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♪ YOU AIN'T NOTHIN' BUT A HOUND DOG ♪ ♪ CRYIN' ALL THE TIME ♪ ♪ WELL, YOU AIN'T NEVER CAUGHT A RABBIT ♪ ♪ AND YOU AIN'T... ♪♪ FIRST GAME I WENT TO-- MAY 30, 1956, YANKEE STADIUM.

WE DROVE FROM LONG BEACH, LONG ISLAND, TO THE BRONX.

ALMOST TOOK TWO HOURS.

THAT WAS THE KIND OF CAR WE HAD.

AS WE CAME INTO THE BRONX, JEROME AVENUE, MY DAD SAID, "THERE IT IS."

I'D SEEN GAMES BEFORE, BUT ON TV.

THERE IT WAS.

IT, LIKE, ATE UP THE BRONX.

IT WAS THE BIGGEST THING I'D EVER SEEN.

IT HAD THAT GREAT ROOF, THAT GREEN COPPER ROOF.

THE BREEZE WAS JUST BLOWING ALL THOSE PENNANTS, GOING LIKE THAT, TELLING HOW THE WIND WAS BLOWING.

I HAD MY GLOVE AND EVERYTHING.

WE HAD LOUIS ARMSTRONG'S SEATS.

MY DAD WAS IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS, AND WE'D GOTTEN HIS SEATS.

I SAT BETWEEN THIRD BASE AND HOME PLATE, LIKE REAL CLOSE.

MY OLDER BROTHER JOEL HAD A BAD BACK.

SOMEBODY FROM THE YANKEES HAD ARRANGED TO TAKE US INTO THE CLUBHOUSE SO GUS MAUCH, THE YANKEE TRAINER, COULD WORK ON JOEL'S BACK.

I'M IN THE ALLEYWAY IN FRONT OF WHAT BECAME KNOWN AS PETE SHEEHY'S CLUBHOUSE, AND CASEY STENGEL COMES OUT.

"DOESN'T THIS HAPPEN TO EVERYBODY?"

I'M THINKING.

I LOOKED AT HIM AND WENT, "HI, CASEY."

HE GOES, "WANT TO PLAY?"

I SAID, "YEAH."

I THOUGHT YOU COULD.

"I'LL TAKE MANTLE AND THE KID."

I THOUGHT, "THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT."

POPCORN HERE!

WHO WANTS A POPCORN?

AND THEN WE GO OUT TO THE BALL PARK.

YOU CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT IT'S LIKE.

AND IT WAS THE GREEN-- THIS GRASS-- THAT JUST WENT ON FOREVER.

THE CLAY, THE INFIELD, THE INFIELD DIRT WAS SO BROWN, AND THE BASES WERE SO WHITE.

AND THE SCOREBOARD WITH ALL OF THAT NEWS-- BALLANTINE BEER AND WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN DETROIT.

IT WAS THE NEWS CENTER.

IT WAS GIGANTIC.

IT WAS 461 FEET TO THE CENTER-FIELD FENCE.

THEY HAD MONUMENTS.

I THOUGHT BABE RUTH WAS BURIED OUT THERE.

THEY WERE LIKE BIG TOMBSTONES.

[CROWD CHEERING] THERE WAS A GREAT RESPECT IN THAT BUILDING FOR THE PAST AND FOR THE GAME.

[THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER PLAYING] [NARRATOR] BETWEEN 1950 AND 1960, JOSEPH STALIN DIED, HO CHI MINH DROVE THE FRENCH FROM VIETNAM, AND IN CUBA, FIDEL CASTRO SEIZED POWER.

HE HAD ONCE BEEN REJECTED BY THE WASHINGTON SENATORS BECAUSE HE DID NOT HAVE A BIG-LEAGUE ARM.

IN AMERICA, ROSA PARKS REFUSED TO SIT IN THE BACK OF A BUS IN MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, AND A FORMER STREET HUSTLER, MALCOLM LITTLE, CHANGED HIS NAME TO MALCOLM X.

DURING THE ANTI-COMMUNIST HYSTERIA OF THE COLD WAR, THE CINCINNATI REDS, THE OLDEST PROFESSIONAL TEAM IN AMERICA, OFFICIALLY CHANGED ITS NAME TO THE RED LEGS.

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT AND HONUS WAGNER AND JOE JACKSON DIED.

GEORGE BRETT AND WADE BOGGS AND RICKEY HENDERSON WERE BORN.

IN THE 1950s, A NEW WAY OF WATCHING THE GAME WOULD DESTROY FOREVER THE NETWORK OF SMALL-TOWN TEAMS ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

FEWER AND FEWER FANS NOW FOLLOWED THE FORTUNES OF THE ABERDEEN PHEASANTS AND ROCKFORD PEACHES, MISSOULA TIMBERJACKS AND CATAHOULA DIRTMOVERS.

AMERICANS WERE ON THE MOVE, AND MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HALF A CENTURY, WOULD FINALLY MOVE, TOO.

THE NOW-DYING NEGRO LEAGUES SENT THEIR GREATEST PLAYERS TO THE MAJORS IN EVER-INCREASING NUMBERS, CHANGING THE GAME, GIVING BASEBALL ONE OF THE GREATEST DECADES ANYONE COULD EVER REMEMBER.

THERE WERE MANY GOOD TEAMS AND STARS, BUT NEW YORK CITY CAME TO DOMINATE THE GAME AS NEVER BEFORE.

IN NEW YORK, FANS WITNESSED THE MOST TALKED-ABOUT HOME RUN IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL.

IN NEW YORK, AN IMPROBABLE HERO PITCHED A PERFECT GAME IN THE WORLD SERIES.

AND IN NEW YORK, A YOUNG MAN WHOSE LEGS WERE SO BADLY INJURED THAT HE PLAYED IN CONSTANT PAIN WON THE TRIPLE CROWN.

IN BOSTON, THE LAST MAN TO HIT .400 ALMOST DID IT AGAIN 16 YEARS LATER, AND THEN LEFT THE GAME IN SPECTACULAR FASHION.

MEANWHILE, IN BROOKLYN, THE ABSOLUTELY UNTHINKABLE HAPPENED.

EIGHTH INNING.

GIANT PITCHER LARRY JANSEN THROWS.

PINCH HITTER CAL ABRAMS HITS A GROUNDER TO THIRD.

THOMSON'S THROW TO IRVIN IS WILD.

CAL STREAKS FOR SECOND.

IRVIN RACES AFTER THE BALL, SLINGS TO SECOND SACKER EDDIE STANKY.

HE'S OUT.

ROBINSON, INJURED MOST OF THE YEAR, IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE MUCH OF A FACTOR.

BUT SUDDENLY, HE'S ON THIRD BASE.

YANKEE PITCHER WHITEY FORD IGNORES HIM.

ROBINSON'S SPEED IS BUT A MEMORY, BUT HIS DESIRE BURNS AS FIERCELY AS EVER.

SUDDENLY, ROBINSON ROARS DOWN THE LINE.

YANKEE CATCHER YOGI BERRA ROARS IN PROTEST, BUT JACKIE ROBINSON HAS STOLEN HOME.

I LOVE THE GAME BECAUSE I GREW UP IN NEW YORK IN THE 1940s AND 1950s, WHICH WAS THE GREATEST INTERSECTION OF BASEBALL AND PLACE IN HISTORY.

WE HAD THREE MAJOR LEAGUE TEAMS, ALL GOOD OR GREAT.

BETWEEN 1947 AND 1956, A NEW YORK TEAM WAS IN THE WORLD SERIES EVERY YEAR, AND WON.

ROY CAMPANELLA COMES TO BAT IN THE FOURTH INNING AGAINST TOMMY BYRNE IN THIS SCORELESS STRUGGLE.

THE DODGER CATCHER LINES A HIT INTO LEFT FIELD.

