Affleck pitches for sports film

Casey Affleck could be writing and directing a drama about baseball star Josh Hamilton.

The Texas Rangers outfielder has apparently given the rights to his life story to producer Basil Iwanyk and Thunder Road Pictures, and Casey looks set to be at the helm of the film.

"I truly think this guy's story is one of the most inspiring stories I've ever read," Basil told Deadline.

Josh, who will co-produce the biopic, is a prodigy who began playing at high school, but later descended into drug and alcohol addiction. After a two-year spell in rehab in 2004, he returned to the sport in 2006.

The producer continued: "It's also tailor-made for a movie: it has the mythic quality of The Natural, the faith-based angle of The Blind Side, and faith is a major part of our story, and the romance of Walk The Line.

"Casey has totally captured those elements in his take for the movie. It is an extraordinary odyssey that took him from the depths of drug addiction, estrangement from his family, and suspension from baseball to a spectacular rebirth of his life, faith, marriage and major league career."

Casey, who made his directorial debut with the parody documentary I'm Still Here with brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix, won't star in this film.

The 36-year-old, whose elder brother is Ben, will next be seen in thriller Out Of The Furnace with Christian Bale and Forest Whitaker.