Let's talk baseball and hobby documentaries
 

Good morning, everybody.

I am sitting here in bed watching HBO's Legends and Legacies series documentary about Ted Williams, which I downloaded from YouTube about a year ago. My efforts to find a physical media copy were fruitless, as it appears that HBO has never released it on DVD. Fortunately, the documentaries they did on Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle were made available for purchase; I bought the set containing all three. The PBS American Masters doc on Ted Williams is for sale, however, and I'll be picking that one up after the first of the year.

My reason for starting this discussion today is twofold. One, I never get tired of learning about the game, or our hobby. Ever. I could spend a whole day watching documentaries (and films) about them. I've probably watched Ken Burns' Baseball, from start to finish, no fewer than ten times.


https://media.giphy.com/media/hF99orzP6C6EE/giphy.gif
The 'Stache on hour 17 of his baseball documentary marathon.


Secondly, I'm greatly concerned that YouTube as we know it is going to change forever on December 10th. They've made it public knowledge that their ToS will change, allowing them to delete any videos which do not generate income. I don't want to wait to find out just how drastic their server cleansing spree might be, and find the things I used to watch, and enjoy immensely, will disappear forever. Or, that sources of entertainment and knowledge that I might have enjoyed, had I known of their existence, are now lost to me.

Before this happens, I'd like to ask all of you to recommend any baseball related documentaries that I might have missed, especially those dealing with the late Nineteenth Century to the beginning of World War II. I'll look at, and appreciate anything going all the way up to the 1970s and '80s, but the pre-war era is where my greatest interest lies. And, if there are documentaries about our hobby that coincide with this period, I want to see those, too. I have a downloaded copy of the Lionel Carter Collection documentary Mastro did. I know there's more out there, but just need some guidance. I purchased the ESPN 30 for 30 short about the Wagner T206. I've got no problem paying for quality.

I'm looking for baseball documentaries like The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg. Understanding the men that have played the game enhances my enjoyment of these features, just as learning more about Lionel Carter, seeing and hearing him speak about his collection, and his passion for the hobby, enhanced my appreciation for the man, and what he built.

So, before these go the way of the Dodo Bird, and YouTube deletes en masse, I'd be indebted to you all if you help me find some videos to enjoy this morning. Thank you.

Bill I am more than a bit prejudiced on this film but The First Boys of Spring released in 2016 is great. It covers the birth of spring training in 1886 when Spalding and Anson brought the Chicago White Stockings to Hot Springs, Arkansas for the first organized spring trip.

The film covers the years 1886 through around 1950 and is narrated by Billy Bob Thornton and Peter Coyote. It won two Emmys for film maker Larry Foley.

There is a great deal of coverage of Ruth, Wagner, Speaker and dozens of other Hall of Famers and their supporting casts. The film has become the rain delay favorite for the Fox regional networks.

Bill: Here's a great site for DVD's: Doak Ewing site http://www.raresportsfilms.com

Here's a great one: The first 32 minutes of this DVD is the 1934 American League film "Play Ball". Commissioner Judge Landis proudly introduces the film as the first sound film ever produced by Major League Baseball! The star players of the American League are shown, often in instructional segments.
http://www.raresportsfilms.com/1934-35worldseries.html

Note: My dad is in this film, playing ball as a kid in Detroit in the 1930's. He indicated that George Moriarty was filming this segment around Detroit and saw them playing in an empty field in the neighborhood and told them to do various activities.

Also love to watch : Home Run Derby TV Series

Fear Strikes Out about Jimmy Piersall

+1

I love Pride of the Yankees. Must have watched it a million times and Im usually not one for old black and white movies.

Baseball Time Capsule
 

Baseball Time Caspsule with Barry Halper

here's a link---
https://youtu.be/nG01x2TL_JE

The "When It Was A Game" DVD's/vids are a must.

"There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace" - life in the Negro Leagues.

DVD is available from Amazon

I bought the Warner Bros. 4 Film Favorite DVD a while back with Bang the Drum Slowly, Fear Strikes Out, The Pride of the Yankees and Cobb. Curiously, I have yet to watch the first two. I've been searching Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, et all trying to find high definition prints of both. I'll give it a bit more time. If I don't have any luck (I think that TCM will play them in the week leading up to opening day), I'll just break down and watch the DVD copy.

The Pride of the Yankees is one of my favorite baseball films, right behind The Natural. I've been pestering the heck out of Criterion to release it on blu-ray. They'd never released a baseball film (at least, not since they started issuing DVDs and blu-rays. I'd have to go through the list of films they issued on laser disc to be 100% sure) until about a year ago, when they did Bull Durham. The copy that TCM has shown a few times looks like it's benefited from a restoration. It's not merely the beneficiary of a new scan, some of the very minor image instability, age spotting and dirt I'd seen previously were removed. So, I'm hopeful.

Agreed. I've got the HBO blu-ray set, and watch them often. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to just crawl through the screen to watch the games in person.



Thank you all for the replies. I'll look at the posts about things I have not seen a bit later today when I'm feeling better. I'm going to crash out and let some medications work on me.

HBO is weird. They have produced some of the best sports docs, but either don't release them on dvd/bluray, or they don't make them available via HBO on demand. One of the one's they have available right now is Shot Heard 'Round the World about Bobby Thompson's famous homerun...it's real good.
My favorite though is Ghost's of Flatbush, about the Brooklyn Dodgers. By far the best Dodger doc I've ever seen, and includes an in-depth look at why they moved. Unfortunately, it's rarely available on HBO (many sent emails have gone unanswered), but someone has broken it up in to multiple parts and put them on Youtube. Quality of the youtube version is not great, but it might be worth a look anyway.
Also, I agree with others that have said When It Was a Game is good. Love those as well.

By the way, that Cobb movie is the worst sports movie of all time. It's based on the book by Al Stump. Stump has been proven to be a liar and a thief, and he made up most of the book, which totally ruins Cobbs reputation...so much so, that Ken Burns regurgitates some of his crap.