CAMPANELLA IS GOING FOR TWO BASES AND MAKES IT EASILY.

[ROGER ANGELL] BASEBALL WAS ALMOST A PRIVATE POSSESSION OF NEW YORK CITY.

BROOKLYN LEADS, 1-0.

YOU'D WALK THROUGH THE CITY IN OCTOBER, AND THE SOUNDS OF BASEBALL WERE EVERYWHERE, FROM CAB RADIOS, TAVERNS.

DURING THE SEASON, YOU'D SEE A MAN COME OUT OF A TAVERN AND SAY, "CAMPY HIT ONE."

YOU WERE AWARE OF THE RIBBON OF BASEBALL AROUND YOU.

A CABDRIVER WOULD PULL UP-- THERE WOULD BE ANOTHER GUY IN A CAB ASLEEP, RADIO ON-- AND CALL OVER, "THEY SCORE YET?"

THEY'D SAY, "NAH."

NOW IT'S THE 10th INNING.

PITCHER BOB LEMON WORKS HARD ON WILLIE MAYS.

THIS TIME, THOUGH, HE WALKS YOU.

YOU WANT TO STEAL.

YOU ASK LEO FOR THE SIGN.

IT'S ON.

YOU'RE SAFE!

AND THAT DOES IT.

GAME FOUR, AND MORE HEROICS TO FAN DODGER HOPES FOR A WORLD SERIES VICTORY.

DUKE SNIDER, DODGER CENTER FIELDER, IS THE HERO.

SNIDER'S FIRST-INNING DOUBLE DROVE IN TWO RUNS, AND THE BROOKS WERE OFF AND RUNNING.

ANOTHER DOUBLE FOR SNIDER.

HAIL THE DUKE OF FLATBUSH.

WATCHING IT ON TV IN NEW YORK, WITH WILLIE, MICKEY, AND THE DUKE AND THE ARGUMENTS-- "WILLIE'S THE GREATEST.

HE CAN DO ANYTHING."

"YOU'RE NUTS.

THE DUKE IS A CLASSIC."

"YOU GUYS ARE NUTS.

"MICKEY HAS POWER FROM BOTH SIDES.

YOU SHOULD RECONSIDER."

AND THAT WAS IT.

ALL TIED UP IN THE EIGHTH.

MICKEY MANTLE FACING PREACHER ROE.

THE OKLAHOMA KID PARKED IT IN THE SEATS.

IT WAS 3-3, BUT YOU KNOW THE REST.

YANKS HAD BAUER ON SECOND, MARTIN UP IN THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH.

MARTIN SINGLED UP THE MIDDLE, HIS 12th HIT OF THE SERIES, MAKING HIM THE HERO OF HEROES.

BAUER SCORED.

THE YANKS WON THE GAME AND THE SERIES.

YES, SIR, THE BOMBERS DID IT AGAIN.

FIVE WORLD SERIES IN A ROW FOR CASEY STENGEL'S WHIZ-BANGS.

THEY MADE BASEBALL HISTORY.

WHAT A TEAM!

[NARRATOR] THE 1950s BELONGED TO THE NEW YORK YANKEES.

BETWEEN 1949 AND 1959, THEY WON NINE PENNANTS AND SEVEN WORLD SERIES.

THEY WON WITH OLD STARS, AND THEY WON WITH ROOKIES.

THEY WON WITH THE SUPERB PITCHING OF THE JUNKMAN EDDIE LOPAT, SUPERCHIEF ALLIE REYNOLDS, AND WHITEY FORD, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD.

THEY WON WITH THE CLUTCH HITTING, STEADY FIELDING, AND FIERY TEMPERAMENT OF BILLY MARTIN AND THE SPEEDY SHORTSTOP PHIL RIZZUTO, WHO WAS CALLED THE SCOOTER.

AND THEY WON WITH THE OL' PERFESSER, CASEY STENGEL.

[ROBERT CREAMER] STENGEL IS THE MOST INTERESTING MAN, EXCEPT FOR RUTH, WHO EVER APPEARED IN BASEBALL.

UNFORTUNATELY, HIS METHODS BECOME THAT OF THE CLOWN, THE MAN WHO TALKED STENGELESE DOUBLE-TALK.

HE KNEW MORE ABOUT THE GAME THAN ANYONE I EVER TALKED TO.

HE HAD TREMENDOUS BASIC INTELLIGENCE, NOT MUCH EDUCATION-- HE WENT TO DENTAL SCHOOL FOR A COUPLE YEARS.

HE WOULD HAVE BEEN A DENTIST IF HE HADN'T PLAYED BASEBALL.

HE HAD THIS INTUITIVE INTELLIGENCE.

HE WOULD LOOK AT THINGS AND SENSE THINGS.

WHEN HE TALKED, IF HE DIDN'T WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND, HE'D RAMBLE.

HE SOMETIMES PANICKED.

HE COULDN'T STAND DEAD AIR.

IF SOMEBODY ASKED HIM SOMETHING, HE'D SAY, "THAT FELLA, HE'S GOOD.

THAT FELLA IN LEFT FIELD, I COULD BRING HIM IN."

HE JUMBLED IT, BUT HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS SAYING.

SOMETIMES THE THINGS CAME OUT-- HE SAID, "THERE'S A TIME IN EVERY MAN'S LIFE, AND I'VE HAD PLENTY OF THEM."

AND THAT'S A MARVELOUS EXPRESSION.

[NARRATOR] HE HAD BEEN IN BASEBALL SINCE 1910 AND SEEMED TO RECALL EVERY PLAY OF EVERY GAME THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE SINCE.

AS A PLAYER, HE WAS BEST REMEMBERED FOR A GAME-WINNING INSIDE-THE-PARK HOME RUN IN THE 1923 SERIES.

AND FOR HIS INVETERATE CLOWNING.

ONCE, PLAYING BEFORE A RAUCOUS, BOOING CROWD, HE PUT A LIVE SPARROW UNDER HIS CAP, WALKED TO THE PLATE, LIFTED HIS CAP, AND GAVE HIS AUDIENCE THE BIRD.

LATER, AS A MANAGER, HE DEVELOPED WHAT HE THOUGHT WAS A FOOLPROOF WAY OF PROTESTING AN UMPIRE'S DECISION.

HE FAINTED.

HE MET HIS MATCH IN VETERAN UMPIRE BEANS REARDON.

"WHEN I PEEKED OUT OF ONE EYE AND SAW REARDON ON THE GROUND, TOO," CASEY REMEMBERED, "I KNEW I WAS LICKED."

AND HIS DISTINCTIVE WAY WITH LANGUAGE GAVE RISE TO A NEW WORD-- STENGELESE.

"ALL RIGHT," HE ONCE SAID, "EVERYBODY LINE UP ALPHABETICALLY ACCORDING TO YOUR HEIGHT."

"I MADE UP MY MIND, BUT I MADE IT UP BOTH WAYS."

"MOST PEOPLE MY AGE ARE DEAD AT THE PRESENT TIME."

LOPEZ, MANAGING THE INDIANS, WAS GOING TO USE JUST THREE PITCHERS DOWN THE HOME STRETCH.

STENGEL SAID, "I HEARD IT COULDN'T BE DONE, BUT IT DON'T ALWAYS WORK."

HE CAME ON THE BENCH ONE DAY.

THERE WAS A FELLOW NAMED BOB CERV--POWERFUL HITTER.

STENGEL CAME OUT, AND CERV WAS SITTING ABOUT 10 FEET AWAY.

STENGEL SAID TO HIM, "NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW THIS, BUT ONE OF US HAS BEEN TRADED TO KANSAS CITY."

HA HA HA!

THERE WENT CERV.

[NARRATOR] CASEY STENGEL HAD HAD ONLY ONE WINNING SEASON AS A BIG-LEAGUE MANAGER, AND WHEN HE TOOK OVER THE YANKEES IN 1949, FEW GAVE HIM MUCH OF A CHANCE.

