- This magnificent DVD Collection elegantly displays the iconic moments, thrilling heroics, triumphant favorites, and breathtaking upsets across seven decades of World Series Films, plus a narrative and pictorial essay on the Fall Classic since its origin in 1903.This beautifully-packaged, digitally-preserved celebration of the Fall Classic is a timeless treasure that will become the ultimate center.
Product Description
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This magnificent DVD Collection elegantly displays the iconic
moments, thrilling heroics, triumphant favorites, and
breathtaking upsets across seven decades of World Series Films,
plus a narrative and pictorial essay on the Fall Classic since
its origin in 1903.
This beautifully-packaged, digitally-preserved celebration of the
Fall Classic is a timeless treasure that will become the ultimate
centerpiece of any baseball fan's DVD library. Records and
seasons change with time, but the legends and lore of the World
Series on DVD will last forever.
Fall Classic film highlights showcase extraordinary players
including: Stan Musial, Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Willie
Mays, Henry Aaron, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Brooks Robinson, Tom
Seaver, Johnny Bench, Willie Stargell, Derek Jeter, Albert
Pujols, and many more. The drama and unforgettable images of
baseball are the World Series moments etched in our minds and
celebrated from generation to generation. These dynamic events
are preserved and commemorated in this one-of-a-kind collection.
DVD FEATURES: 58-Page World Series Pictorial and Retrospective
with Foreword by Bob Costas
*DISC 1: 1943 Yankees, 1944 Cardinals, 1945 Tigers, 1946
Cardinals, 1947 Yankees, 1948 Indians (approx 182 min)
*DISC 2 1949-53 Yankees (approx 167 min)
*DISC 3 1954 Giants, 1955 Dodgers, 1956 Yankees (approx 115 min)
*DISC 4 1957 Braves, 1958 Yankees, 1959 Dodgers, 1960 Pirates,
1961 Yankees (approx 182 min)
*DISC 5 1962 Yankees, 1963 Dodgers, 1964 Cardinals (approx 100
min)
*DISC 6 1965 Dodgers, 1966 Orioles, 1967 Cardinals, 1968 Tigers
(approx 152 min)
*DISC 7 1969 Mets, 1970 Orioles, 1971 Pirates (approx 116 min)
*DISC 8 1972-74 A's, 1975-76 Reds (approx 170 min)
*DISC 9 1977-78 Yankees, 1979 Pirates, 1980 Phillies, 1981
Dodgers (approx 166 min)
*DISC 10 1982 Cardinals, 1983 Orioles, 1984 Tigers (approx 107
min)
*DISC 11 1985 Royals, 1986 Mets, 1987 Twins (approx 119 min)
*DISC 12 1988 Dodgers, 1989 A's, 1990 Reds (approx 177 min)
*DISC 13 1991 Twins, 1992 Blue Jays (approx 139 min)
*DISC 14 1993 Blue Jays, 1995 Braves (approx 132 min)
*DISC 15 1996 Yankees, 1997 Marlins (approx 143 min)
*DISC 16 1998-2000 Yankees (approx 186 min)
*DISC 17 2001 Diamondbacks, 2002 Angels (approx 145 min)
*DISC 18 2003 Marlins, 2004 Red Sox (approx 142 min)
*DISC 19 2005 White Sox, 2006 Cardinals (approx 152 min)
*DISC 20 2007 Red Sox, 2008 Phillies (approx 163 min)
(Click for larger image)
A Message from Jeff Scott, Senior Writer-- Major League Baseball
Productions, someone who has worked on the World Series MLB
Project for the last 20 years.
There was no shortage of storylines in the first World Series
film I wrote for Major League Baseball Productions. The year was
1988 and this fellow Orel Hershiser had just completed a regular
season in which he threw six consecutive scoreless games - topped
off by a 10 inning masterpiece that enabled him to set a new
record with 59 straight scoreless innings. He threw another eight
scoreless in the LCS against the Mets to extend his mark to 67
straight innings without allowing a run. Did I mention his save
in Game Four of the LCS - a shutout in Game Seven of that series
and still another in Game Two of the World Series against the A's
(he also went 3-3 with two doubles in that game)? Of course, what
most folks remember from that '88 Series was the home run a
hobbling (Hobbsing?) Kirk Gibson hit to win the opener and set
the stage for a Dodger championship. Whew, I thought. This script
writes itself. I soon discovered that it doesn't always work that
way - in fact, there have been many years when folks have said
that our official World Series Film was better than the real
thing.
