“The Beaning”: Horror Short Documentary
Posted: June 10, 2019 Filed under: 20th Century, Pop culture | Tags: ALTER, Baseball, Carl Mays, documentaries, horror, New York Yankees, Ray Chapman, sports, videos 4 CommentsOver the weekend, I watched the latest movie iteration of It, and it prompted my curiosity to do a search of the phrase “baseball horror.” I didn’t actually expect to find much, but much to my surprise, I found this little documentary (if you can call it that) that ALTER released earlier this year.
To be honest, I cannot say that I’m a particularly big fan of this short little spoof, though it does put forth a weirdly interesting theory. The video proposes that the death of Ray Chapman as a result of being beaned in the head by Carl Mays was actually a form of occult human sacrifice. The payoff of the sacrifice? The rise of the New York Yankees as a baseball empire.
While I do agree with the video’s assertion that baseball can be a form of religion for some folks, the whole occult/human sacrifice bit seems a bit far-fetched to me. But, here, you can judge for yourself.
James Corden’s Ideas to Make Baseball Fun Again
Posted: November 11, 2018 Filed under: 21st Century, Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, basketball, Bryce Harper, Chris Christie, Donald Trump, humor, James Corden, Major League Baseball, MLB, National Football League, NCAA, politics, sports, The Late Late Show, videos, Villanova Leave a commentThis clip is from April 2016 from The Late Late Show with James Corden. The first half of the clip is sports-related, but not actually baseball-specific, so if you want to go straight to the baseball humor, skip to about the 2-minute mark.
This comedic bit was in response to Bryce Harper’s “Make Baseball Fun Again” cap from a couple years ago. As you would expect from late-night television, some of the jokes are a bit off-color, but he does throw in some pretty good political jabs.
Last play from every World Series 1980-2016
Posted: October 3, 2018 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, history, Major League Baseball, MLB, sports, videos, World Series 2 CommentsIn honor of postseason baseball, here is a video compilation showing the last play of every World Series from 1980 until the making of the video in 2016. Many of these ended with some pretty routine plays, but there are also some peppered in there that ended in rather exciting fashion.
It’s also amazing to think that in my lifetime, we have seen the two biggest World Series curses in baseball get broken.
Happy Star Wars Day!
Posted: May 4, 2018 Filed under: 21st Century, Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, Darth Vader, Japan Pacific League, sports, Star Wars, Star Wars Day, videos 2 CommentsHere’s an ad from 2013 for the Japan Pacific League that calls upon the Force that is the Star Wars universe. Do you think it counts as cheating if Vader uses the Force when he’s at the plate?
May the Force be with us all, both on and off the field!
Anime baseball
Posted: April 29, 2018 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: anime, Baseball, Corridor Digital, humor, sports, videos Leave a commentThis short film by Corridor Digital takes our National Pastime a represents it with an Anime twist. The driving idea behind this video (and, it appears, a few others that they’ve done) is: What happens when you take something normal and turn it into anime?
As a heads up, the plot, the dialogue, and the internal monologues throughout this clip are extremely cheesy, but then again, that’s half the fun. I’m generally pretty indifferent to anime, but I must confess, I found this little spiel quite entertaining.
Jackie Robinson, football player
Posted: April 15, 2018 Filed under: 20th Century | Tags: Baseball, basketball, Football, Honolulu Bears, Jackie Robinson, Jackie Robinson Day, Kansas City Monarchs, Los Angeles Bulldogs, Major League Baseball, MLB, Montreal Royals, Negro Leagues, Samuel Houston College, sports, Track, UCLA, UCLA Bruins, videos, World War II 3 CommentsBefore Jackie Robinson made his mark by breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier, he was a four-sport star at UCLA, playing baseball, football, basketball, and running track. He remains the only four-letter athlete in the school’s history. In his final year playing football for the school, Robinson led the Bruins in rushing (383 yards), passing (444 yards), total offense (827 yards), scoring (36 points), and punt return average (21 yards). You can see a bit of footage from Robinson’s football days at UCLA here:
Robinson even went on to play a bit of semi-pro football. In September 1941, he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he played football for the semi-professional Honolulu Bears for $100 a game. His career with the Bears was cut short, however, when Robinson was drafted into the Army during World War II.
After World War II, Robinson briefly returned to football with the Los Angeles Bulldogs. He then was offered a job as athletic director at Samuel Houston College in Austin, and as part of that role, he coached the basketball team for the 1944-1945 season.
It was in early 1945 that the Kansas City Monarchs offered Jackie a place on their team in the Negro Leagues. Robinson then signed with the minor league Montreal Royals following the 1945 season.
The rest, as we know, is history.
biography.com
Happy Jackie Robinson Day!
Airplane Dad: Part 1 (A Cyanide & Happiness short)
Posted: January 7, 2018 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, comics, Cyanide & Happiness, humor, Little League, sports, videos 1 CommentNow and then, I find my entertainment through the web comic Cyanide & Happiness. As a general rule, the comic can be a bit crude, crass, and definitely not for children, so if that’s not your cup of tea, I wouldn’t recommend exploring the comic any further beyond this post.
The last short the comic put out, however, is actually quite warm and sweet, so I have no issues sharing it here. Absent dads can be hard on kids, but this Little Leaguer’s father finds a creative way to still play a role in his son’s baseball career.