IF STENGEL WAS WORRIED, HE KEPT IT HIDDEN.

"I'VE BEEN HIRED TO WIN," HE SAID, "AND I THINK I WILL.

"THERE IS LESS WRONG WITH THE YANKEES THAN WITH ANY CLUB I'VE EVER HAD."

TO MAKE GOOD ON HIS PROMISE TO WIN, STENGEL USED A SYSTEM HE HAD LEARNED WHILE PLAYING FOR JOHN McGRAW-- PLATOONING.

LEFT-HANDED HITTERS WOULD OFTEN BE BENCHED AGAINST LEFT-HANDED PITCHERS.

RIGHT-HANDED HITTERS WENT FOR WEEKS WITHOUT FACING A RIGHT-HANDED STARTER.

HE ALSO RELIED HEAVILY ON RELIEF PITCHING.

I TELL YOU WHAT CASEY HAD THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T TELL YOU ABOUT.

HE HAD THE KNACK OF TAKING THAT BALL OUT OF A PITCHER'S HAND-- THAT MEANS A WHITEY FORD, ANYBODY-- AND GIVING THAT BALL TO ANOTHER.

I TELL YOU, PITCHERS WILL TALK YOU OUT OF IT.

YOU GO TO TAKE THAT BALL, "SKIP, LET ME PITCH."

WHEN CASEY WALKED TO THE MOUND, YOU GONE.

[NARRATOR] IN 1949, THE YANKEES' CHIEF RIVALS FOR THE AMERICAN LEAGUE PENNANT WERE JOE McCARTHY'S RED SOX, WHOSE STARS INCLUDED TED WILLIAMS, SECOND BASEMAN BOBBY DOERR, AND JOE DiMAGGIO'S YOUNGER BROTHER-- CENTER FIELDER DOMINIC-- KNOWN AS THE LITTLE PROFESSOR.

STENGEL'S YANKEES STARTED STRONG THAT SEASON BUT FELL BACK AS AN ENDLESS STRING OF INJURIES KEPT SEVERAL STARS, INCLUDING JOE DiMAGGIO AND PHIL RIZZUTO, OUT OF ACTION FOR WEEKS AT A TIME.

THE YANKEES' 12-GAME LEAD DWINDLED AWAY, AND IN SEPTEMBER, BOSTON SURGED PAST NEW YORK WITH A THREE-GAME SWEEP.

NOW, WITH JUST TWO GAMES LEFT IN THE SEASON, THE RED SOX CAME TO THE BRONX.

THE YANKEES HAD TO WIN BOTH TO WIN THE PENNANT.

"IT'S UP TO US," STENGEL SAID, "TO SHOW IF WE'RE A GOOD BALL CLUB."

THEY WERE.

IN THE FIRST GAME, AN INJURED JOE DiMAGGIO SPARKED TWO RALLIES, AND THE YANKEES CAME FROM BEHIND TO WIN 5-4.

EVERYTHING DEPENDED ON THE FINAL GAME.

THE YANKEES LED BY FIVE IN THE NINTH INNING, BUT THEN BOSTON CAME BACK WITH THREE RUNS.

TWO OF THEM SCORED WHEN DiMAGGIO'S ACHING LEGS KEPT HIM FROM STOPPING A TRIPLE.

HE LIMPED FROM THE GAME.

WITH A MAN ON FIRST, BOSTON CATCHER BIRDIE TEBBETTS CAME TO THE PLATE REPRESENTING THE TYING RUN.

TOMMY HENRICH CALLED FOR IT.

CASEY STENGEL HAD HIS PENNANT.

"I WON ONE," HE TOLD AN OLD FRIEND.

"I WON ONE."

HE WOULD WIN A LOT MORE.

[DANIEL OKRENT] GROWING UP IN AN AMERICAN LEAGUE CITY IN THE 1950s, YOU BASICALLY HATED THE YANKEES.

CASEY'S JUGGERNAUT WON 9 PENNANTS IN 11 YEARS, FIVE WORLD SERIES IN A ROW.

THERE'S NEVER BEEN DOMINANCE LIKE IT IN BASEBALL HISTORY.

SOME PEOPLE CRITICIZED STENGEL, SAID HE WAS JUST A PUSH-BUTTON MANAGER, BUT HE KNEW WHICH BUTTONS TO PUSH.

IN ADDITION TO THE GREAT STARS, HE HAD AN ABILITY TO GET PLAYERS WHO WERE SEEMINGLY AT THEIR CAREER END-- JOHNNY HOPP, ENOS SLAUGHTER-- PLAYERS HE KNEW COULD PERFORM ONE PARTICULAR ROLE, WHO COULD FIT INTO THIS GRAND SCHEME THAT HE HAD, AND, GOD KNOWS, IT WORKED.

[CHILDREN SHOUTING] [DOG BARKING] [MARIO CUOMO] BASEBALL AND BASKETBALL WERE THE SPORTS OF THE STREETS AND THE LOTS IN THE OLD NEIGHBORHOODS.

WE PLAYED IN SOUTH JAMAICA, QUEENS, ON A FIELD HACKED OUT OF AN OLD PARKING LOT THAT HAD MOUNDS IN IT.

WE HAD TO BUILD THE BACKSTOP AND A MOUND.

WE HAD TO PUT DOWN THE LIME.

WE HAD A SAINT OF A MAN NAMED JOE AUSTIN, A NIGHT MANAGER IN A BREWERY, WHO WAS SINGLE, WHO HAD PLAYED SEMIPRO BALL, AND WHO WAS THE GODFATHER OF BASEBALL FOR THIS BLACK, ETHNIC COMMUNITY.

HE BUILT THE FIELD, THE PLAYERS HELPING HIM.

WE PLAYED ON WEEKENDS, HAD A VERY GOOD TEAM-- EVEN GOT UNIFORMS-- AND PASSED THE HAT AT DOUBLEHEADERS.

THE POOR PEOPLE PUT IN NICKELS AND, IF YOU WERE LUCKY, QUARTERS.

THAT'S WHERE I LEARNED THE GAME, AND IT WAS WONDERFUL.

[BOY] BEAUTIFUL!

FAIR BALL.

STAY THERE!

STAY THERE!

I GREW UP IN A LEFTIST FAMILY.

MY FATHER HAD ALWAYS LOVED THE YANKEES AND THE DODGERS AND TRADED THE TWO OFF AGAINST EACH OTHER.

FOR US, ROBINSON'S COMING INTO BASEBALL HAD IMMEDIATE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE, AS WELL AS THE FACT THAT HE WAS SUCH A GREAT BALLPLAYER.

I ALWAYS SAW IT AS A COMBINATION OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND DAMN GOOD BASEBALL.

♪ DID YOU SEE JACKIE ROBINSON HIT THAT BALL?

♪ ♪ DID HE HIT IT?

♪ [CRACK] YES!

♪ AND THAT AIN'T ALL ♪ ♪ HE STOLE HOME ♪ ♪ YES, YES, JACKIE'S REAL GONE ♪ ♪ DID YOU SEE JACKIE ROBINSON HIT THAT BALL?

♪ ♪ YES, YES, JACKIE HIT THAT BALL... ♪♪ [NARRATOR] IN 1949, DODGER PRESIDENT BRANCH RICKEY HAD RELEASED JACKIE ROBINSON FROM HIS THREE-YEAR PLEDGE TO TURN THE OTHER CHEEK IN THE FACE OF RACIST ABUSE FROM OTHER PLAYERS AND FANS.

"THEY'D BETTER BE PREPARED TO BE ROUGH," ROBINSON SAID AS THAT SEASON BEGAN, "BECAUSE I'M GOING TO BE ROUGH WITH THEM."

