Baseball History On YouTube: This Week In Baseball Long Montage

Growing up as a baseball fan in the early to mid 90s, I had no internet, and no Sportsnet. I used the next days' newspapers to find the box scores and the play-by-play wasn't printed in my local paper. Magazines such as Baseball Digest and cards had to be used to keep track of lifetime totals.

Oh, obviously, no YouTube. But every week, if I wanted to catch some real highlights of games outside of my beloved Toronto Blue Jays (Or Montreal Expos), I'd tune into the show, "This Week In Baseball." Hosted by the great Mel Allen ("How about that!"), it was only about half an hour long. When the season was over, various VHS releases were also rented (Or bought) by me to see highlights.

Nonetheless, in my old heyday, This Week In Baseball (Or TWiB) was the show to watch. And some youtube user has put together a montage that caught this blogger's attention. A lot of my favourite players from the 1980s are in it, many of whom (Sans Jim Rice) continued on into the 1990s. In any event, the show had a catchy opening them.

But it's closing theme, "Gathering Crowds," by a British Compser (John Scott), made it worth watching through the credits. Scott did didn't have baseball in mind when he wrote it in 1974, but the theme (Only 30 seconds of it was ever shown) became iconic after TWiB debuted three years later. It had previously been used as the intro to "ABC News in 1975-76.

So along came this week in baseball in 1977. Skip ahead to 20:52 to hear.

The show was an enormous success from the get-go. Mel Allen, who done the play-by-play for the New York Yankees back in the Mickey Mantle-era, was a natural, keeping this entertaining and informative. A lot of heart. He'd even say goodbye at the end, just to make you feel part of the show. But I digress.

This vid, about nine minutes long from YouTuber, "BaseballDaysofYore", put together a great piece for you all to enjoy, from the baseball days of yore! For yore pleasure!

Things To Look For: (I went to some painstaking research!)

0:00, Smith, 1982 World Series

0:11, Winfield,

0:16, Murphy

0:20, Collins drops the ball, Concepcion makes the catch, out!

0:28, Calderon robs Trammell of a home run! 7/27/87.

0:34, Walling

0:40, Carter drops the ball, but Oliver spears it, out! 6/20/82 @ Wrigley!

0:43, Schmidt, 7/18/87

0:50, Jackson, 1987

0:54, Rose, hit #4192, 9/11/85 (He had actually already broken Cobb's record)

1:00, Buckner

1:05, Gedman carries Clemens

1:08, George Bell! (First of two Toronto Blue Jays' clips!)

1:11, Pinella

1:15, Zim!

1:20, Kirk Gibson, after hitting his dramatic walk-off home run of Dennis Eckersley in game 1 of the 1988 World Series, 10/15/88! Watch carefully, you can see Jose Canseco in the background!

1:28, Coleman, 1985

1:32, Rock! PUT HIM IN THE HALL OF FAME. NOW!

1:40, Ball never touched the ground or the wall, OUUUUT!

1:46, OUT!

1:49, Burks. Ball never touched the ground or the wall, OUT!

1:55 Dykstra and Mitchell collide!

1:59, Lynn with an AMAZING catch! Poor Brian Downing goes back first into the wall!

2:06, Rudy Law

2:10, Griffey, SENIOR!

2:13, Carlos Martinez. As long as he doesn't lose possession of the ball, out!

2:25, Randolph to Mattingly, OUT!

2:27, Kevin Mitchell, OUT! As long as he doesn't drop it!

2:30, Boone drops the ball, Rose catches it before it hits the ground, OUT! 10/21/80. Top of the ninth, game 6, one out.

2:36, Schofield

2:43, Fisk makes the unassisted double play!

2:47, McGraw fans Wilson (Who fanned for the 12th time in the series), Top of the 9th, two down.
10/21/80, right after the Rose catch!

2:55, Brett tries (And fails) to catch Pendleton's popup in the bottom of the 7th, Game 5, 1985 World Series, first pitch. 10/25/85.

3:00, Rose scores, Schmidt jumping for joy at third.

3:06, Rick Monday, top of ninth inning, game 5, NLCS, 10/19/81. Don't show this to Expos' fans!

3:15, Sutter and Porter after Thomas fanned in the top of the ninth, two down, game 7, 1982 World Series, 10/20/82.

3:18, Garvey

3:21, Smith

3:28, Angels fans run onto the field, 1986

3:33, Incaviglia

3:36, Strawberry! (Bart and Lisa Simpson: Darrrrrrryyyyylllll, Darrrrryyyyyylll

3:42, Puckett

3:47, Gooden

3:51, Eric Davis

3:54, Horner

4:00, Dykstra scoring the GWR

4:04, Joyner

4:10, Ricky Henderson

4:13, Ripken

4:18, Morris

4:20, Browning, 9/16/88, Perfect Game!

