’s ties to the legendary Mutiny on the Bounty. The play ends as we are transported onto the island shores of Pitcairn, to experience what paradise was like for the tortued mutineers – through exquisite Polynesian dance and music.

With the planned integration of local costumes, dance troupes, acting troupes, and the historical society, Rancho is sure to be a recurring hit; and welcome addition to the annual Fiesta Celebrations of Santa Barbara for years to come.

The First Lady of the Rancho was the great-granddaughter of the Chief of Pitcairn Island, (Tahiti in the film Mutiny on the Bounty). The Family still lives on the Rancho. Today it's called the Porter Ranch and it caresses the shores of the Huasan river and reservoir near Santa Maria.

Logline - The swashbuckling tale of Santa Barbara's direct ties to Mutiny on the Bounty.

Love Nothing

Concept for Screenplay
Written by
Greg Singley

Brad Daniels, rising young professional tennis star suffers career ending on-court injury and winds up approaching middle age teaching tennis on dilapidated courts, run out of his double wide home and office in Cumming Georgia. His road side sign reads: Love Nothing - tennis lessons and open pit barbeque.

He runs his business with the help of Napoleon Sarker, (Sark) his short and hilarious Hispanic buddy and Artearora Hercules (herk) his tall bookish East Indian buddy that he met playing municipal league tennis.

Brad, a very handsome and physical athlete who enjoyed the constant presence of women his whole life, now finds himself washed up and lonely and blaming it all on bad luck and too many one-night stands. He Struggles to pay bills and two law suits from irate husbands of playful wives taking tennis lessons. Sark and Herc struggle with the open-pit barbeque and tennis lessons business bills and with Brad’s mood swings.

Brad also picks up extra money as a tennis mannequin in a show room window in downtown Atlanta. There, he runs into two old tennis rivals and their sexy wives who are now successful in the hospitality business on the Florida Pan Handel. They visit Love Nothing, feel sorry for him and offer him a job teaching tennis at their chain of motels.

Brad is insulted because he used to be the money winner. They leave, Brad gets drunk and smashes serves and curses. He spills some tequila and his grip. It slips and he chops the ball in the mis hit. The ball flattens like a saucer and floats just over the net and falls. He is dumbfounded. He does it until he knows he can control it without double-faulting and he knows he has an unreturnable serve.

Brad has a change of heart and lays a plan. He suspects his two old rivals play like many ex-tennis stars do in a big money off circuit league and that their job offer is really to game him into the league to make more money because he can be controlled.

He takes them up on the job offer, moves to Destin Florida and uses his new chop serve to beat his two rivals at their own game and get his pro career back.

Along the way Brad finds his old Palmetto Florida neighborhood, tomboy, girlfriend, Brille who is now grown up and beautiful and an Olympic Medalist and an investigative journalist. She assists Brad in the effort as a journalist to record the games in secret and sell the footage to ESPN. They marry.

Logline – Washed up and lonely ex tennis star finds unreturnable serve and returnable love.

About The Author

Greg Singley – was born in 1950 in Greensboro, Alabama.  He received his Associates Degree at Walker Collage Jasper Alabama and furthered his college education at the University of South Alabama, Mobile Alabama.  He attended the revered Ringling School of Art for his art training in Sarasota Florida and graduated with honors with a certificate in commercial illustration.

For more information about his novel or scripts contact Greg.