Anyways, let's run down the clip:
Saturday, December 5, 2009
June 7, 1969 - Reds vs Cubs (in Living Color, I swear!)
Once again, MLB Network has provided glorious fodder for me to dredge the internet looking for exact moments their footage shows. The recent Baseball Seasons 1969 episode gave me a slew of footage I'll be talking about in the next few weeks. However, I'm going to start with yet ANOTHER Chicago Cubs game. This one comes from the World Seri....oh wait.
Anyways, let's run down the clip:
Anyways, let's run down the clip:
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Reason #4,927 in favor of the 1968 World Series DVD set
Bonus Material! No game footage this time. Not even kinescope. This is some solid color tape that was brought to my attention by twib77 (yet again!). George Kell and Larry Osterman of WJBK are giving viewers the inside-the-locker room celebration after the Tigers clinch the 1968 American League Pennant.
The Tigers clinched in dramatic fashion on September 17, 1968 vs the New York Yankees. Joe Sparma, who had been relegated to non-use after a public confrontation with his manager was given a spot start. He twirled a gem, only allowing 3 hits through the first 2 innings.
With 1-0 lead, Sparma yielded 2 hits and a run. Al Kaline would pinch hit for Norm Cash (that's like using a bazooka for a rocket launcher) , Bill Freehan would follow with a hit and Gates Brown with a free pass before Don ".178 hitter" Wert would slap a single to RF and drive in the pennant clinching run.
The Tigers clinched in dramatic fashion on September 17, 1968 vs the New York Yankees. Joe Sparma, who had been relegated to non-use after a public confrontation with his manager was given a spot start. He twirled a gem, only allowing 3 hits through the first 2 innings.
With 1-0 lead, Sparma yielded 2 hits and a run. Al Kaline would pinch hit for Norm Cash (that's like using a bazooka for a rocket launcher) , Bill Freehan would follow with a hit and Gates Brown with a free pass before Don ".178 hitter" Wert would slap a single to RF and drive in the pennant clinching run.
Friday, June 5, 2009
1965 World Series or "only losers use relievers"
'Tis true. The 1965 World Series, the first of which to be played in an expansion city, featured the winning pitcher in every game throwing a complete game.
In the kinescope era, there are a handful of pre-1965 World Series games available. Most of these consist of Yankee games. A few games from 1952 and 1955 vs Brooklyn. We discussed before the 1957 series Yankees vs Braves, in which most of Game 3, 4 and 7 are available with snippets of Game 6 as well.
However, 1965 marks the first World Series in which we know that the entire series is available via kinescope recordings. In fact, after 1965, 1968 is the next oldest complete series available. We will discuss that another time.
In the kinescope era, there are a handful of pre-1965 World Series games available. Most of these consist of Yankee games. A few games from 1952 and 1955 vs Brooklyn. We discussed before the 1957 series Yankees vs Braves, in which most of Game 3, 4 and 7 are available with snippets of Game 6 as well.
However, 1965 marks the first World Series in which we know that the entire series is available via kinescope recordings. In fact, after 1965, 1968 is the next oldest complete series available. We will discuss that another time.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Most Hated Villians
The team I hate the most. Logically they must be as they destroyed the destiny of the team I loved the most, the 1968 St. Louis Cardinals. If Flood catches that ball in CF, Gibson unquestionably goes down as greater than Koufax, Flood isn't run out of town the next year and St. Louis
Anyways, part of why I love the launch of MLB Network is that MLB has to fill their programming schedule and that means footage they've been hoarding away is finally seeing the light of day.
Which brings us to these clips of the 1968 Detroit Tigers. What is most interesting about these is that they are a) in color and b) aren't kinescopes. In fact, they appear to be sourced from tapes. This are the best quality images I've seen from any season before 1969.
We have three games and it's time for more detective work.
