MLB Network Rebroadcast Of Larsen’s Perfecto
This evening, I got to see the first 50 minutes of MLB Network’s rebroadcast of the kinescope version of Don Larsen’s World Series Perfect Game from 1956 – right up to the point where Duke Snider made a great grab on Yogi Berra’s liner to end the bottom of the fourth inning.
True story: I’m sitting in my kitchen, watching the game, and my 6 1/2 year old daughter walks into the room and looks at the TV. Here’s our exchange that followed:
Her: What are you watching?
Me: It’s a very old baseball game from 52 years ago.
Her: If it’s that old, why are they showing it? Couldn’t they find a new game?
Me: This is a special game. It’s the only time that there’s been a perfect game in the World Series. Do you know what a perfect game is?
Her: No.
Me: It’s when the pitcher doesn’t allow any runners to reach base during the entire game. It almost never happens.
Her: Oh.
Me: You know, Grandpa, my daddy, was only twenty years old when this game was played.
Her: Were you born yet?
Me: Nope. I wouldn’t be born until six years later.
Her: OK, I’m going to read one of my chapter books now.
Having this brief chat with my daughter got me thinking about how old this game really is…and putting it into perspective. I tried to imagine my dad, just a few months past his 20th birthday, still a year away from being married, watching this game – and wondering what he was thinking at that time. I was twenty in 1983 when Dave Righetti threw his no-hitter. And, I can remember how I felt on that day. I’ll have to call my father tomorrow and ask him about Larsen’s game.
In any event, from what I saw this evening, I thought the rebroadcast was fascinating. Yes, the camera angles used and not used were different from today. And, yes, there was no replay. And, yes, the announcing style – one man in the booth at a time, doing play-by-play, without a color-man – was different. And, yes, the commericals were a hoot back then…watching Birdie Tebbetts shave and also hearing about how you could get a free pocket-sized Baseball Encyclopedia with the purchase of a Gillette razor set.
But, there were other things that caught my eye as well – like the “Giambi” shift that the Dodgers used on Mickey Mantle when he was batting left-handed in the fourth inning and the way the catcher was included in the “toss the ball around” routine after an infield put-out with less than two outs. (I noticed both the Yankees and Dodgers do the latter. If I recall correctly, I first saw it in the top of the fourth when someone grounded to second. After Collins caught the throw from Martin for the out, he tossed it to Berra – who was backing up the play at first – and then Berra tossed it to one of the fielders on the left-side on the infield who continued the “toss around” before getting the ball back to Larsen.)
For a baseball addict like me, again, this was fascinating stuff. How about you? Did you watch it? What did you think?
I did catch quite a bit of this. It was fun picturing myself in the 50s watching Yogi and Mick. Im 28 now and one day my kids will ask me what it was like watchin Jeter, Arod, and Rivera just like your dad watched these guys. Heres lookin forward to more classic Yankee games. I vote for the ’78 Bucky Dent game next!
It was great to get a sense of just how athletic Yogi was. I have read numerous times that although he had a somewhat awkward appearance, he was a fantastic athlete. I got that watching him behind the plate.
And that Mickey Mantle guy–wow, he was pretty good, too.
I was able to sit down and watch the whole rebroadcast from start to finish. Just hearing Don Larsen talk about how he felt after every inning was incredible. The commercials were downright awesome to see in its original incarnation! If its going to be like that all the time, i would definitely tune in to see what games they’ll air next. Hopefully, they’ll air some Yankee games without the John Sterling – Michael Kay feed from the radio.