4:24, Nolan Ryan

4:29, Valentine

4:32, Canseco

4:35, Dick Howser, Royals manager

4:43, Rojas ejected, 8/17/88

4:46 Mattingly

4:48, Jack Clark (Jose Bautista inspiration?)

4:54, HAWK!

5:05, Eckersley and co. (McGwire), celebrate after the last out of game four of the 1989 World Series, giving Oakland a sweep. 10/28/89.

5:08, McGwire

5:14, Sundberg slides across home after the walk-off hit by Dan Iorg, A two-run single in game six of the 1985 World Series. 10/26/85.

5:19, Mookie Wilson, after his roller went through Buckner's legs in game six of the 1986 World Series. Bottom of the 10th, 10/25/86.

5:24, Murphy

5:28, Brett, PINE TAR GAME! 7/24/83

5:36, Yount

5:40, Lasorda and co. celebrating after Gibson's dramatic walk-off vs. Eckersley in game 1 of the 1988 World Series, 10/15/88!

5:49, Komminsk, OUT!

5:55, Ken Griffey SENIOR, 8/19/88.

6:10, Ken Griffey...JUNIOR! Robbing Jesse Barfield (Follows me on twitter) of a home run, 4/26/90

6:19, Pettis, with Reggie Jackson watching

6:23, Hershiser breaks Glenn Davis' bat with a splitter!

6:29, Ritz fans Bo Jackson...BREAKS THE BAT!

6:35, Sandberg and two other Cubs go for a spill!

6:38, Burks makes the catch, but he's all WASHED UP!

6:43, Winningham makes the catch, but maybe he should have just stopped.

6:49, Abbott (Only had a stub of a right arm. Saw him throw a no-hitter vs. Cleveland in 1993!)

6:53, Bench, 1980

6:59, Dravecky

7:06, Canseco hits a grounder to short off Witt, but Schofield makes an amazing play

7:15, Rice!

7:20, Shaker scores as George Bell cheers him on! (Second and final Toronto Blue Jays' clip!)

7:24, Reggie Jackson

7:30, Barry Bonds

7:37, Gooden and Carter and co. 1986.

7:45, Brian Downing

7:52, Clemens

7:55, Mike Scott and his teammates celebrate his no-hitter, 9/25/86.

8:01, Will "The Thrill" Clark.

8:04, Valenzuela

8:07, Tony Gwynn

8:12, Dave Henderson. 5-4, Angels, game 5, 1986 ALCS. 2-2 pitch from Donnie Moore, one out away from the World Series is Cal...10/12/86.

8:24, Billy Hatcher, bottom of the 14th inning, game 6 of the 1986 NLCS. Mets up 4-3. Two outs away from going to the World Series. Jesse Orosco pitching, payoff pitch...10/15/86.

8:40, Grich. Bottom of the 11th, game 4 of the 1986 ALCS. 3-3 tie. Single to left for a walk-off! 10/11/86.

8:44, Knight scoring after Wilson hits it through Buckner's legs in the bottom of the 10th inning. Game 6, 1986 World Series. 10/25/86.

8:47, Hershiser and Dempsey and co. celebrate after the last out vs. Oakland in game 5, clinching the 1988 World Series. 10/20/88.


Thank you for watching! Tune in someday for another of Scott's 0.02 On Sports. So long!

References

Foster, Jason. "The inside Story of How 'This Week in Baseball' Got Its Iconic Theme Music." Sporting News. Buick, 04 Aug. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2016. The article was Sep. 20, 2015. <http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb-news/4651637-this-week-in-baseball-theme-music-gathering-crowds-john-scott-composer-twib-mlb>

"“ABC News” 1975 – 1976 Theme." Network News Music. Web. 20 Feb. 2016. <http://www.networknewsmusic.com/wp/abc-news-1975-1976-theme/>

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.

Penner, Mike. "Cookie Bows to Umpire, Angels Bow to Yankees." Los Angeles Times. Sweat Ready Gear, 18 Aug. 1988. Web. 19 Feb. 2016. <http://articles.latimes.com/1988-08-18/sports/sp-906_1_angel-manager-cookie-rojas>

Baseball History On Youtube: Game 3 Of The 1969 World Series

Well, it wasn't quite the Miracle On 34th Street, was it? With the 1969 Fall Classic tied at a game a piece, the New York Mets came home for three against the Baltimore Orioles. Who would have thought they'd sweep all three for a stunning World Series win.