Game 1
This one was rather simple. The footage included the scoreboard, which shows a Yankees player caught in a rundown. The scoreboard tells us that #41 Jake Gibbs batting. Earlier in the clip we see the batter is lefthanded, which fits Gibbs. It is the 6th inning with 2 outs. I could delve further into when and why it could be but honestly, this one is fairly easy.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
A Snip here, a Snip there
So, in heartbreaking news, it appears that the WPIX clip of Mickey Mantle's 500th HR is just that, a clip:
http://www.wnbc.com/sports/13808006/detail.html
And just like that, hope evaporates.
Hat tip goes to twib77, whoever this mystery man is, for bringing this to my attention.
He hit his 500th at Yankee Stadium on May 14th, 1967. Wednesday night, I showed some tape of the historic homer on the 11 p.m. news.
The back story: Several years back, an NBC technician came to my office. He said he used to work at Channel 11. He was working that day when the Mick hit his milestone homer. And the technician took a pair of scissors and physically cut off the chunk of tape (two-inch tape at the time) and shoved it into his locker. He wanted to know if I wanted the tape.
Wanted it? It was the mother lode -- the actual portion of the broadcast on WPIX that was long forgotten. It was 40 years ago, and that brief chunk of tape looks like the Middle Ages by comparison.
http://www.wnbc.com/sports/13808006/detail.html
And just like that, hope evaporates.
Hat tip goes to twib77, whoever this mystery man is, for bringing this to my attention.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Mickey Mantle's 500th Homerun
As Yankee Stadium comes to a close, the YES ESPN Network has been highlighting the greatest moments in The Stadium's history. For me, and many baseball purists, Yankee Stadium was closed over 30 years ago when the iconic features and dimensions were destroyed and the entire playing surface was rotated slightly.
But, that doesn't take away how historic Yankee Stadium has been in baseball and how depressing it will be to see it go.
During the kinescope era, the 500 HR plateau was broken 9 times. While the last of the 9 times (and probably the two before it) more than likely came during the videotape era, it is worth noting. They are as follows:
Known partial broadcasts exist of a handful of these, one of which I will touch on today.
Mickey Mantle muscled his 500th career Homerun into the lower bowl of the right field corner off of Sam Miller in the 7th inning vs the Baltimore Orioles.
This game was originally broadcasted on WPIX CH 11. The clip of the homerun has been reshown on HBO's special 'Mantle', during ESPN's retrospective of Yankee Stadium and I believe part of it was involved in the Yankeeography on Mickey Mantle.
But, that doesn't take away how historic Yankee Stadium has been in baseball and how depressing it will be to see it go.
During the kinescope era, the 500 HR plateau was broken 9 times. While the last of the 9 times (and probably the two before it) more than likely came during the videotape era, it is worth noting. They are as follows:
Ted Williams - 06/17/1960
Willie Mays - 09/13/1965
Mickey Mantle - 05/14/1967
Eddie Mathews - 07/14/1967
Hank Aaron - 07/04/1968
Ernie Banks - 05/12/1970
Harmen Killebrew - 08/10/1971
Frank Robinson - 09/13/1971
Willie McCovey - 06/30/1978
Willie Mays - 09/13/1965
Mickey Mantle - 05/14/1967
Eddie Mathews - 07/14/1967
Hank Aaron - 07/04/1968
Ernie Banks - 05/12/1970
Harmen Killebrew - 08/10/1971
Frank Robinson - 09/13/1971
Willie McCovey - 06/30/1978
Known partial broadcasts exist of a handful of these, one of which I will touch on today.
Mickey Mantle muscled his 500th career Homerun into the lower bowl of the right field corner off of Sam Miller in the 7th inning vs the Baltimore Orioles.
This game was originally broadcasted on WPIX CH 11. The clip of the homerun has been reshown on HBO's special 'Mantle', during ESPN's retrospective of Yankee Stadium and I believe part of it was involved in the Yankeeography on Mickey Mantle.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Clemente/Cubs Game - A new twist?
Well, how do you like that. Who said a rain-delay was good for nothing (except erasing a beating your teams starting pitcher may have taken)?
