Time for a bit of a curveball to open this blog. It's short notice I know, but must tell you about TCM (Turner Classic Movies cable channel) hosting a day of baseball films on Thursday June 13. So instead of putting the list at end of blog,here is the lineup with an * for something esp. worthy of watching, not necessarily for excellence but for its contribution to the era in which it was made.
6A "The Great American Pastime" (1956) David Wayne leaves his job to take over a Little League team to come closer to his son (he hopes).
730A "Ladies' Day" (1943) The marriage of Eddie Albert will supposedly help his team win. With Lupe Velez and Ann Miller.
*845A "Death on the Diamond" (1934) I don't recall TCM ever airing this one. Robert Young plays a handsome young St. Louis Cardinals pitcher with the hots for team secretary Madge Evans. But there is a killer on the loose. Who can it be? With fine character actors Nat Pendleton and Ted Healy (of producing "Three Stooges" fame). Uncredited Gashouse Gang outfielder Ernie Orsatti has a cameo role getting killed between third and home. I'm not saying it is a great film, but it is different and this was the era when many Americans were fascinated by gangsters.
*1000A "Fireman Save My Child" (1932) The first of Joe E Brown's baseball trilogy. Brown's character is more interested in selling his fire-preventing invention than playing but you get a good sample of both. Brown was a great athlete, a circus acrobat at an early age and almost a major league quality second baseman but he chose the right profession.
*1130A "Alibi Ike" (1935) The third of Brown's baseball trilogy (the second and his personal favorite "Elmer The Great" - 1933 - is somehow not included today.) Based loosely on Ring Lardner's story written before WW I, Brown's manager is William Frawley in his pre-Fred Mertz stage. (Both Brown and Frawley had clauses written into their Hollywood contracts that forbade them from working on movies during the World Series which they usually attended. So did George Raft.) Brown's love interest is Olivia DeHavilland in her debut film. Actually she completed "A Midsummer Night's Dream" also with Brown earlier in 1935 but this film was released first.
*1P "Speedy" (1928) A Harold Lloyd classic with a memorable scene of awed taxi driver Harold driving Babe Ruth to a game at Yankee Stadium. Lou Gehrig can be briefly spotted as they scoot up Amsterdam Ave.
*230P "The Babe Ruth Story" (1948). Hastily finished so Babe could see it before he passed away in August 1948. William Bendix isn't very good as Babe - Jack Carson would have been better but was unavailable. Claire Trevor could have played Claire Ruth as a noir character but she doesn't. Charles Bickford doesn't age one bit as Brother Matthias at the beginning of film and near the end, but what I would give to have a voice and presence like Bickford whose Hollywood career started in the silent movies in 1924. His fate has been to be forgotten like Vern Bickford who was a competent third banana to Spahn and Sain on Boston Braves. If you want to see newscaster H. V. Kaltenborn playing himself, this is for you. And as a document looking backward during increasingly nervous Cold War times, I think you should see it. I plan to see it again because I have a weakness for corn about baseball.
*430P "The Jackie Robinson Story" (1950) with JR playing himself, Ruby Dee as Rachel Robinson, and competent character actor Minor Watson as Branch Rickey. Minor may not have been a major actor but he isn't bad though Harrison Ford in 2013's "42" was better.
*6p "The Stratton Story" (1949) the film that cemented Jimmy Stewart's ascent to stardom. June Allyson plays the loving wife who encourages husband Monty Stratton back to the minor league game after a hunting accident ends his major league career. Jimmie Dykes plays himself and in what I believe is his last role Frank Morgan, the Wizard in "The Wizard of Oz," plays the scout the originally signs him. Screenplay by Guy Trosper who was nominated for an Oscar. Trosper later wrote such notable films as "The Birdman of Alcatraz" and adapted "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold".
One more TCM sports note -
Sa Jun 15 345P "The Winning Team" (1952) Ronald Reagan portrays Grover Cleveland Alexander with Doris Day as his wife. "The Stratton Story" serves as the template for this film - the loving helpmate-wife who helps a baseball-playing husband through his crises. I've only seen this film once and want to look at it again.
AND NOW SOME NOTES ON BASEBALL ON MANY LEVELS AS THE SUMMER SOLSTICE LOOMS:
Congrats to the three winners of the NYC PSAL high school championships.
At the Triple A level, Grand Street Campus beat John Jay, 2-0, at Yankee Stadium on Monday afternoon June 10. The two Brooklyn schools put on a memorable pitcher's battle.
The prior weekend, the Double A title went to East Side Com. over Lafayette, 6-5.
The Single A title went to Brandeis over top-seeded American Studies, 15-0. (The designations refer to the enrollment of the schools.)
Matchups for the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, are set. They will consist of 4 ACC teams and 4 SEC teams. With one exception, all games will be on the main ESPN channel.
On Fri June 14 North Carolina meets Virginia at 2P
Top-seeded Tennessee meets Florida State, trying for first CWS title after many tries, at 7P
On Sat June 15 second-seeded Kentucky, first time ever reaching this level, vs. NC State at 2P
Texas A & M vs. Florida, perennial contender but finished regular season only 1 game over .500, at 7P
The finals will be a best of three:
Sat June 22 730P
Sun June 23 2P - the one game on ABC
Mon June 24 7P (if necessary).
As for MLB with under 100 games to play, the disparity between good teams and bad teams seems to be growing. 2022 was the
first season in MLB history when 4 teams won more than an hundred games and 4 teams lost more than a hundred. It looks like we are headed that way in 2024 again.
Too many ownerships don't really care about winning for a variety of reasons. Among them are revenue-sharing that losing teams get anyway and also, probably the most important reason in my opinion, building a winning culture is very hard.
As an Oriole fan that lived through a lot of dark years, I am enjoying this season and the last two actually as they emerged from darkness into contention. How long they can stay up there with pitchers seemingly being injured every day is a concern. But there is no doubt
that they have built a team of good players who really want to win and are increasingly showing that they know how to do it.
There is one telltale sign that remains true - watch the teams that respond quickly to opponents scoring runs by putting up their own
runs on the scoreboard and you'll find strong evidence of that elusive winning culture. The Yankees have that feeling this year too and the three game series in NYC June 18-19-20 will be a good test for both teams.
That's all for this time. Next time more details on the 35th Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture that I attended last month. I was glad to give a case that player-manager-scout Birdie Tebbetts needs to be remembered as Baseball's Last Idealist.
In my next blogs, I will also look forward to my class in mid-July at the blessed Chautauqua Institution in southwest NY State near
Jamestown and the home of the National Comedy Center. My theme this year is Fandom in American Culture: From Early 20th Century Kranks to Modern BIRGers and CORFers (BIRG means Basking In Reflected Glory; CORF means Cancelling Over Repeated Failure.)
Always remember - take it easy but take it, and Stay Positive, Test Negative!