PLAY BALL: BASEBALL AT THE MOVIES

Episode 103: 42 and The Jackie Robinson Story

Let’s play two! Today on Play Ball: Baseball at the Movies, it’s a Jackie Robinson double header. We discuss 42, starring Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson, and 1950’s The Jackie Robinson Story starring Jackie Robinson as himself. After walking through the plots of both movies (06:04) we’re joined by special guest Dr. Raymond Doswell, Vice President of Curatorial Services at the Negro Leagues Museum (14:28) for a wide-ranging interview on the legacy of Jackie Robinson and the Negro Leagues. We discuss the state of the Negro Leagues in the years leading up to integration, why Jackie was the perfect candidate to break the color barrier, Jackie’s activism off the field, and past attempts to bring Jackie’s story to the big screen. After Ray rates both movies (01:08:00), we share some final reflections on the big screen legacy of Jackie Robinson and rate the films ourselves (01:25:23). 

 

Visit the Negro Leagues Museum at 1616 East 18th Street, Kansas City, MO 64108. Phone: 816-221-1920. Email: info@nlbm.com.  Admission only $10.00 for adults, $9.00 for seniors (65+ years) and $6.00 for kids (5-12 years). Call 816-221-1920 for group discounts and Jazz Museum “combo ticket” discounts. The NLBM is a self-guided tour experience. The exhibition features text panels, hundreds of photographs, artifacts and several film exhibits that is integrated with a timeline of baseball and African American history. For more, visit https://nlbm.com. 

 

 

Play Ball: Baseball at the Movies is produced by Paul LeSchofs and Andrew Knopp. Our theme music, Slow Burn, was created by Kevin MacLeod. Our mascot was designed by Yehudi Mercado. Our intro uses clips from the following films from which we do not claim any ownership: Field of Dreams (Universal Pictures), The Natural (TriStar Pictures), Moneyball (Columbia Pictures), The Sandlot (20th Century Fox), Bull Durham (Orion Pictures), and A League of Their Own (Columbia Pictures). Follow us on Twitter @BaseballPodShow and Instragram @playballpodcast.

Episode 102: Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Buy us some peanuts and cracker jacks! Today on Play Ball: Baseball at the Movies, we’re dancing our way through Gene Kelly’s 1949 musical, Take Me Out To The Ballgame. Leading off, we walk through the plot, listen to the film’s most memorable songs, and give our reviews. Then, on Inside Baseball (45:50), we discuss the feminist origins of baseball’s favorite anthem; We see if sabermetrics can tell us if Gene Kelly’s fictional 1908 world champion Wolves would have beaten the REAL 1908 world champion Cubs; Paul attempts to uncover the first double play in history, while Andrew identifies the top double play combos of all time; Rounding third, we unveil our top 5 women in baseball before we rate the movie (01:34:30) and preview next week’s episode.

 

Check out Edward Meeker’s original September 1908 recording of Take Me Out to the Ball Game here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4-gsdLSSQ0

 

Read George Boziwick’s essay, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”: The Story of Katie Casey and our National Pastime, on the feminist origins of the famous anthem here: https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/take-me-out-to-the-ball-game-the-story-of-katie-casey-and-our-national-pastime-c8f76a0fc6ba

 

 

Play Ball: Baseball at the Movies is produced by Paul LeSchofs and Andrew Knopp. Our theme music, Slow Burn, was created by Kevin MacLeod. Our mascot was designed by Yehudi Mercado. Our intro uses clips from the following films from which we do not claim any ownership: Field of Dreams (Universal Pictures), The Natural (TriStar Pictures), Moneyball (Columbia Pictures), The Sandlot (20th Century Fox), Bull Durham (Orion Pictures), and A League of Their Own (Columbia Pictures). Follow us on Twitter @BaseballPodShow and Instragram @playballpodcast.

Episode 101: The Sandlot

 

The series premiere of Play Ball: Baseball at the Movies! The show where your hosts, Andrew and Paul, watch and analyze every baseball movie. On the mound for our pilot episode is the 1993 classic The Sandlot. Leading off, we walk through the plot and give our reviews. Then, on our Inside Baseball segment (16:03), we dive into the history, trivia, lore, stats, and theories from the baseball in the movie. We discuss the REAL story behind Babe Ruth’s legendary “Called Shot” home run. We explore the theory of The Sandlot as a metaphor for breaking baseball’s color barrier. Andrew reveals exactly how much the Hank Aaron rookie card Benny gives away to ghost Babe Ruth is worth today. Lastly, we name our picks for the best trash talkers in the game. Sliding into home, we rate the movie (47:00) and preview next week’s episode. 

 

Play Ball: Baseball at the Movies is produced by Paul LeSchofs and Andrew Knopp. Our theme music, Slow Burn, was created by Kevin MacLeod. Our mascot was designed by Yehudi Mercado. Our intro uses clips from the following films from which we do not claim any ownership: Field of Dreams (Universal Pictures), The Natural (TriStar Pictures), Moneyball (Columbia Pictures), The Sandlot (20th Century Fox), Bull Durham (Orion Pictures), and A League of Their Own (Columbia Pictures). Follow us on Twitter @BaseballPodShow and Instragram @playballpodcast.

Welcome to Play Ball: Baseball at the Movies!

Welcome to our Podcast, Play Ball: Baseball at the Movies!

The show where two best friends/film buffs/baseball nerds watch and analyze every baseball movie there is.

The song used in this promo was written by Kevin MacLeod.