HE WAS, LASHING OUT AGAINST ANY PERCEIVED SLIGHT, ARGUING WITH UMPIRES, GETTING INVOLVED IN A SERIES OF DISPUTES WITH THE BASEBALL ESTABLISHMENT AND THE PRESS.

WHEN WHITE WRITERS TURNED ON HIM FOR HIS NEW-FOUND FIERCENESS, HE HAD A READY ANSWER-- "WHILE I APPEARED TO IGNORE INSULT AND INJURY, "I WAS A MARTYRED HERO TO MANY PEOPLE, "BUT THE MINUTE I BEGAN TO SOUND OFF, I BECAME A SWELL-HEAD WISE GUY, AN UPPITY NIGGER."

"I HAD TOO MUCH STORED INSIDE," HE LATER SAID.

ROBINSON HAD A LOT OF ANGER IN HIM, AND I DON'T THINK HE EVER WAS ABLE TO RELEASE HIS ANGER.

IT WOULD NEVER MAKE UP FOR WHAT HE HAD GONE THROUGH.

IT DIDN'T MATTER HOW MUCH HE MAY RANT AT A WHITE PLAYER OR UMPIRE.

THE ANGER AT WHAT HE WENT THROUGH NEVER DISSIPATED.

I THINK IT STAYED WITH HIM HIS WHOLE LIFE.

IT'S PART OF HIS PROFUNDITY AND HUMANITY AS A MAN, BUT ALSO HIS TRAGEDY, WHICH IN MANY WAYS SYMBOLIZED THE ANGER THAT MOST BLACK PEOPLE FEEL.

JACKIE ROBINSON WAS PROBABLY THE ONLY PLAYER, AND PERHAPS THE ONLY HUMAN BEING I KNOW OF, WHO WAS BETTER WHEN HE WAS ANGRY.

MOST OF US LOSE SOMETHING WHEN WE'RE ANGRY.

NOT JACKIE.

JACKIE EXCELLED WHEN ANGRY.

THERE WAS A LOT OF ANGER IN HIS EARLIER DAYS, WHICH WAS ONE REASON WHY HE DID SO WELL.

[NARRATOR] HE WON THE MVP IN 1949...

HERE COMES THE PITCH.

BUT THE YEARS TO COME WOULD BE HIS GREATEST.

AGAINST THE WALL.

GILLIAM SCORING.

BROOKLYN WINS!

FOR THE NEXT FIVE SEASONS, HE AVERAGED .323, MADE THE ALL-STAR TEAM EVERY YEAR... JACKIE ROBINSON IS BEING PUMMELED BY HIS TEAMMATES.

AND PROPELLED THE DODGERS TO THE TOP OF THE STANDINGS.

[BIRDIE TEBBETTS] I MET HIM ONE TIME IN A NEW YORK RESTAURANT.

HE WAS TALKING, LIKE, NORMAL, YOU KNOW.

JUST A NORMAL CONVERSATION.

I SAID, "IF THERE'S ONE THING YOU CAN TELL ME ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING, TELL ME."

HE SAID, "I NEVER PLAY A GAME WITHOUT MY MAN."

I LOOKED AT HIM-- "HE'S GETTING INTO STENGELESE."

I DIDN'T WANT TO ASK HIM WHO HIS MAN WAS, BUT WHEN HE LEFT AND I BEGAN TO THINK, HE NEVER PLAYED A BALL GAME WITHOUT YOGI BERRA PLAYING.

HE PUT HIM ON FIRST BASE.

HE PUT HIM IN THE OUTFIELD.

"I NEVER PLAYED A BALL GAME WITHOUT MY MAN."

I'LL NEVER FORGET THAT.

[NARRATOR] STENGEL'S MAN WAS LAWRENCE PETER BERRA, AN IMMIGRANT BRICKLAYER'S SON FROM THE DAGO HILL SECTION OF ST. LOUIS.

HE GOT HIS NICKNAME FROM HIS FRIENDS, WHO SAID HE JUST "WALKED LIKE A YOGI."

AFTER FLUNKING A HIGH-SCHOOL TEST, YOGI WAS ASKED BY HIS TEACHERS, "DON'T YOU KNOW ANYTHING?"

HE REPLIED, "I DON'T EVEN SUSPECT ANYTHING."

HE WAS CLUMSY WHEN HE JOINED THE YANKEES IN 1946.

"HE PLAYED LIKE THE BOTTOM MAN ON AN UNEMPLOYED ACROBATIC TEAM," ONE CRITIC SAID.

AND THERE WERE THOSE WHO THOUGHT HIM TOO ODD-LOOKING FOR NEW YORK'S ELITE TEAM.

ONE COACH CALLED HIM "THE APE."

BUT STENGEL SAW THE GREATNESS THAT WAS IN HIM AND BROUGHT BACK FORMER CATCHER BILL DICKEY TO TEACH HIM THE FINER POINTS OF PLAYING BEHIND THE PLATE, AND HE QUICKLY BECAME ONE OF THE BEST CATCHERS IN BASEBALL HISTORY.

BERRA ONCE WENT 148 STRAIGHT GAMES AND 950 CHANCES WITHOUT A SINGLE ERROR.

NO ONE COULD CALL A GAME LIKE YOGI BERRA.

HE WAS THREE TIMES THE AMERICAN LEAGUE'S MOST VALUABLE PLAYER, AND HE PLAYED IN AN INCREDIBLE 75 WORLD SERIES GAMES AND HIT A RECORD 71 TIMES DURING THE COURSE OF THEM.

[CREAMER] I ASKED CASEY THIS-- WHO WAS THE MOST NATURAL BALLPLAYER?

CASEY SAID, "WELL, WILLIAMS IS THE MOST NATURAL HITTER, BUT THAT GUY IS THE MOST NATURAL BALLPLAYER," POINTING TO BERRA.

I WAS ASTONISHED.

THIS AWKWARD MAN?

BUT I WATCHED HIM, AND BERRA DID EVERYTHING WELL.

HE WAS FAST-- GREAT BASE RUNNER.

HE ONCE MADE AN UNASSISTED DOUBLE PLAY AT HOME.

HE HAD GREAT INSTINCTS.

HE WAS AN EXTRAORDINARILY GRACEFUL ATHLETE, FOR ALL THAT AWKWARDNESS.

[NARRATOR] LIKE STENGEL, BERRA BECAME AS WELL-KNOWN FOR WHAT HE SAID OFF THE FIELD AS FOR WHAT HE DID ON IT.

"IF FANS DON'T WANT TO COME TO THE PARK, NOBODY'S GOING TO STOP THEM," HE ONCE SAID.

"90% OF HITTING IS MENTAL.

THE OTHER HALF IS PHYSICAL."

WHEN THE WIFE OF THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK SAID HE LOOKED VERY COOL IN HIS SUMMER SUIT, YOGI REPLIED, "THANKS.

YOU DON'T LOOK SO HOT YOURSELF."

ASKED WHAT HE WOULD DO IF HE FOUND A MILLION DOLLARS, HE SAID, "IF THE GUY WAS POOR, I'D GIVE IT BACK."

HE ALSO SAID, "IT AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER."

CRITICS QUESTIONED WHETHER HE REALLY SAID SOME OF HIS MOST CELEBRATED MAXIMS, BUT HE HAD AN ANSWER-- "I REALLY DIDN'T SAY HALF THE THINGS I'VE SAID."

I WANT TO JOIN THE RETIRED ACTORS BASEBALL TEAM.

I WANT TO KNOW THE GUYS' NAMES SO IF I MEET THEM, I CAN SAY HELLO.

THEY GIVE BASEBALL PLAYERS PECULIAR NAMES, LIKE STINKY FIELDS.

STINKY FIELDS.

GOOFY DAN.

BOOBY BARBER.

BOOBY BARBER.

I KNOW ALL THOSE.

HA HA!

