Amazing Early Yankees/Red Sox Footage

[MVSNYC]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNe9OM43EZs

If this was already posted, please feel free to delete, Leon.

[GoCubsGo32]

Wow...breathtaking to say the least. To see film that's very clear and long footage during this time period.Unreal. You could tell the players were a little camera/mic shy..."What do I say?!" lol... love how candid everything is...

Thank you so much for sharing this!

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

wow incredible! Thanks for sharing

[oldjudge]

Thanks Mike—that was neat to see. I thought it was interesting that all the hitters had hitches in their swings.

[Butch7999]

So many fascinating details in that footage. Thanks for posting the link!

[itjclarke]

Thanks Mike—that was neat to see. I thought it was interesting that all the hitters had hitches in their swings.

Only 2 min in, loving it. Thanks for posting.

Gotta think the common hitches of that era are at least in part due the fact their bats were 8-12 oz heavier than modern bats. It just took a little more to get their swings started.

[Hxcmilkshake]

Sweet! Love how they would lay the bats out in front of the dugout

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[T206Collector]

That was 1931 Opening Day. Box score, here, reveals Ruth hit the first of 46 home runs while posting a .373 BA:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA193104140.shtml

A whopping 6 Hall of Famers in the starting lineup - Combs, Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri, Dickey and Ruffing, the last of whom started and pitched a complete game.

I believe this to be Joe McCarthy's first game as Yankee manager, a title he would hold into the 1946 season.

How can you see the game with all of those damn hats?! Also, lots of cigarettes in the crowd. And I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of diversity in the bleachers, which the announcer explains were the cheap seats where the best baseball fans reside.

No Bronx Courthouse in the distance. It would be constructed later that year. Check out the flag pole on the field of play, and how the players followed the marching band around the field prior to the National Anthem.

So many great historical nuggets here.

[MVSNYC]

Glad you guys are liking the video. A buddy of mine sent it to me last night, it's quite amazing.

So many incredible moments and revelations. The mannerisms and idiosyncrasies of the players are the same then, as they are today (body language, adjustments, spitting, stepping out of the box, etc, etc.). I also loved the roar of the crowd, and the announcers...The game feels exactly the same today. Man, this is such a cool video. I really loved seeing Ruth interacting with his wife, and seeing him chuckle, talk, etc.

Do we think the train actually stopped to honor the National Anthem, or was the 161st subway stop literally right there?

[GoCubsGo32]

Do we think the train actually stopped to honor the National Anthem, or was the 161st subway stop literally right there?


I thought the same thing...because you see people getting up. Can't tell if there are standing for the flag or just trying to get off the train...if that was a stop.

[T206Collector]

Do we think the train actually stopped to honor the National Anthem, or was the 161st subway stop literally right there?

That's definitely where the stop was (and, still is, I believe for the 4 train). In later years, they erected the big scoreboard and walls to block the view, except for a tiny sliver in right-center field.

[mr2686]

I could watch this all day long!

[JollyElm]

As incredibly great as this footage is (it was posted somewhere else on here a month or two ago), there is another side to it, too. The film also plays the role of myth buster, when you realize all of these great players we only see in b/w footage were, in fact, only human. Lou Gehrig has some bad swings during batting practice and in the game he hits a weak dribbler towards second base and is easily thrown out. What???? How can that be???? In my mind, Sweet Lou only hits sizzling ropes and knocks people in during every at bat. He never, ever, simply grounds out.

[Hxcmilkshake]

I could watch this all day long!Totally. And i kinda wanna watch Eight Men Out

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[Tabe]

That was 1931 Opening Day.

It's actually multiple games and locations. There's a clip in the middle showing the crowd that pans down onto... not Yankee Stadium. Pretty sure it's Fenway based on the garage doors visible. See the 8:45 mark in the video.

[Gary Dunaier]

There's a clip in the middle showing the crowd that pans down onto... not Yankee Stadium. Pretty sure it's Fenway based on the garage doors visible.

No, that's definitely Yankee Stadium. Here's an image from 1929 (with Babe Ruth in right field)...

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2044/2271071178_63a171145d_o.jpg

...and if you look at the building behind the "BVD" and "Palm Beach Suits" ads, you'll see - from left to right - two regular windows, two smaller windows, four more regular size windows, and two windows with a fire escape in front of them.

Now compare it with the building shown directly above the word "Prohibited" at 8:42 in the video, and you'll see that they match. Also, as the cameraman keeps panning toward right field, you'll see a "Gem Razor" ad in front of the bleachers (not the same one that was in the 1929 photo).

[Tabe]

Sure enough. The perspective messed me up.

[Tennis13]

This just popped up on Reddit today. Off the direct topic, but I'm sure there's crossover appeal here:

https://old.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/8fsh1o/found_jackie_robinson_footage_while_transferring/

[Leon]

Thanks for posting this. It was great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNe9OM43EZs

If this was already posted, please feel free to delete, Leon.