But it all started with a win in game three:




Things To Look Out For:

1) This is the oldest surviving colour televised broadcast of a World Series game, although colour tv dates back to 1955 in the Fall Classic

2) Okay, it was 5-0 final. But that's gotta be the closest 5-0 ball game I've seen.

3) @ 5:45, the New York Mets have Yogi Berra and Eddie Yost as coaches? Now there's a contrast! Yogi, once of the best "Bad ball" hitters around, hit .285 but had only a .348 on-base percentage. Eddie, one of baseball's finest "Moneyball" players (Before the term was invented, hit just .254, but had a career on-base percentage of .394.

4) @ 9:07, Roy Campanella. Paralyzed from shoulder down in a car accident in January of 1958, he stayed in the game with the Dodgers for years to come. 1969 was a great year for him, as he made the Hall Of Fame!

5) @ 21:53, it's the Mets Tom Agee, who did it all this game, getting them off on the right foot!

6) In this game, you see a pitcher (Jim Palmer) who won a Fall Classic game in three different decades (Not in 1969) and another pitcher who never won a World Series game. More on that later.

7) @ 57:05, Agee makes Gem #1

8) @ 1:04:16, is the play obstruction. Earl Weaver sure thinks so!

9) @ 1:25:07, someone brought one of those to the game. Interesting!

10) @ 1:31:28, Nelson Rockefeller gets interviewed by Tony Kubek. He'd die ten years later. Mets fan?

11) @ 1:42:07, Nolan Ryan. Never won a World Series, alas. This would be his sole Fall Classic appearance.

12) @ 1:42:46, why Kubek is interviewing his old manager!

13) @ 1:44:28, Agee makes Gem #2! How many runs has he saved for the Mets at this point? He's also given them one!

14) @ 2:02:22, Nolan Ryan in the on-deck circle. But he does not get to bat, alas!

15) @ 2:14:08...DUCK! It's coming right at...You!

16) @ 2:14:31, Ryan gets the save!


References


Burns, Ken, director. Ken Burns' Baseball. PBS, 1994. DVD. Ward, Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. “A Whole New Ballgame.” Baseball, season 1, episode 8, PBS, 27 Sept. 1994.

Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's. 1990. Print.

Retrosheet. Retrosheet. Web. 07 Dec. 2015. <www.retrosheet.org>.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 07 Dec. 2015.

Youtube. Youtube. Web. 07 Dec. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/>.

Baseball History On Youtube: Cards and Dodgers, 1959

The Los Angeles Dodgers (moved from Brooklyn after the 1957 season) won the pennant in 1959, and the World Series. They also became (Due to the emergence of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale) one of the most dominating baseball teams of the 1960s. Because of that, the 1959 version of them is often forgotten.

The St. Louis Cardinals did not win the pennant in 1959. But like the Dodgers, they were in three World Series in the 1960s. Like the Dodgers, they went 2-1.

Their 1959 team wasn't ready yet. Lou Brock was not there. Bob Gibson was trying to stay with the team. They were not in the Dodgers' class at the time.

But here is the (not complete) game from July 25, 1959 between these two clubs.

Things To Look Out For

This game is going to extras. Well, even if it's incomplete, at least we see the end.

That left field wall is short. Real short!

Roger Craig and Larry Jackson are your starters. Jackson was the losing pitcher in Jim Maloney's 10-inning no-hitter 8/19/65. He also led the National League in wins with 24 in 1964. The year earlier Craig led the NL in losses with 22. He also had led the league in losses in 1962 with 24. On the plus side, he won World Series with Brooklyn in 1955, Los Angeles in 1959, and finally St. Louis in 1964. So here, he was facing some of his future teammates.

Rookie Ron Fairly and veteran Stan Musial are in the game. Did you know? Along with Pete Rose, they are the only players to play 1000 games in the infield and outfield! Musial is playing first in this game and Fairly is in right. Right next to...

Duke Snider! Playing in centre, and probably not liking the spacious right field. Lost a lot of home runs there. But he gets the ball rolling for Los Angeles in the bottom of the first @ 7:22 with the RBI.

Musial is batting in the sixth slot, just like his number. Snider is batting in the fourth slot, just like his number!

How can you not like Don Zimmer the player? Just skip to around 13:00! Hey, the guy wears Micheal Jordan's number! And he had the feistyness as a player he would have as a manager. Notice Pee Wee Reese, #1? Now coaching at third after retiring as a player after the 1958 season.

Who replaces Zim? That would be announced @ 15:25. Maury Wills, another Dodger rookie.

Dodgers "bullpen", spotted @ 18:54. Ah, back in the day where they were on the field, and in play.