ON OUR TEAM, WHO'S ON FIRST, WHAT'S ON SECOND, I DON'T KNOW'S ON THIRD-- THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO KNOW-- THE GUYS' NAMES.

WHO'S ON FIRST, WHAT'S ON SECOND, I DON'T KNOW'S ON THIRD.

ABBOTT, YOU THE MANAGER?

YES.

TELL ME THE GUYS' NAMES.

WHO'S ON FIRST, WHAT'S ON SECOND, I DON'T KNOW'S ON THIRD.

YOU AIN'T SAYIN' NOTHIN'.

TELL ME.

I'M TELLING HIM.

WHO'S ON FIRST, WHAT'S ON SECOND, I DON'T KNOW IS ON THIRD.

YOU KNOW THE GUYS' NAMES?

WHO'S ON FIRST?

YES.

I MEAN, THE GUY'S NAME.

WHO.

THE GUY ON FIRST.

WHO IS ON FIRST.

WHAT ARE YOU ASKING ME FOR?

I'M ASKING YOU WHO'S ON FIRST!

THAT'S HIS NAME.

TELL ME.

WHO.

THAT'S HIS NAME.

I AIN'T ASKED YOU NOTHIN'.

YOU DID.

TELL ME THE GUY'S NAME ON FIRST BASE.

WHO.

THE GUY PLAYING FIRST BASE.

WHO IS ON FIRST, LOU.

WHAT ARE YOU ASKING ME FOR?

I'M ASKING A SIMPLE QUESTION-- WHO'S ON FIRST?

HI, FOLKS.

THIS IS THE OLD REDHEAD, RED BARBER, SAYING HI, HELLO TO YOU.

[NARRATOR] FOR NEARLY 70 YEARS, THE BROOKLYN DODGERS AND THE NEW YORK GIANTS WERE PASSIONATE CROSSTOWN ARCH RIVALS IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE.

EACH YEAR, THEY PLAYED EACH OTHER 22 TIMES-- 11 GAMES AT EBBETS FIELD, 11 GAMES AT THE POLO GROUNDS.

IT COULDN'T BE A NICER AFTERNOON.

[NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER] AT NEW YORK'S POLO GROUNDS, THREATENING RAIN HOLDS OFF, AND THE DODGERS MEET THE GIANTS.

MONTE IRVIN TAGS IT INTO THE UPPER STANDS FOR A HOME RUN.

MUELLER SCORES.

SECOND INNING-- THE GIANTS' BOBBY THOMSON SLAPS A SINGLE TO LEFT.

[VIN SCULLY] THE DODGER-GIANT RIVALRY IN BROOKLYN WAS A VERY SERIOUS RIVALRY.

WHAT MADE IT SO RICH AND DEEP AND HARSH WERE THE FANS WORKED ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER ALL YEAR.

YOU MIGHT BE IN THE POSTAL SERVICE, SLOTTING MAIL.

AND ALL DAY LONG, ALL FALL, WINTER, SPRING, YOU'RE SLOTTING MAIL, AND THE FELLA NEXT TO YOU IS, TOO.

HE'S A GIANT FAN, YOU'RE A DODGER FAN, AND ALL WINTER, YOU'RE CHEWING ON EACH OTHER, AND NOW THE SEASON UNFOLDS.

[NARRATOR] IN 1951, THE BROOKLYN DODGERS SEEMED UNBEATABLE.

BY MID-AUGUST, THEY LED THE GIANTS BY 13 1/2 GAMES.

THE PENNANT SEEMED SAFELY THEIRS.

BUT THEY HAD NOT COUNTED ON THE FEROCITY OF LEO DUROCHER, ONCE THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE DODGERS, NOW THE GIANT MANAGER AND EAGER FOR REVENGE ON THE CLUB THAT HAD LET HIM GO.

HE HAD A STRONG TEAM-- THIRD BASEMAN BOBBY THOMSON, LEFT FIELDER MONTE IRVIN, TWO 23-GAME WINNERS-- SAL MAGLIE AND LARRY JANSEN-- AND A ROOKIE CENTER FIELDER NAMED WILLIE MAYS.

THE GIANTS SURGED AHEAD IN THE CLOSING WEEKS OF THE SEASON, WINNING 37 OF THEIR LAST 44 GAMES.

SPORTSWRITERS CALLED IT THE "MIRACLE AT COOGAN'S BLUFF."

BOSTON, SEPTEMBER 30, 1951.

THE GIANTS HAVE DEFEATED BOSTON IN THE LAST GAME OF THE SEASON AND HAVE TAKEN A HALF-GAME LEAD OVER BROOKLYN FOR THE PENNANT.

THE HEROES--LARRY JANSEN, THE WINNING PITCHER, MONTE IRVIN, AND DUROCHER HIMSELF.

THE GIANTS ARE CELEBRATING BECAUSE OVER IN PHILADELPHIA, THE PHILLIES ARE LEADING BROOKLYN, AND IF BROOKLYN LOSES, THE GIANTS ARE IN.

BUT THE DODGERS HAVE TIED IT 8-8, MOSTLY ON THE BACK, SHOULDERS, AND HEART OF ONE MAN-- JACKIE ROBINSON.

IT WAS JACKIE ROBINSON'S GREATEST DAY.

HIS HITTING HAD KEPT BROOKLYN IN THE GAME.

IN THE 11th, HE'D HELD OFF THE PHILLIES WITH A DIVING CATCH.

IN THE 14th, AGAIN BROOKLYN LOOKED TO ROBINSON.

HE HOMERED TO GIVE BROOKLYN A 9-8 VICTORY AND A TIE FOR THE NATIONAL LEAGUE PENNANT.

THE TWO TEAMS WOULD SETTLE THE ISSUE IN A BEST-OF-THREE-GAME PLAY-OFF.

DUROCHER'S GIANTS TOOK THE FIRST GAME AT EBBETS FIELD, THANKS TO A TWO-RUN HOMER BY BOBBY THOMSON OFF RALPH BRANCA.

BUT ROOKIE CLEM LABINE SHUT OUT THE GIANTS IN THE SECOND GAME AT THE POLO GROUNDS, 10-0.

FOUR DIFFERENT DODGERS HIT HOME RUNS THAT AFTERNOON, INCLUDING JACKIE ROBINSON.

EVERYTHING NOW DEPENDED ON GAME THREE.

[RADIO] FINAL GAME IN THIS FABULOUS NATIONAL LEAGUE RACE.

IT WAS OCTOBER 3, 1951.

WORK CAME TO A HALT IN NEW YORK AS FANS CROWDED AROUND RADIOS AND STOOD IN THE STREETS TO WATCH TELEVISION SETS IN STORE WINDOWS.

YOU HAVE TO TALK BASEBALL IN NEW YORK TODAY.

CABBIES TURNED DOWN FARES.

THE DOW JONES AVERAGES WERE INTERRUPTED FOR THE PLAY-BY-PLAY.

EVEN PRISONERS AT RIKER'S ISLAND WERE ALLOWED TO LISTEN IN.

EIGHT MILLION NEW YORKERS ARE REALLY MOVING TODAY.

[NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER] INTO THE POLO GROUNDS POUR THOUSANDS OF FANS FOR THE SUDDEN-DEATH GAME IN THE PLAY-OFF BETWEEN THE FALTERING DODGERS AND STRETCH-RUNNING GIANTS.

THE SKY OVER THE POLO GROUNDS WAS OVERCAST, AND THERE HAD BEEN TALK OF RAIN.

NEW YORK IS BASEBALL WILD OVER A CLIMACTIC PENNANT.

LEO DUROCHER'S MIRACLE TEAM SPOTTED THE DODGERS A 13-GAME ADVANTAGE IN MID-AUGUST AND OVERTOOK THEM AT THE FINISH LINE.

MRS. DUROCHER CROSSES HER FINGERS BECAUSE THIS IS IT.

SAL MAGLIE PITCHED FOR THE GIANTS.