But regardless of the drama or lack thereof, it's always baseball
-- and I have had the pleasure and honor to write the World
Series film for more than 20 years. A little background is in
order here. The first four decades of World Series films were
created as archival programs designed to capture the highlights
for ity. The narration was staccato and to the point - much
more play-by-play than storytelling. By the 1970s the film became
a blend of archive and entertainment - more story intensive - and
come the 1980s these films were offered to the public first on
VHS and later DVD. With this latest evolution came a drastic
change in production. What once took months to leisurely put
together now had to be turned around in less than two weeks to
accommodate the film's distributor. And that's how it's been
since I first became a part of the process. That first script I
wrote back in 1988 was banged out on an IBM Selectric Typewriter
(with automatic back space white out.) I would soon move on to a
Smith Corona Word Processer - the kind where you had to insert a
new piece of paper into the roll for each page you wanted to
print. It took close to 45 minutes to print out the 1991 classic
which described how John Smoltz and Jack Morris traded darts in
an unforgettable Game Seven. The 1993 series was the first one I
wrote that included my beloved Phillies. But after enduring the
traumatic Game Four and Joe Carter's blast three days later I can
assure you that film is still sitting on my shelf wrapped in its
original cellophane. Just because I wrote it doesn't mean I have
to watch it!
There was no World Series film in 1994 - perhaps the darkest
October in baseball history. I was still writing for Mel Allen on
"This Week in Baseball" that year, and the only time I ever saw
him cry was when he read that there would be no World Series that
year. The Yankees incredible run that began in 1996 electrified
New York City. And it all seemed ready to peak in 2001, for this
World Series was very much a part of the healing process after
9-11 - and the Yankees were following the script to a "T."
Miraculous back-to-back comebacks at Yankee Stadium had put the
Yankees on the brink of the title -- all they had to do was win
one more in the desert. But just when everything appeared to be
in place for a true Fall Classic classic, Luis Gonzalez hit a
little flair over shortstop off the best closer on the planet and
the unpredictable world of baseball had thrown us all another
curve.
The premiere of the 2004 World Series film in Boston was a
raucous delight - the audience was screaming and cheering every
moment on the big screen. This was also the year we shifted away
from classic voiceover talent (Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell, Curt
Chin, Len Cariou) and instead called upon actors who lived and
died with their teams. Denis Leary voiced that 2004 film and he
did a fantastic job. But the truth is, it was almost as much fun
listening to the stream of good-natured invective he unleashed in
the voiceover booth every time he messed up. Chicago native
Michael Clarke Duncan manned the mike the next year, followed by
St. Louis fan Billy Bob Thornton. Matt Damon was a pleasure to
work with when the Sox won again in 2007. How much he loves his
team became apparent halfway through the session when this
award-winning actor -- who has been in some of this generation's
top films -- sat back and said that this might have been the
coolest thing he'd ever done. And in 2008 - when I finally got to
write a World Series film that had a happy ending (at least for
me), Terrence Howard brought just the right tone to the script.
Beyond all these actors and narrators, I have been blessed to
work with many talented producers, editors, executive producers,
field crews, audio engineers, proofreaders and myriad assistants,
associates and coordinators who together form the basis of each
and every film. And nothing on a professional level makes me feel
better than when the show is finally recorded and mixed and they
get to see their hard work brought together by a solid script and
crisp narration. The World Series film is the gift we give to
baseball fans every year - and I'm just happy to be the one who
gets to tie the bow.
Jeff Scott
Senior Writer -- Major League Baseball Productions
.com
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The Official Major League Baseball World Series Film Collection
is an impressive 20-disc set that assembles all the official
World Series highlight films between 1943 and 2008's Philadelphia
Phillies victory. The films themselves--the earliest are black
and white and under a half-hour, the most recent well over an
hour-- are fascinating time s of the game, many
of its greatest players, greatest teams, and greatest moments:
the Yankees-Dodgers-Giants intracity rivalry, the St. Louis
Cardinals' " House Gang," Willie Mays' catch and Don Larsen's
perfect game, Bill Mazeroski's and Kirk Gibson's dramatic home
runs, the Mets' miracles, the Big Red Machine, and the Red Sox's
curse-breaker. They're packaged in an eye-catching book-sized
tome that collects facts and descriptions of the Fall Classic
starting in 1903, a list of all winners, a foreword by Bob
Costas, and two empty slots to house future films. It's a great
gift for any serious baseball fan. --David Horiuchi
