Mickey Mantle made his Major League debut on 17 April 1951 as the Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox. Mantle, aged nineteen, batted third in the lineup, in between Phil Rizzuto and Joe DiMaggio, and played right field. He went 1-for-4, including an RBI and a run scored.
Photo source: New York Times Store
Yesterday was Jackie Robinson Day, the sixty-sixth anniversary of Robinson’s Major League debut. To celebrate and recognize Robinson’s impact on baseball and on the nation as a whole, his number 42 was worn on jerseys throughout baseball, a number that had been retired throughout the MLB in 1997 by Commissioner Bud Selig.
With the release of the movie “42” this past weekend, Jackie Robinson Day has received a significantly greater amount of attention this year. At Dodger Stadium yesterday, Harrison Ford, who played Branch Rickey in “42,” threw out the ceremonial first pitch. (For those who don’t know, Branch Rickey was the general manager that provided Robinson with the opportunity to join the Dodgers in the 1940s.) Former Brooklyn Dodgers ball boy, Norman Berman, threw out the ceremonial first pitch in Miami.
The movie itself proved to be a hit at the box office. Drawing in over $27 million over the weekend, “42” has possibly established itself as the most successful baseball movie ever. This proved to be the most successful opening weekend for a baseball movie ever, and it was definitely the most successful movie overall for the weekend. The timing of the movie’s release no doubt aided its success, with the start of baseball season still fresh in the minds of fans and, of course, yesterday being Robinson’s holiday. Predictions have been floating around that the flick could wind up making around $100 million.
I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to watch the film this weekend with my dad, and I highly recommend it. If you like baseball, history, civil rights, sports in general, or even business, this movie is worth watching. If all you want is an entertaining drama, this movie does that too. Virtually everybody can derive some kind of enjoyment from this movie. It is being applauded for its accuracy in the retelling of Jackie Robinson’s early experiences. It’s not perfect, of course, but no historical film ever is. We get introduced to Chadwick Boseman, who plays a compelling Jackie Robinson, and we also get the pleasure of seeing Han Solo/Indiana Jones star as the man who made it all happen.
But don’t take my word for it. Go see the movie for yourself! You won’t be disappointed. And if you missed out on the opportunity to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day yesterday, you can still have your chance today, as those Major League Baseball teams that did not play yesterday will be sporting the number 42 today.
Do you realize that even as we sit here, we are hurtling through space at a tremendous rate of speed? Think about it. Our world is just a hanging curveball.
~Bill “Spaceman” Lee
With “42” now playing in theaters, Jackie Robinson is a pretty big topic in baseball these days. Why not celebrate with a song?
The Sandlot introduces us to Scotty Smalls, the nerdy new kid in town who manages to befriend the local sandlot baseball team. He meets Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez, the town baseball star, who not only teaches Smalls the fundamentals of the game, but also secures his own status as the neighborhood legend as he helps Smalls out of the biggest pickle of his life.
It is a movie that continues to hold a special place in my memory, as well as in pop culture today. Who among us has not heard the phrase “You’re killing me, Smalls” in the last year? And even though I am speaking from a girl’s perspective, I’m pretty sure that even the guys in my class had unvoiced crushes on Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez.
Then, of course, you’ve got James Earl Jones playing Mr. Mertle. Even though he only made a small appearance at the end of the film, there’s no denying that the movie simply would not be the same without him in this role. “I take it back. You’re not in trouble. You’re dead where you stand,” Mr. Mertle announced to Smalls, upon learning that the baseball, now chewed up by the Beast, was signed by one George Herman Ruth. He delivered the line perfectly, and the look on Smalls’ face was priceless.
So we’ve got baseball, a kid legend, a giant, killer dog, Babe Ruth, and James Earl Jones. What’s not to love about this movie? Here’s to you, Sandlot. Your legacy will, no doubt, continue to be celebrated for another twenty years… and beyond!
——————————————–
Sources:
King, Matt. “The Sandlot 20th Anniversary: 20 Reasons It Was the Greatest Movie Ever Made.” Bleacher Report. Bleacher Report, Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., 5 April 2013. Web. Accessed 11 April 2013. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1435469-the-sandlot-20th-anniversary-20-reasons-it-was-the-greatest-movie-ever-made/
“The Sandlot.” The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). IMDb.com, Inc., 1990-2013. Web. Accessed 11 April 2013. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108037/
“Top 5 James Earl Jones Roles.” Everything Action. EverythingAction.com, 17 September 2011. Web. Accessed 11 April 2013. http://www.everythingaction.com/2011/09/17/top-5-james-earl-jones-roles/
It’s a beautifully designed game. Timeless, but always changing. It’s a game in which the defense always has the ball; and a game in which every player is measured by the ghosts of all who have gone before.
For more than 150 years, baseball has been a mirror of the complicated country that gave it birth.
From California to the New York islands, through good times and bad, through wars, depressions, and civil strife, it has entertained us, it has inspired us, and sometimes, it has even transformed us.
We pass it down from mothers to sons, fathers to daughters, as every generation invests itself in the sweet hope of springtime and endures the painful realities of fall.
Its essential dimensions never change, yet nothing ever happens the same way twice. It is a game in which the person scores, not the ball; where the objective, always, is to come home.
Home, where no asks where you come from or who you voted for.
Home, where all season long, we congregate to cheer and plead, laugh and cry in the magnificent cathedrals of our game – the places, the poet Donald Hall says, “where memory gathers.”
Home, where every October, baseball’s greatest stars do battle.
Nothing in our daily life offers more of the comfort of continuity, the powerful sense of belonging, and the freedom from time’s constraints than does our National Pastime.
It is the place we always come back to – home.
~Ken Burns
On 9 April 2000 in Kansas City, the Twins and Royals made baseball history as both teams each hit three consecutive home runs in the same game. For the Twins, consecutive homers were hit by Ron Coomer, Jacque Jones, and Matt Lecroy. Achieving the feat for the Royals were Carlos Beltran, Jermaine Dye, and Mike Sweeney. The game ended in a 13-7 victory for Minnesota. Box scores for the game can be found here.
The hardest thing to do in baseball is to hit a round baseball with a round bat, squarely.
~Ted Williams
On 6 April 1973, Opening Day at Three Rivers Stadium, the Pittsburgh Pirates posthumously retired Roberto Clemente’s jersey number 21. Clemente died in a plane crash on 31 December 1972, on his way to Managua, Nicaragua to bring aid and supplies to earthquake survivors. As the first Latin American to be elected into the Hall of Fame, Clemente was also only the second player in history for which the five-year waiting period had been waived, following Lou Gehrig.
During his career, Clemente won four batting titles and won twelve consecutive Gold Glove awards. He was a twelve-time All Star and helped the Pirates win two World Series. On 30 September 1972, Clemente also accumulated his 3,000th hit, becoming the eleventh player in history to do so:
Here’s an amusing clip from Conan O’Brien and his experience with early baseball. Enjoy!