IN THE FIRST, JACKIE ROBINSON SINGLED OFF HIM, DRIVING IN PEE WEE REESE TO PUT BROOKLYN AHEAD 1-0.

THE DODGERS SLUGGING SECOND BASEMAN BRINGS PEE WEE REESE IN FOR THE FIRST RUN.

1-0, BROOKLYN.

WITH STRONG PITCHING BY DON NEWCOMBE, THE DODGERS HELD THEIR LEAD FOR SEVEN INNINGS, BEFORE BOBBY THOMSON HIT A SACRIFICE FLY THAT TIED IT UP AT 1-1.

IN THE EIGHTH INNING, THE DODGERS SURGED AHEAD.

A WILD PITCH BY MAGLIE AND A PAIR OF SINGLES DROVE IN PEE WEE REESE, DUKE SNIDER, AND JACKIE ROBINSON.

WITH A 4-1 LEAD GOING INTO THE 9th, BROOKLYN SEEMED SO SURE OF HAVING WON THE PENNANT THEY SHOULD HAVE HAD WEEKS EARLIER THAT THE PARK ANNOUNCER URGED SPORTSWRITERS TO PICK UP WORLD SERIES PASSES IN THE DODGER CLUBHOUSE WHEN THE GAME ENDED.

TYPESETTERS AT THE BROOKLYN EAGLE MADE UP THE NEXT DAY'S FRONT PAGE TO ANNOUNCE THE DODGER VICTORY.

BROOKLYN 4, NEW YORK 1.

BUT DON NEWCOMBE HAD PITCHED 272 INNINGS OVER THE COURSE OF THE LONG SEASON, AND HE WAS TIRED.

IN THE DUGOUT DURING THE SEVENTH INNING, NEWCOMBE HAD CONFESSED TO JACKIE ROBINSON THAT HE WAS THROUGH, SPENT.

ROBINSON REPLIED, "YOU KEEP PITCHING OUT THERE UNTIL YOUR ARM FALLS OFF."

IT WORKED FOR TWO INNINGS.

NOW THE GIANTS ARE BEHIND AS THEY HAVEN'T BEEN BEHIND.

NEWCOMBE DEALS, AND DARK GROUNDS IT.

BUT IN THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH, ALVIN DARK GOT A SINGLE.

DON MUELLER STEPPING IN.

DON MUELLER GOT ANOTHER, AND DARK MADE IT TO THIRD.

RALPH BRANCA AND CARL ERSKINE BEGAN WARMING UP IN THE DODGER BULLPEN.

NEWCOMBE CALLING ON THE LAST OF HIS RESERVE.

MONTE IRVIN POPPED UP.

OUT NUMBER ONE.

BUT WHITEY LOCKMAN HIT A DOUBLE.

A BALL HIT INTO LEFT FIELD FOR A BASE HIT.

DARK SCORED.

MUELLER REACHED THIRD.

GIANT FANS ERUPTED.

THE SCORE WAS 4-2 DODGERS, BUT 2 WERE ON FOR NEW YORK.

DODGER MANAGER CHARLEY DRESSEN PULLED NEWCOMBE AND SENT IN RALPH BRANCA TO PITCH WITH ONLY ONE DAY'S REST.

THAT'S ALL FOR NEWCOMBE.

THE END OF THE ROAD.

AND HERE IS BIG BRANCA, WHO WAS BEATEN BY THE GIANTS IN THE FIRST OF THIS SERIES...

IT WAS BRANCA'S JOB TO SAVE THE DAY AND THE PENNANT FOR BROOKLYN.

...A VERY DESPERATE, DELICATE POSITION, AND THOMSON IS TO HIT NEXT.

BOBBY THOMSON WAS UP NEXT.

HE HAD ALREADY HIT FOUR HOME RUNS OFF BRANCA DURING THE SEASON, PLUS THE ONE THAT HAD WON THE FIRST PLAY-OFF GAME.

HE'D LATER BOTCHED TWO PLAYS IN THE FIELD AND WAS EAGER TO REDEEM HIMSELF.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH," HE TOLD HIMSELF AS HE STRODE TO THE PLATE, "GIVE YOURSELF A CHANCE TO HIT.

"WAIT AND WATCH.

GIVE YOURSELF A CHANCE.

DO A GOOD JOB."

LOCKMAN AT SECOND BASE.

BIG BRANCA CALLED ON FOR HIS MOST IMPORTANT JOB IN HIS BASEBALL CAREER.

ONE OUT, LAST OF THE NINTH.

BRANCA GOT ONE FAST BALL PAST HIM.

THOMSON TAKES A STRIKE CALLED ON THE INSIDE CORNER.

HIS NEXT PITCH WAS A FAST BALL, TOO.

BRANCA THROWS.

THERE'S A LONG FLY!

IT'S GOING TO BE, I BELIEVE-- THE GIANTS WON!

THE GIANTS WON THE PENNANT!

THE GIANTS WON THE PENNANT!

THE GIANTS WON THE PENNANT!

BOBBY THOMSON HITS INTO THE LOWER DECK.

THE GIANTS WON THE PENNANT, AND THEY'RE GOING CRAZY!

THEY'RE GOING CRAZY!

HELLO!

I DON'T BELIEVE IT.

I DON'T BELIEVE IT.

I DO NOT BELIEVE IT.

BOBBY THOMSON HIT A LINE DRIVE INTO THE LOWER DECK OF THE LEFT-FIELD STANDS!

THE PLACE IS GOING CRAZY!

THE GIANTS ARE THE PENNANT WINNERS!

THE GIANTS WON IT 5-4, AND THEY'RE PICKING BOBBY THOMSON UP AND CARRYING HIM OFF THE FIELD!

"OCTOBER 3, 1951.

"HOLLYWOOD'S MOST IMAGINATIVE WRITERS "ON AN OPIUM JAG "COULD NOT HAVE SCRIPTED "A MORE IMPROBABLE WINDUP OF THE SEASON "THAT STARTED IN APRIL "AND HAD ITS FINISH TODAY IN THE TRIUMPH "OF BOBBY THOMSON AND THE GIANTS.

"INTO THE LAST BLUR OF WHITE THAT CAME PLATEWARD "OUT OF THE PITCHING FIST OF BROOKLYN'S RALPH BRANCA "WAS COMPRESSED THE DESTINY OF THE TWO CLUBS "THAT HAD BATTLED FOR SIX MONTHS "TO GET TO TODAY'S DECISION.

"BEFORE THOMSON SWUNG, "IT WAS THE DODGERS WINNING THE PENNANT.

"A SPLIT SECOND LATER, THE DODGERS WERE DEAD, AND THE GIANTS HAD IT."

SHIRLEY POVICH, WASHINGTON POST.

[ANGELL] EVERYBODY REMEMBERS WHERE HE WAS WHEN BOBBY HIT THE HOME RUN.

I WAS IN BOSTON WATCHING ON TELEVISION AT MY MOTHER-IN-LAW'S HOUSE.

MY WIFE WALKED THROUGH THE ROOM.

BOBBY THOMSON CAME UP TO BAT.

MY WIFE WALKED THROUGH.

I SAID, "WAIT.

YOU'LL SEE SOMETHING YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS."

SHE WALKED OUT AND MISSED IT!

BUT, UH...IT WAS-- I WAS A FLAT-OUT GIANTS FAN IN THOSE DAYS, AND AN EXTRAORDINARY, WONDERFUL MOMENT, WONDERFUL MOMENT.

EVERYBODY WHO WAS A GIANTS FAN WAS LEAPING IN THEIR LIVING ROOMS WHEREVER THEY WERE.

NEWCOMBE DEALS, AND DARK SWINGING... [STEPHEN JAY GOULD] I WAS 10 YEARS OLD.

WE HAD JUST BOUGHT OUR FIRST TELEVISION SET.

