New Hartford Native Directs Powerful ESPN 9/11 Documentary

A New Hartford native and two-time Emmy Award-winning ESPN producer is behind a powerful new documentary that connects the Little League World Series, the FDNY and one of the darkest days in American history.

Gus Pfisterer, a graduate of New Hartford High School, produced and directed L1V1NG ON: The Michael Cammarata Story. The 30-minute E60 documentary premieres Wednesday, August 19, at 9 p.m. on ESPN and will stream afterward on the ESPN App.

It's also a pretty big moment for the local producer.

This is the first full-length documentary Pfisterer has produced and directed for ESPN.

The story centers on Michael Cammarata, who was the starting right fielder for the Staten Island team that made it all the way to the U.S. championship game at the 1991 Little League World Series.

Ten years later, Cammarata was a 22-year-old probationary firefighter with the FDNY.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, he was called to the World Trade Center. Cammarata entered World Trade Center 3, the Marriott hotel that stood between the Twin Towers, to help clear occupants from the upper floors.

He never made it out.

Gus Pfisterer of New Hartford playing local baseball. Photo with permission from Gus Phisterer

Cammarata was among the 343 FDNY firefighters killed that day and, according to ESPN, remains the youngest member of the department ever to die in the line of duty.

There's another distinction that makes his story unlike any other in the history of Little League Baseball.

Cammarata wore number 11 in Williamsport. That number has since been retired, making him the only player to receive that honor at the Little League World Series.

For Pfisterer, though, this became about much more than a retired number.

"Yes, it's a story about the number being retired and his sacrifice on 9/11," Pfisterer told WIBX. "But ultimately, to me, this is a story about Michael's legacy and what his impact has made 25 years later."

Before his death, Cammarata had expressed a wish that his spirit would live on. That became the heart of the documentary.

"The crux of this story is really how the people who knew him best, his family members, his friends, his firehouse teammates, and also strangers have honored that request 25 years later to make his spirit live on," Pfisterer said. "And that's all he ever wanted."

For a national ESPN story, there's a pretty strong Mohawk Valley connection behind the camera.

Pfisterer was born and raised in New Hartford.

"My family's been there forever," he said.

He attended New Hartford schools and played baseball and football before heading to Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Pfisterer graduated in the middle of the pandemic and got his first job at ESPN in September of 2021. He's been there ever since.

His connection to Cammarata's story goes beyond baseball.

Pfisterer's grandfather was a deputy chief with the Utica Police Department, and Pfisterer said that family connection left him with an appreciation for first responders. Add his own years playing baseball and it's easy to understand why this particular story grabbed his attention.

"I've always been drawn to first responder stories and I was a baseball player growing up," Pfisterer said.

"This story just kind of hit me in a unique way immediately. I fell in love with it."

Then came perhaps the most important part, earning the trust of Cammarata's family.

Pfisterer said the family had never told the story this way before.

"This is the first time they've ever told the story," he said. "Getting their trust to be able to do that, with a story that means so much to me, and so they can carry on their brother and their son's legacy, it means the world to me."

How Pfisterer found the story in the first place is almost as interesting.

Each September 11, he watches ESPN's story about Welles Crowther, the former Boston College lacrosse player remembered for his heroic actions at the World Trade Center and the red bandanna he carried.

Pfisterer doesn't watch it only as a viewer. He studies it as a producer.

"I always can learn something from that story," he said. "Whether technique or music, there's always something to take away."

Listen to the Full Interview Here:

One year, he did something he normally avoids. He started reading the comments on social media.

One caught his attention.

"That's a great story. But what about the number 11 in Williamsport?"

That was enough.

"I Googled number 11. I had never heard of this, and when I found it, I was obsessed with it," Pfisterer said.

That was three years ago.

Pfisterer took the idea to his executive producer and vice president at the time, Andy Tennant. He kept researching, connected with the family and continued pitching the story as leadership at ESPN changed.

Eventually, enough people saw what he saw and the project got the green light.

Then came another decision. Rather than rush the documentary onto television, ESPN would continue reporting and wait, timing its release with the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

And remember that number 11?

It kept showing up.

Cammarata wore number 11 in Williamsport.

He served with Ladder 11.

His FDNY badge number was 1138.

During his research, Pfisterer asked Little League officials how many children had played in the Little League World Series since the tournament began in 1947.

The answer they gave him was 11,247.

"I think when people see the story, they'll see there's a clear and obvious connection between the number 11 in Michael's life," Pfisterer said.

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It even surprised Cammarata's family.

"That's something that I never knew," Pfisterer added. "And I don't know if the family ever connected those dots until we really started digging in on it."

ESPN's Jeremy Schaap tells the story, with interviews from Cammarata's father, brother and sister, along with friends, Little League teammates and fellow firefighters.

One of those former teammates is Jason Marquis, who went on to pitch for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball.

For Pfisterer, the project is another step in a career at ESPN that started less than five years ago.

He's now part of the network's E60 and original content team. Most of his work to this point has involved long-form feature stories running between seven and 12 minutes.

This time, he got to go deeper.

"This is the first documentary I've ever directed and produced for ESPN," Pfisterer said. "And this is the longest project I've ever done. So it's a great opportunity."

The longer format also gave him something he couldn't get with a shorter television feature, time.

Time for viewers to get to know Cammarata.

Time to hear from his family.

And time to understand who the young man was before he became one of the 343 firefighters lost on September 11.

"Michael obviously is not here to tell his story and we have some archival materials I was able to find throughout the way to help do that," Pfisterer said. "But all this extra time does is allow the viewer to connect more with the family, connect more with Michael."

Twenty-five years later, that's really what this story is about.

A Little League baseball player who dreamed of becoming a firefighter, got that chance, and at just 22 years old ran into a building on September 11 to help other people get out.

And a kid from New Hartford who, years later, discovered his story and decided more people needed to know his name.

"That's why we're still talking about this 25 years later," Pfisterer said, "and hopefully for many years to come."

L1V1NG ON: The Michael Cammarata Story premieres Wednesday, August 19, at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN and will stream afterward on the ESPN App. The documentary will re-air Saturday, August 22, at noon on ESPN.