While watching the Yankees-Pirates game tonight, I stumbled across some footage that may have just further muddled the mystery from this post: http://kinescopestealshome.blogspot.com/2007/11/clemente-vs-cubs-regular-season.html
The Footage comes from theClemente bio movie put together in by Fox Sports Films.
In the original post, we had concluded that the footage was of the July 2nd, 1971 game between the Cubs and Pirates at Wrigley Field. Bob Moose had been the pitcher, Paul Popovich and J.C. Martin both played important parts in the scene we had. This also featured a fantastic catch by Clemente in right-centerfield, falling backwards.
Well, apparently Clemente bedeviled the Cubs that entire series.
On July 3rd, the Cubs and Pirates locked up for Game 2 of that Series. In the 8th inning, Billy Williams would hit a 1 out single to CF, advancing Glenn Beckert to 3rd. Joe Pepitone, the next batter, would single to RF and with Billy Williams running...the following unfolded.
Now, I'm not 100% that this is the July 3rd game. Originally I thought I had uncovered more footage from the July 2nd game until I couldn't find an instance of Williams being thrown out at 3B. I'll continue to roll through the various boxscores from the 1971 and 1972 seasons to find another instance of Williams being gunned out by The Great One but I can't imagine anyone would be silly enough to try it twice.
While watching the Yankees-Pirates game tonight, I stumbled across some footage that may have just further muddled the mystery from this post: http://kinescopestealshome.blogspot.com/2007/11/clemente-vs-cubs-regular-season.html
The Footage comes from theClemente bio movie put together in by Fox Sports Films.
In the original post, we had concluded that the footage was of the July 2nd, 1971 game between the Cubs and Pirates at Wrigley Field. Bob Moose had been the pitcher, Paul Popovich and J.C. Martin both played important parts in the scene we had. This also featured a fantastic catch by Clemente in right-centerfield, falling backwards.
Well, apparently Clemente bedeviled the Cubs that entire series.
On July 3rd, the Cubs and Pirates locked up for Game 2 of that Series. In the 8th inning, Billy Williams would hit a 1 out single to CF, advancing Glenn Beckert to 3rd. Joe Pepitone, the next batter, would single to RF and with Billy Williams running...the following unfolded.
Now, I'm not 100% that this is the July 3rd game. Originally I thought I had uncovered more footage from the July 2nd game until I couldn't find an instance of Williams being thrown out at 3B. I'll continue to roll through the various boxscores from the 1971 and 1972 seasons to find another instance of Williams being gunned out by The Great One but I can't imagine anyone would be silly enough to try it twice.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The 'Perfect' Father's Day Gift
It's a widely known fact that no Pond Scum Mets pitching has ever thrown a no-hitter let a perfect game. In this final year of Shea Stadium, the days are running out in which a Mets pitcher can perform such a feat in he teams stench filled storied venue.
However, that is not to say that a pitcher has never thrown a no-hitter in Shea Stadium. Bob Moose threw one in 1969 for the Pirates (I never thought Bob Moose would ever come up twice on this blog). The more important or notable no-hitter was thrown by (now Kentucky Senator) Jim Bunning.
Jim Bunning was not one of the more overpowering pitchers in baseball history but he was certainly one of the smartest. He is also known imfamously for his role in the 1964 collapse of Gene Mauch's Phillies. Bunning and Chris Short were the golden arms of that team, helping to push them to their large lead late in the '64 season. However, Mauch became consumed by the hard charging Cardinals and began to overuse (and abuse) both Bunning and Short. In fact, in the final 21 days of the season, Mauch used Bunning and Short 13 times!
In a bright spot of that 1964 season was Father Day, June 21st. Some 44 years ago today, Bunning took the mound in Shea Stadium for the first part of a double header and retired 27 straight Mets hitters. He did so in striking out 10 batters.
Boxscore: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN196406211.shtml
Philadelphia never trailed in the game and extended their lead to 6 in the 6th, leaving Bunning without the extra pressure of preserving a small lead.
