OT - Baseball Documentaries
 

I am heading out on a business trip next week and wanted to load up my ipod with some movies. Other than Ken Burns' Baseball Series any other good Baseball Documentaries that you would suggest?

The Hank Greenburg doc has been mentioned a few times lately. A freebie on Netflix.

I watched "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" on Netflix last year and enjoyed it.

There's a video of "The Glory of Their Times"... it's a great thing to see. It doesn't displace Mr. Ritter's book, nor the 4 CD set, but I find it a pleasure to watch.

I enjoyed "Cobb", although it is not a doc. I also watched "A Player to Be Named Later" which is a doc about the modern day minor leagues.

The HBO "When It Was A Game" trilogy is pretty solid. And the Baseball's Golden age episodes are pretty good as well.

I agree, I really enjoyed When It Was A Game, all 3. I'd like to edit it down one day, cut out the Clown Prince of Baseball stuff, maybe a couple of the song montages... I like the film clips but the songs are too 'cute'. Totally worth watching, though.

There's some series that's about a Golden Era of baseball, when the Yankees, Giants, and Dodgers were all in New York, it's about baseball in the last half of the 40's up to when the wrecking ball bashes Ebbett's Field, as I recall.

Frank, I think you're referring to the "Baseball's Golden Age" Series. There's something like 13 episodes, I believe they usually air on Fox Sports Net...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball%27s_Golden_Age

That could be it. I have 2 VHS tapes of it. Not recorded from broadcast, but original programs. What I have wasn't broken into 13 programs, it was close to 2 hours on each tape. Mel Allen might have narrated it. Never looked for it on dvd.

Frank, Could you by chance be thinking of the films that came with that "Reel Baseball:Baseball's Golden Era"?

http://www.amazon.com/Reel-Baseball-.../dp/0385518862

The HBO documentary on Ted Williams is excellent. There's a short doc on the Brooklyn Dodgers called "Dem Bums" which is okay. I enjoyed the "Only the Ball Was White" documentary, but again, only a half hour. There's an excellent one on Babe Ruth from a while back by HBO, but mine is VHS, so it may not be on DVD. Said Greenburg doc is awesome.

Good call. I loved that series. The first two were the best.

All excellent choices!
 

Hi Friends,
Those are all great ones to watch.
The last few weeks I had a ton of time on my hands in the hospital, so I watched a bunch of sports movies including:
Black & White are my favorites:
Fear Strikes Out (Jim Piersall)
Knute Rockne Story
Pride of the Yankees (Gehrig story with a bunch of real BB players in it!)
The Jimmy Stewart movie about the one-legged pitcher
Rocky Marciano Story

Color:
The Natural~~~ which I love
8 Men Out and Babe Ruth (John Goodman)~~~ for some reason these don't "feel right" when I watch them. lol, 8 Men Out is simply aggravating!
Cobb

As for documentaries, the Ken Burns is the best ( I love part 1 the best!)
and When it was a game is tremendous.

If you want to see other sports documentaries, my all-time favorites are:

History of the AFL (multiple parts and accurate!)~~~~ starts with Lamar Hunt getting denied a franchise and goes right thru the merger and beyond!
This covers EVERYTHING, and is my favorite work on any sport!

Bowling: There's a recent documentary style film called League of or Ordinary Gentlemen, and it follows Wayne Webb, Pete Webber etc.., around and shows what the PBA has become which to me is a ruination of my personal favorite sport which I bowled from age 4 to 40!

And there are several movies and documentaries of Howard Cosell, Jim McKay and Ali that are simply great!

Have a great day everyone and it's good to back here on net54: home of the greatest group of people I've had the pleasure of knowing!

Bill Hedin

Hi Bill-
Hope you are doing OK.
Here's one more sports movie that has flown under the radar that you might enjoy. It's a very engaging documentary made in 2008 about the Harvard-Yale football game in 1968 called Harvard Beats Yale, 29-29. The film intersperses footage of an old broadcast of the game, amazing how quaint TV football was just 40 years ago, with interviews of the former players. There is a great intersection of well known people who were in some way connected to the story like the actor Tommie Lee Jones, Meryl Streep and even Yale QB Boyd Dowling who was the model for the character BD in Doonesbury.

thanks!
 

David, Thanks for the kind words! I'm happy to be better and back here!
I agree that the Harvard/Yale was a great one! Also like the college FB breaking the barrier one!
Take care,
Bill

There is a good doc called "Viva Baseball" It is about the history of baseball in Latin America and the history of latinos in MLB. Some good interviews with Minoso, Vic Power, Tony Taylor, Cookie Rojoas, MArichal, Cepeda etc, etc.

Found them.... in the third place I looked, which is good... I have a couple of hundred vhs tapes with old ball games recorded, about 1980ish to about 2000 or so....


Anyway, there are 2 60 minute vhs tapes. "The Golden Decade of Baseball" narrated by Brent Musburger. I think I'll try to back them up to a dvd. 1947 to 1957. So it's 2 hrs in total, less than I remembered. Musburger, not Allen. But it is the right time and subject matter. It's listed on Amazon. It's good stuff if you're a fan of those teams and times. But for most folks here, the first few 'innings' of Baseball and the video of The Glory of Their Times would be the thing.

Hi Bill--

The Jimmy Stewart movie you refered to is The Monte Stratton Story. Stewart plays Straton who shot his leg off in a hunting accident, June Allison plays his wife and Agnes Moorehead (of Bewitched in the 60's) plays Stewart's mother.

thanks!
 

Thanks mets41 for the name, I never remember: Monty Stratton! A great movie that I enjoy watching.
Frank, those are great tapes you have! I watch old game clips all day and night on youtube.com!
Have a great day everyone!
Bill Hedin

how about the Lou Gehrig storey - "Pride of the Yankees " ? Has Babe Ruth, Bill Dickey, etc.


I also agree with some of the others already mentioned.

When it was a Game
Eight Men Out
The Natural