I CAME HOME FROM SCHOOL.

THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE HOME.

I WAS A RABID GIANT FAN.

I HATED THE DODGERS WITH LOVE THAT ONLY HATRED CAN UNDERSTAND.

I PUT ON THE TELEVISION SET IN DESPAIR.

I KNEW WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

THE GIANTS HAD BEEN 13 1/2 GAMES OUT.

I TURN ON THE GAME.

IT'S ALL EFFECTIVELY OVER.

THOMSON GETS UP.

HE HITS THE HOME RUN.

RUSS HODGES GOES ABSOLUTELY BANANAS.

HE WAS ON THE RADIO.

I WANTED TO TELL SOMEONE.

WE LIVED IN THIS APARTMENT BUILDING.

I LEANED OUT THE WINDOW.

THERE WERE TWO GUYS OF THE BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS CREW.

THEY HAD NO RADIO.

I TOLD THEM WHAT HAPPENED.

THEY WERE HAPPY.

IT WAS THE GREATEST MOMENT OF JOY IN MY LIFE.

WHEN I REMEMBER BACK TO 1951 AND BOBBY THOMSON'S HOME RUN, IT'S THE STARKEST MEMORY OF MY CHILDHOOD.

IN LONG ISLAND, THERE WERE GIANT FANS AND YANKEE FANS AND DODGER FANS WITHIN VARIOUS BLOCKS OF ONE ANOTHER.

A GROCERY STORE WAS OWNED BY GIANT FANS.

THEY CALLED ME RAG-MOP.

MY HAIR WAS MESSY.

AND THAT WHOLE SUMMER, WHEN THE GIANTS HAD MADE THEIR REMARKABLE SURGE AND THE DODGERS KEPT FALLING BEHIND, THEY'D KEPT THE SCORES POSTED.

DAILY, I'D SEE THIS HORRIBLE THING.

THEN COMES THE FINAL DAY OF THE PLAY-OFF.

MY OLDER SISTER PREDICTED, WHEN BOBBY THOMSON STOOD UP, "HE'LL HIT A HOME RUN."

I WAS 8 YEARS OLD.

I WAS SURE SHE'D MADE IT HAPPEN.

SHE WAS TALL AND GLAMOROUS.

I WAS PROBABLY JEALOUS OF HER ANYWAY.

I WAS FURIOUS AT HER.

I WAS SO SAD, I WOULDN'T LEAVE THE HOUSE.

I WOULDN'T GO BACK TO THAT BUTCHER SHOP... UNTIL FINALLY THEY SENT ME FLOWERS IN THE MAIL AND SAID, "COME BACK, RAG-MOP.

WE LOVE YOU."

I HAD TO GO BACK TO THE BUTCHER SHOP.

IT WAS THAT FEELING THAT WE ALMOST HAD IT AND THAT IT DIED.

IT WAS CALLED THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD.

IT WAS AN UNBELIEVABLY EMOTIONAL MOMENT.

I REMEMBER HEARING IT IN CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND, ON AN ARMED FORCES BROADCAST SYSTEM.

I WAS PLAYING BRIDGE.

I WAS A GIANT FAN.

I WENT BACKWARDS IN MY CHAIR, FOOT COMING UP, HITTING THE TABLE.

THESE ENGLISH FRIENDS OF MINE STARTLED BY THE EMOTION.

THINK WHAT IT DID TO BRANCA.

THERE WAS A PHOTOGRAPH OF HIM.

IT WON A PULITZER.

HE IS LYING ABSOLUTELY AS STIFF AS CORDWOOD ON STEPS THAT GO TO THE LOCKER ROOMS AT THE POLO GROUNDS, WHERE THIS THING TOOK PLACE.

JUST STIFF IN GRIEF.

AND HE WENT OUT TO THE PARKING LOT HOURS AFTER THE GAME WAS OVER TO TALK TO A PRIEST.

IT WAS A TRAUMATIC BLOW.

FROM THAT POINT ON, HIS CAREER WENT TO PIECES.

THE GIANTS WON THE PENNANT!

THE GIANTS WON THE PENNANT!

"NOW IT IS DONE.

"THE STORY ENDS, "AND THERE IS NO WAY TO TELL IT.

"THE ART OF FICTION IS DEAD.

"REALITY HAS STRANGLED INVENTION.

"ONLY THE UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE, "THE INEXPRESSIBLY FANTASTIC CAN EVER BE PLAUSIBLE AGAIN."

RED SMITH, NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE.

...INTO THE LOWER DECK OF THE LEFT-FIELD STANDS!

THE PLACE IS GOING CRAZY!

[NARRATOR] DISBELIEVING BROOKLYN FANS AGAIN HAD TO CONTENT THEMSELVES WITH THE BRAVE SLOGAN, "WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR."

IN 1951, SCOUTS FOR THE PITTSBURGH PIRATES APPROACHED A PROMISING YOUNG CENTER FIELDER FROM ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY IN NEW YORK.

THEY OFFERED HIM A $2,000 BONUS IF HE WOULD SIGN WITH THEM.

[CUOMO] MY MOTHER AND FATHER WERE FROM THE OTHER SIDE.

THEY WERE PEOPLE WHO GOT CAUGHT UP IN THE DEPRESSION.

THEY COULDN'T READ OR WRITE.

MY FATHER DUG DITCHES, LUCKY TO BE GIVEN A GROCERY STORE IN SOUTH JAMAICA, QUEENS, THAT HAD BEEN ABANDONED.

HE WAS JUST SO BUSY TRYING TO SURVIVE.

THE IDEA THAT HIS SON WOULD DO ANYTHING BUT STUDY AND PREPARE FOR THE HARD LIFE-- HE DIDN'T LIKE BASEBALL.

UH, TRUTH IS, A SCOUT FOR THE PITTSBURGH PIRATES SAW ME PLAYING AGAINST WHITEY FORD, BELIEVE IT OR NOT.

WHITEY FORD WAS AT FORT MONMOUTH IN THOSE YEARS, AND ON A WEEKEND, PITCHED IN BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, AGAINST THE BRIDGEPORT B's, AND I WAS PLAYING FOR THE BRIDGEPORT B's.

A SCOUT SAW ME, SAID HE WANTED TO SIGN ME AND GIVE ME $2,000.

I EXPLAINED IT TO MY FATHER.

HE SAID, "WHEN DO THEY PLAY?"

I SAID, "SPRING AND SUMMER."

HE SAID, "BEFORE SCHOOL IS OVER?

YOU CAN'T GO."

WE TALKED HIM INTO IT.

HE FINALLY SIGNED THE CONTRACT IN THE GROCERY STORE AMIDST THE HANGING PROVOLONE.

I GOT THE $2,000 BUT NEVER COULD HIT A CURVE BALL.

"MARIO CUOMO, CENTER FIELDER.

"A BELOW-AVERAGE HITTER WITH PLUS POWER.

"HE UPPERCUTS AND NEEDS INSTRUCTION.

"POTENTIALLY THE BEST PROSPECT ON THE CLUB, "AND IN MY OPINION, "COULD GO ALL THE WAY IF HE IMPROVES HIS HITTING "TO A RESPECTABLE BATTING AVERAGE.

"HE IS AGGRESSIVE AND PLAYS HARD.

"HE'S INTELLIGENT.

"NOT AN EASY CHAP TO GET CLOSE TO "BUT IS VERY WELL-LIKED BY THOSE WHO SUCCEED "IN PENETRATING THE EXTERIOR SHELL.

"HE IS ANOTHER WHO WILL RUN OVER YOU IF YOU GET IN HIS WAY."

[NARRATOR] THE PIRATES SENT THE NEW $2,000 PROSPECT TO THEIR BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA, FARM TEAM.

THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT HOUSES 65,000 FANS FOR THE WORLD SERIES OPENER BETWEEN CASEY STENGEL'S BRONX BOMBERS AND LIPPY'S MIRACLE MEN.