As far as the kinescope goes, not much is known. From what I have gathered, only the bottom of the 9th inning and the postgame interview remains. This is common place for most 'spontaneous acheievement' games during the kinescope era. A station manager or club employee would take note of what was happening and begin to hastily record the final pitches of the game.
The kinescope of the 9th in black and white (per usual) and the transfers I've seen are in pristine condition. The broadcast is the WOR-TV broadcast with Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy. At the conclusion of the 9th inning, Ralph Kiner hosts 'Kiner's Korner' on the field, interviewing Jim Bunning about the feat.
What is remarkable is how receptive the New York fans and broadcasters are to Bunning's performance. The crowd stands and cheers his every pitch, Kiner seems giddy at what Bunning had just done.
Of note, in the second half of the DH, Rick Wise (another reference!) and Johnny Klippstein would hold the Mets to 3 hits over 9 innings (allowing 2 runs and 3 BBs). The Mets would go 11 innings over the DH before getting their first hit with 2 outs in the 3rd.
Hopefully, somewhere out there exists more footage of this game. If you had to ask me which games (known to have parts exist) from the 1960's I would wish to have a full broadcast of, this is one of them.
A truly Happy Father's Day for Senator Bunning.
Clips provided by "Unhittable" DVD.
However, that is not to say that a pitcher has never thrown a no-hitter in Shea Stadium. Bob Moose threw one in 1969 for the Pirates (I never thought Bob Moose would ever come up twice on this blog). The more important or notable no-hitter was thrown by (now Kentucky Senator) Jim Bunning.
Jim Bunning was not one of the more overpowering pitchers in baseball history but he was certainly one of the smartest. He is also known imfamously for his role in the 1964 collapse of Gene Mauch's Phillies. Bunning and Chris Short were the golden arms of that team, helping to push them to their large lead late in the '64 season. However, Mauch became consumed by the hard charging Cardinals and began to overuse (and abuse) both Bunning and Short. In fact, in the final 21 days of the season, Mauch used Bunning and Short 13 times!
In a bright spot of that 1964 season was Father Day, June 21st. Some 44 years ago today, Bunning took the mound in Shea Stadium for the first part of a double header and retired 27 straight Mets hitters. He did so in striking out 10 batters.
Boxscore: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN196406211.shtml
Philadelphia never trailed in the game and extended their lead to 6 in the 6th, leaving Bunning without the extra pressure of preserving a small lead.
As far as the kinescope goes, not much is known. From what I have gathered, only the bottom of the 9th inning and the postgame interview remains. This is common place for most 'spontaneous acheievement' games during the kinescope era. A station manager or club employee would take note of what was happening and begin to hastily record the final pitches of the game.
The kinescope of the 9th in black and white (per usual) and the transfers I've seen are in pristine condition. The broadcast is the WOR-TV broadcast with Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy. At the conclusion of the 9th inning, Ralph Kiner hosts 'Kiner's Korner' on the field, interviewing Jim Bunning about the feat.
What is remarkable is how receptive the New York fans and broadcasters are to Bunning's performance. The crowd stands and cheers his every pitch, Kiner seems giddy at what Bunning had just done.
Of note, in the second half of the DH, Rick Wise (another reference!) and Johnny Klippstein would hold the Mets to 3 hits over 9 innings (allowing 2 runs and 3 BBs). The Mets would go 11 innings over the DH before getting their first hit with 2 outs in the 3rd.
Hopefully, somewhere out there exists more footage of this game. If you had to ask me which games (known to have parts exist) from the 1960's I would wish to have a full broadcast of, this is one of them.
A truly Happy Father's Day for Senator Bunning.
Clips provided by "Unhittable" DVD.
Friday, February 29, 2008
1985 Cardinals
I know I haven't updated in awhile but there is some stuff coming. It's a little hard to hunt down content but I'm pushing forward.
Anyways, on a personal note, I wanted to use this posting to make an open call to anyone with copies of 1985 St. Louis Cardinals games. In my collection, I currently have:
I'm mostly interested in Regular Season games. Please, don't hesitate to contact me if you have any games from that season other than of these.
