Baseball: Seventh Inning 'The Capital of Baseball' (1994)
**** (out of 4)
The seventh of the nine part series takes a look at baseball during 1950-59. The title itself refers to New York, which had three great teams playing at the start of the decade but by the time it was over they'd have just one. Others topics/players covered in this episode include Jackie Robinson being released from his original contract, Yogi Bera, The Miracle at Coogan's Bluff, Joe DiMaggio's retirement, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams returning to active duty, midget Eddie Gaedel drawing a walk, Don Larson's perfect game in the World Series and the legendary Willie Mays catch. Needless to say, fans of the game are really going to love this episode, which is just as great as the previous six. Considering the years covered, the majority of the footage shown is actual video of the games, which is great because we get to see so many of these terrific players. One of the best moments deals with Ted Williams finally retiring from the game and hitting a home run on his final at bat. Williams is also interviewed and talks about his 80/20 on tipping his hat to the fans of Boston. A large majority of the running time is devoted to the three New York teams who were pretty much in every World Series for a period of time. We take a look at the three teams as they hit several highs throughout the decade but of course there's the downfall of the Dodgers and Giants moving out West. Also covered is Mickey Mantle taking his place as a Yankees legend and we also get an interview with him. Bob Costas and Billy Crystal are also interviewed and share some great stories about their fathers taking them to Yankee Stadium.