Roger Craig, the Dodgers' starting pitcher. Hey...He's not a bad pitcher. Yeah, he was 10-24 in 1962 with the Mets and 5-22 for them in 1963. But this guy is a good pitcher!

Would Musial get to the ball in right if he was playing the outfield @ 22:37. You be the judge.

St. Louis bullpen gets bust @ 25:20!

Changes for the Cardinals @ 26:31. Wally Shannon in to short. Not Mike Shannon. Also, one of the best relief pitchers of the time, and making the list for best relief seasons of all-time, is Lindy McDaniel. On to make an appearance. He goes four strong innings for the win.

We have Clem Labine into the game @ 41:54. One of the better relief pitchers of the time.

The play around 43:10 is funny. Well, you see it all in baseball sometimes!

Musial bats @ 44:21, and gets walked intentionally. Then, Curt Flood comes in to run for him. Flood was in his second year.

References

"July 25, 1959 St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers Box Score and Play by Play." | Baseball-Reference.com. <http://www.baseballreference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN195907250.shtml>

michael681999. “Cardinals and Dodgers from 1959.” Online video clip. YouTube. Youtube. 30 Dec. 2012. Web. <www.youtube.com/watch?v=olDX0mdsOHI&t=2s>. 9 Sept. 2015.

Baseball History On Youtube: Yaz Makes The Big Play!

From back in that magical year of 1967 where Carl Yastrzemski won the triple crown in baseball. But Yaz was more than just hitting (And he continued his torrid pace down the stretch when Boston needed him, and on into the World Series), and here he makes a great catch. It's a short clip, little more than 30 seconds (A commercial it is not), but it is in colour.



Things To Look For:

The date is April 14th, 1967 vs. The New York Yankees.

This is the Boston Red Sox third game of the season. You can't see that, but I can!

The catch was made at Yankee Stadium. One-handed!

And it was off Tommy Tresh, who's career was winding to a premature halt. See Tom had suffered a torn cartridge in his right knee about a month earlier in the spring. It's sad watching this clip, from that perspective. The Red Sox had given a trade of left fielders, Tresh for Yaz, some thought earlier. Tresh was certainly in Yaz's class from 1962-1966. But from here in '67 to the end of his career in the spring of 1970, things went downhill fast.

As you see from the catch, the old auxiliary scoreboard shows a no-hitter is being thrown. That was by Billy Rohr. Things would also fall apart fast for him, too, pretty much after this game. Before Billy's career  even really got started. And by the way, he did not get the no-hitter. This was his first major league start, game for that matter. After Tresh flied out, Joe Pepitone also flied out, but to right. So just one out away from a no-hitter, it was Yankee Elston Howard with a single. It was the only hit the Yankees got in their 2-0 loss.

Joe Foy is playing third for Boston, Rico Petrocelli was the shortstop. Catching is Russ Gibson. Ironically enough, it was Gibson two-run home run that was the game's only scoring. Petrocelli made the iconic catch that clinched only a tie for the pennant for Boston. True.

The losing pitcher in this game was Whitey Ford. Again, not in this clip. Also pitching his first game of '67 And like Tresh and Rohr, Ford was on his way out. Unlike them, he was still pitching great. By the end of the month, his ERA was an amazing 1.35 (Getting a shutout of his own his next start). Oh, it started to rise...All the way to 1.64 by May 21st. But as he would explain years later in his book Slick, his elbow was paining him that much. So he retired after lasting just one inning that May game.

And since it's the Yankees of 1951 to 1968 in this clip, where is the Mick you ask? Mickey Mantle played in this game, but it was only a cameo. In the bottom of the eighth, he batted for shortstop John Kennedy and flied out to right. The end for him was just a season away. Obviously, he's not in the clip.

The play-by-play I thought was by Joe Garagiola. But the discussion on youtube there seems to be some doubt. One person says it is Ken Coleman. I'll go with Garagiola on my listening and watching from this era and beyond.

This appears to be the oldest surviving colour tv clip involving either the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees. Don't quote me!


References

Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print.

Golenbock, Peter. Red Sox Nation: An Unexpurgated History of the Boston Red Sox. Chicago, IL: Triumph Books, 2005. Print.

Ford, Whitey, & Phil Pepe, P. (1987). Slick. New York: W. Morrow.

MLB. “Yastrzemski Makes Amazing Catch In Left.” YouTube. Major League Baseball. 16 Sept. 2014, <www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQgowJXJWAI>.

Retrosheet. Web. 9 Aug. 2015. <www.retrosheet.org>.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 9 Aug. 2015.

“Tom Tresh.” Society For American Baseball Research. Society For American Baseball Research, <https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/a1f535cd>.