Update 2014: Having done some further research, here are some games that were scheduled to be broadcast. The ones crossed out I already have.
21-May Atlanta vs. St. Louis
23-Aug St. Louis vs. Atlanta
25-Aug St. Louis vs. Atlanta
14-Jun St. Louis vs Chicago Cubs
21-Jun Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
23-Jun Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
13-Sep St. Louis vs. Chicago Cubs
14-Sep St. Louis vs. Chicago Cubs
CBC - English (Expos)
Anyways, on a personal note, I wanted to use this posting to make an open call to anyone with copies of 1985 St. Louis Cardinals games. In my collection, I currently have:
09-April St. Louis vs New York
21-May Atlanta vs. St. Louis
1-Jun Cincinnati vs. St. Louis
21-Jun Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
23-Jun Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
23-Jun Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
6-Jul Los Angeles vs. St. Louis
9-Aug St. Louis vs. Philadelphia
23-Aug St. Louis vs. Atlanta
25-Aug St. Louis vs. Atlanta
12-Sep St. Louis vs New York
13-Sep St. Louis vs. Chicago
13-Sep St. Louis vs. Chicago
14-Sep St. Louis vs. Chicago
21-Sep Montreal vs. St. Louis
28-Sep St. Louis vs. Montreal
01-Oct New York Mets vs. St. Louis
02-Oct New York Mets vs. St. Louis
05-Oct Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
06-Oct Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
01-Oct New York Mets vs. St. Louis
02-Oct New York Mets vs. St. Louis
05-Oct Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
06-Oct Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
I'm mostly interested in Regular Season games. Please, don't hesitate to contact me if you have any games from that season other than of these.
Update 2014: Having done some further research, here are some games that were scheduled to be broadcast. The ones crossed out I already have.
WTBS (Braves)
20-May Atlanta vs. St. Louis
22-May Atlanta vs. St. Louis
28-May St. Louis vs Atlanta
29-May St. Louis vs Atlanta
30-May St. Louis vs Atlanta
24-Aug St. Louis vs. Atlanta
6-Sep Atlanta vs. St. Louis
7-Sep Atlanta vs. St. Louis
8-Sep Atlanta vs. St. Louis
WGN-TV (Cubs)
16-Jun St. Louis vs Chicago Cubs
22-Jun Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
15-Sep St. Louis vs. Chicago Cubs
04-Oct Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
06-Oct Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
04-Oct Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis
CBC - English (Expos)
28-Apr St. Louis vs. Montreal
18-Aug Montreal vs. St. Louis
21-Sep Montreal vs. St. Louis
28-Sep St. Louis vs. Montreal
KTXH-20 (Astros)
3-Jun Houston vs. St. Louis
4-Jun Houston vs. St. Louis
5-Jun Houston vs. St. Louis
30-Aug Houston vs. St. Louis
31-Aug Houston vs. St. Louis
1-Sep Houston vs. St. Louis
Home Sports Ent (Astros)
17-May St. Louis vs Houston
18-May St. Louis vs Houston
19-May St. Louis vs Houston
20-Aug St. Louis vs Houston
21-Aug St. Louis vs Houston
22-Aug St. Louis vs Houston
18-Aug Montreal vs. St. Louis
KTXH-20 (Astros)
3-Jun Houston vs. St. Louis
4-Jun Houston vs. St. Louis
5-Jun Houston vs. St. Louis
30-Aug Houston vs. St. Louis
31-Aug Houston vs. St. Louis
1-Sep Houston vs. St. Louis
Home Sports Ent (Astros)
17-May St. Louis vs Houston
18-May St. Louis vs Houston
19-May St. Louis vs Houston
20-Aug St. Louis vs Houston
21-Aug St. Louis vs Houston
22-Aug St. Louis vs Houston
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Rick Wise = Babe Ruth
There was a day in which Rick Wise beat the Cincinatti Reds by himself. Sure, he had some fly catchers parading in the outfield and some speedbumps in the infield to catch the ball but Rick Wise could have taken the mound June 23, 1971 with a bounce-back screen behind homeplate and 6 well trained golden retrievers and handed the Big Red Machine the loss.
