1961 World Series: NBC Game Footage

Some nice NBC game footage, with Joe Garagiola and Mel Allen at the mic:



A terribly filmed home video of an MLB network show. Still interesting, with the quality of the show shining through...



Keep on Keepin' On! - TT

Johnny Vander Meer: He of the High Leg Kick

"Kids are always chasing rainbows, but baseball is a world where you can catch them." ~Johnny Vander Meer

Johnny Vander Meer's name came up again last week after both Francisco Liriano and Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers both pitched no-hitters in the same calendar week. He pitched consecutive no hit games on June 11 and June 15, 1938. I pasted newspaper accounts with all the interesting sportswriter vernacular from the period below.

For me, the leg kick is one of the great, artistic wonders of baseball.  Johnny Vander Meer is the ancestral forerunner to Sandy Koufax' windup and leg kick, long regarded as perhaps the most beautiful in baseball history. I also added Juan Marichal's fascinating delivery video. Each of the deliveries are classic, in their own way. Enjoy!

I liked this view of not only the outfield ads,

but of the Ebbets Field outfield stands as they 

looked in 1938.

Here's a link to a video of Mr. Double No-hit in action.  To view it, you will have to give permission for the Quick-Time plugin  to run. It's well worth the time!  You'll notice crowd reactions and cheering, the catcher ( 1986 Hall of Fame inductee Ernie Lombardi ) in a stand up position for receiving the ball, on a beautiful, sunny day.  Probably from the late 1930's.

Here's that recent newspaper feature on Vander Meer, reprinted from the original Cincinnati Enquirer story from June, 1938.

Clippings, St. Paul Pioneer Dispatch, May 10, 2011

Ronald Reagan, 1964