I recently received a youtube video link in an email from a friend. It was a rare video of a 1952 telecast of the final game of the 1952 World Series. Along with a small group of others on the receiving end of this clip, I began to share comments and realizations about this 70-plus-year-old game.
It reminded me of a graduate course in media and history that I took some years ago. In that's we spent a fair amount of time looking at old film footage, most of it rare stuff that had been recently uncovered. I recall one clip that followed a trolly car on its route in downtown San Francisco shortly after the 1906 earthquake. Aside from evidence of the quake, we paid particular attention to the transportation facilities, the clothing, worn, and any other glimpse of a social mores or behavior that might be present. Most notable that day was how people dashed in and out of horsedrawn vehicles without a care in the world.
Watching this old World Series game was similar. Game 7 in 1952 took place in Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. The Yankees were going for their 4th consecutive title and all they had to do was beat the Dodgers this last time. Ebbets Field had those wonderful ads on the outfield wall and an intimacy that is seldom found in the big baseball palaces today. The telecast was sponsored by the Gillette Razor Company (who else) and featured the legendary broadcasters Red Barber and Mel Allen.
I'm not sure how many Americans had a TV set in 1952, but I do know that it was definitely a minority of the baseball enthusiasts in the country. They would have to wait until the newsreel hit their local movie theater one or two weeks later to actually see the game. Radios were on that day all over the country.
So what did this little gem of a video yield? Here are the highlights. In 1952 people dressed up to go to the ballpark. At least to the World Series. In pan shots of the crowd, the men wore suits and ties. They and the women in the crowd smoked...constantly. There was no instant reply so if you missed some of the action, you had to wait until the film was developed to see a dramatic play like the catch Billy Martin made.
You saw Yogi Berra, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Billy Martin, and of course the antics of HoF manager Casey Stengel. In one inning both Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella beat out bunt singles. Jackie yes, but Campanella...who knew?
These players were working-class guys, I was reminded by another observer. The strength of Johnny Mize or Gil Hodges was the kind developed from lifting heavy boxes or doing the work of tradesmen. No steroid sculpted bodies in 1952. The uniforms were baggy, if not drab. Baseball was mostly in black and white back then. Most kids never saw the color of their favorite team's uniforms until they got a baseball card or a Sports Illustrated magazine.
The telecast like most everything else then was primitive. But the pace of the game was much faster. The pitchers threw a pitch, caught the ball from the catcher, and threw another pitch. Rarely did they remove their cap, wipe their forehead, or walk around the mound for a while.
There is one other thing that was visible in that telecast that would probably be just as notable today. The intensity with which Jackie Robinson played the game is very much on display. He was a threat to steal on any base. Any base...especially third base.
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