For on this day, Rick Wise would throw up this line from the mound:
While seemingly a special moment for the Philadelphia Phillies organization and Mr. Wise himself, it was the 175 No-Hitter in baseball history up until that point.
What set this day apart from most of the others was what Wise did at the plate:
Above we see Wise smacking his 2nd homerun, this one off of Clay Carroll. Thanks to retrosheets again, we know that this happened in the Top of the 8th inning.
Next, as the legendary baritone voice of Harry Kalas tells us (why do I suddenly feel like eating soup?) , Wise retires Tommy Helms with a groundball to the shortstop...which was the 3rd out of the 8th inning.
There is nothing shown that would indicate the Top of the 9th inning was recorded but it would seem rather odd for someone to stop the recording while the Phillies were batting.
Finally, Pete Rose lines out to the Golden Retriev...er, John Vukovich at 3rd base for the 27th out of Rick Wise's remarkable day. The dogpile (pun intended) that ensued with Phillies players was all captured in this recording as well.
Like most no-hitters during this time period, being a regular season game...it would have taken either sheer luck that someone was recording the game that night or foresight by the Phillies, Reds or the station manager to keep a copy of this recording on file.
We have no idea if any of these things happened. What we do know is that MLB has in their possession at the very least the final 6 outs (both Home and Away) of one of the most remarkable games a pitcher has ever had. We also know that there was an actual television broadcast of this game recorded and aired by the Philadelphia Phillies.
As for what else exists? Ask MLB.
For on this day, Rick Wise would throw up this line from the mound:
| Name | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR |
| R Wise | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
While seemingly a special moment for the Philadelphia Phillies organization and Mr. Wise himself, it was the 175 No-Hitter in baseball history up until that point.
What set this day apart from most of the others was what Wise did at the plate:
| Name | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | DETAILS |
| R Wise | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2HRs |
Wise took his Wonderboy with him to the plate that day, taking both Ross Grimsley and Clay Carroll deep.
Between 1960 and 1976, roughly 54 no-hitters were thrown in Major League Baseball. I'm not really going to get into the other no-hitters that video still exists of however, generally speaking, only small snippets of the ends of the games still remain. What would generally happen is someone would begin to realize that a no-hitter was being thrown and whether it was a station manager, fan with a kinescope at home or maybe someone with the team would begin to record the final 12 or so of the 27 outs.
If lucky, today we can find maybe the last two innings of the game have been preserved.
That is what appears to be the case with Mr. Wise's special day.
Thanks to the video footage found on the MLB Productions DVD Unhittable, we are shown clips of (using detective work again) the final 2 innings. Placing the clips in chronological order:
Above we see Wise smacking his 2nd homerun, this one off of Clay Carroll. Thanks to retrosheets again, we know that this happened in the Top of the 8th inning.
Next, as the legendary baritone voice of Harry Kalas tells us (why do I suddenly feel like eating soup?) , Wise retires Tommy Helms with a groundball to the shortstop...which was the 3rd out of the 8th inning.
There is nothing shown that would indicate the Top of the 9th inning was recorded but it would seem rather odd for someone to stop the recording while the Phillies were batting.
Finally, Pete Rose lines out to the Golden Retriev...er, John Vukovich at 3rd base for the 27th out of Rick Wise's remarkable day. The dogpile (pun intended) that ensued with Phillies players was all captured in this recording as well.
Like most no-hitters during this time period, being a regular season game...it would have taken either sheer luck that someone was recording the game that night or foresight by the Phillies, Reds or the station manager to keep a copy of this recording on file.
We have no idea if any of these things happened. What we do know is that MLB has in their possession at the very least the final 6 outs (both Home and Away) of one of the most remarkable games a pitcher has ever had. We also know that there was an actual television broadcast of this game recorded and aired by the Philadelphia Phillies.
As for what else exists? Ask MLB.
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