The Story Of America's Classic Ballparks

Actor Jeff Daniels hosts and narrates this superb homage to the last of America's classic baseball parks: Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Boston's Fenway Park, and Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park in Chicago (Comiskey has since been torn down). Constructed during the early years of the 20th century, these classic ballparks share in common some great memories and architectural differences which make them stand out from the modern cut-from-a-pattern ballparks. Using contemporary interviews with sportscasters, historians, and players (Studs Terkel, Ernie Banks, Ted Williams, Al Kaline, Tom Boswell, etc.), together with outstanding footage of the great ballplayers in action, the program maintains a brisk pace with its alternating action scenes and memorable anecdotes. Example: Eddie Forrester, Ty Cobb's bat boy, talks about how Cobb used to pour water in front of home plate to help him with his bunts and slides. It's a wonderful story. Too, these ballparks witnessed some of the not so wonderful stories, such as the 1919 World Series, in which members of the Chicago White Sox conspired to throw the series (the subject of John Sayles' superb 1988 feature film Eight Men Out). An excellent documentary which is sure to be muchos popular. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. [Note: the title during the opening credits is The Last Of America's Classic Ballparks.] (Available from most distributors.)