1966

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

"A Look at The Sox"

(With Jack Brickhouse)

Two vintage WGN TV shows, "A Look at The Sox" and "Fifty Years of Baseball Memories", are now available on a new 52-minute DVD from Rare Sportsfilms, Inc! Both are narrated by Jack Brickhouse as aired on WGN Channel 9 in Chicago just before the '66 baseball season opened.

"A Look at The Sox" is a pre-season rundown on the team in spring training at Sarasota, Florida with new manager Eddie Stanky. Stanky comments on many players shown: Gary Peters, Bobby Locker, John Romano's weight problem, young Tommie Agee (hand is fully healed), Ken Berry, Bill Voss, Ron Hansen and Al Weis (will he switch-hit?) Other players shown include Bruce Howard, Greg Bollo and coach Ray Berres. Next come Brickhouse interviews with Eddie Fisher (what was he proudest of last year?), Bill Skowron (how is this camp different for you than those under Stengel and Alston?), Don Buford (what about all the running?) Pete Ward (can you bounce back after .247 last year?) Ken Berry (playing the outfield at Comiskey), Smoky Burgess (how good is the club's catching?) Then, listen in as former manager Al Lopez rates the top A.L. clubs and tells Stanky which he thinks will be the toughest to beat in '66. Finally, a prediction from club owner Arthur Allyn as to where the club will finish and a word from General Manager Ed Short.

Also included on this DVD is the film "50 Years of Baseball Memories", presented by Coca-Cola and produced by Major League Baseball. Brickhouse again does the narration and the film begins by showing presidents Hoover, FDR, Eisenhower, Kennedy and LBJ throwing out the first ball to open the baseball season. You'll see and hear the voices of Connie Mack, Clark Griffith and Judge Landis from years ago. The film then shows the greatest players of the past and their records are discussed: Cy Young in action on Old Timers Day, Walter Johnson, Ed Walsh, Honus Wagner, Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb at the first Hall of Fame inductions as well as the end of Babe Ruth's speech that same day. A special section shows more Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, plus George Sisler, Rogers Hornsby, Mel Ott, Paul Waner, Hack Wilson, Jimmy Foxx and Hank Greenberg. All-time best catchers were Bill Dickey, Mickey Cochran and Gabby Hartnett. There's a special section on the All-Star Game and action from big moments in 1933, '34, '41, '55 and '56. 300-game winners Lefty Grove, Warren Spahn and Early Wynn are shown, then Eddie Collins, Charlie Gehringer, Frank Frisch, Pie Traynor and Pepper Martin. There's a segment on Bob Feller, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Stan Musial. The film also discusses Carl Hubbell, Johnny Vander Meer, Dizzy Dean and the influx of the great black players, beginning with Jackie Robinson and continuing with Larry Doby, Roy Campanella, Ernie Banks, Frank Robinson, Elston Howard, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. There's also a World Series segment in which several famous feats are shown: Gionfriddo's catch, Mays' catch in 1954, Brooklyn winning it all in '55, Larsen's perfect game, and Bill Mazeroski's homer. The most famous home run of all time by Bobby Thomson in 1951 is included and the film ends with more recent record breakers, such as Roger Maris hitting 61 home runs, Maury Wills stealing bases #103 and 104 in '62, Mantle's game #3 winning homer in the 1964 World Series, Sandy Koufax's record 382 K's in 1965 and 4th no-hitter. The film ends by mentioning the three consecutive record crowds of over 90,000 in the 1959 World Series at Los Angeles.

To get both of these nostalgic films now on one DVD, send $29.95 + $4.00 S & H to:
(Illinois residents must add $2.25 State Sales Tax)