IN THE YANK'S SECOND, KOSLO FACES JERRY COLEMAN... AFTER BOBBY THOMSON'S HOME RUN, THE NEW YORK GIANTS LOST THE 1951 WORLD SERIES TO THE YANKEES, FOUR GAMES TO TWO.

McDOUGALD COMES IN TO SCORE.

THE BRONX BOMBERS, WINNERS OF 13 WORLD SERIES, ANSWER BACK...

IN THE FIFTH INNING OF THE SECOND GAME, WILLIE MAYS HIT A FLY BALL INTO THE YANKEE OUTFIELD.

A ROOKIE PLAYING RIGHT FIELD RACED FOR IT AND STRAYED INTO JOE DiMAGGIO'S TERRITORY.

DiMAGGIO WAVED HIM OFF.

IN HIS HASTE TO GET OUT OF THE WAY OF THE GREAT MAN, THE YOUNGER PLAYER TRIPPED OVER AN EXPOSED DRAINPIPE, TEARING HIS KNEE, THE FIRST OF MANY INJURIES THAT PLAGUED HIS CAREER.

THE ROOKIE'S NAME WAS MICKEY MANTLE.

TWO MONTHS LATER, THE YANKEES HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE.

JOE DiMAGGIO HAD DECIDED TO LEAVE THE GAME.

AGE AND INJURIES HAD CAUGHT UP WITH HIM.

"I NO LONGER HAVE IT," HE SAID.

A FRIEND AGREED.

"DiMAGGIO WAS QUITTING," HE SAID, "BECAUSE HE COULDN'T BE JOE DiMAGGIO ANYMORE."

[ANGELL] I REMEMBER JOE DiMAGGIO'S LAST AT-BAT IN THE WORLD SERIES OF 1951.

WE KNEW IT WAS HIS LAST AT-BAT.

HE HIT A BALL--A DOUBLE-- TO RIGHT-CENTER FIELD AND PULLED INTO SECOND BASE IN HIS ELEGANT WAY.

THERE WERE TEARS IN MY EYES.

I THOUGHT, "THAT'S THE LAST TIME I'LL SEE HIM."

HE WAS COMPLETE TO THE END.

DiMAGGIO PLAYED HIS LAST GAME IN OCTOBER OF 1951.

I WAS BORN IN MARCH OF 1952.

MY FATHER AND EVERY FRIEND MY FATHER EVER BROUGHT HOME OR EVERY GUY I EVER MET FROM MY FATHER'S GENERATION WOULD ALL SAY THE SAME THING-- "WILLIE MAYS--TERRIFIC.

"MICKEY MANTLE-- HIT THE BALL OUT OF SIGHT.

"YOU NEVER SAW DiMAGGIO, KID.

YOU NEVER SAW THE REAL THING."

MY BASEBALL DREAM WOULD HAVE BEEN TO PLAY CENTER FIELD FOR THE YANKEES.

I'D HAVE DONE SO AFTER DiMAGGIO RETIRED, BUT MANTLE TOOK OVER.

[BILLY CRYSTAL] MICKEY HIT A HOME RUN THAT DAY OFF THE FACADE IN RIGHT FIELD, 18 INCHES FROM GOING OUT.

NO ONE'S EVER HIT ONE OUT OF YANKEE STADIUM.

THIS THING WAS UP LONGER THAN ALAN SHEPARD WAS UP.

IT JUST KEPT GOING, AND IT HIT THE FACADE.

WE HAVE HOME MOVIES OF IT.

MICKEY COMING UP.

A GUY ACTUALLY STANDS IN FRONT OF US.

IT WAS A PRIEST.

THE SCREEN GETS WIPED WITH THIS BLACK SUIT.

NOBODY COULD FIGURE OUT WHAT THEY WERE SEEING.

IT WAS HIGH, MAJESTIC.

IT WENT THROUGH CLOUDS.

IT DIDN'T.

AS THE YEARS HAVE PASSED, IT WENT THROUGH CLOUDS.

PEOPLE WERE STUNNED THAT THIS STRONG YOUNG MAN, WITH THAT RUN OF HIS AND THOSE ACHING KNEES, HAD HIT THE BALL THIS FAR.

MICKEY MANTLE TOOK JOE DiMAGGIO'S SPOT IN CENTER FIELD AND HIS POSITION AS THE CENTERPIECE OF THE YANKEE ATTACK.

BORN IN SPAVINAW, OKLAHOMA, AND BROUGHT UP IN THE LITTLE TOWN OF COMMERCE, HE WAS IN SOME WAYS A THROWBACK TO AN EARLIER ERA, THE SON OF A TENANT FARMER WHO WAS SUCH A BASEBALL FAN THAT HE NAMED HIS FIRST-BORN FOR THE GREAT PHILADELPHIA CATCHER MICKEY COCHRANE.

IN HIGH SCHOOL, MICKEY MANTLE WAS A DEVASTATING POWER HITTER, BUT HE SUFFERED FROM OSTEOMYELITIS, A BONE DISEASE.

NEARLY HAD HIS LEG AMPUTATED.

FEW SCOUTS WERE INTERESTED.

EVENTUALLY, THE YANKEES TOOK A CHANCE, SIGNED HIM FOR ONLY $1,100, AND SENT HIM TO THE MINORS, WHERE HE LED THE LEAGUE IN BATTING.

HE ARRIVED IN NEW YORK, A TEAMMATE REMEMBERED, WITH A STRAW SUITCASE, TWO PAIRS OF SLACKS, AND ONE BLUE SPORT JACKET THAT PROBABLY COST ABOUT $8.00.

IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS ROOKIE SEASON, MANTLE WAS SENT BACK TO THE MINORS.

HE WASN'T HITTING, BUT HIS SLUMP ONLY DEEPENED.

[MICKEY MANTLE] I WAS IN KANSAS CITY.

MY DAD WAS WORKING IN OKLAHOMA.

I CALLED HIM AND SAID, "DAD, I DON'T THINK I CAN PLAY BALL.

I AIN'T DOIN' IT, YOU KNOW?"

HE SAID, "WHERE ARE YOU?"

I TOLD HIM.

HE SAID, "I'LL BE RIGHT THERE."

HE DROVE UP THERE.

I THOUGHT HE WAS COMING UP TO PAT ME ON THE BACK.

HE WALKS IN, GRABS MY SUITCASE, AND START PUTTING MY CLOTHES IN IT.

I SAID, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

HE GOES, "TAKING YOU HOME.

I THOUGHT I RAISED A MAN.

YOU'RE A COWARD."

AND THAT REALLY, REALLY HIT HOME.

AFTER HE LEFT, I STARTED HITTING AGAIN.

THEN CASEY BROUGHT ME BACK TO THE YANKEES.

[NARRATOR] HE WAS FAR CLUMSIER IN THE FIELD THAN DiMAGGIO HAD BEEN.

HE BECAME A SUPERB SWITCH HITTER, CAPABLE OF HITTING AS FAR LEFT-HANDED AS BABE RUTH, AS FAR RIGHT-HANDED AS JIMMIE FOXX.

AND HE COULD RUN FASTER AT THE START OF HIS CAREER THAN ANY MAN IN BASEBALL.

ON APRIL 17, 1953, HE DROVE A HOME RUN OUT OF GRIFFITH PARK IN WASHINGTON THAT MEASURED 565 FEET.

[MANTLE] I HAD A GUY ASK ME ONE TIME, "MICKEY, DO YOU EVER TRY TO HIT A HOME RUN?"

I SAID, "EVERY TIME."

I WANTED TO HIT THE BALL OUT OF THE PARK.

IT MADE CASEY MAD, ESPECIALLY IF THERE WAS SOMEBODY ON SECOND.

A HIT WOULD WIN THE GAME, AND I'M STRIKING OUT BECAUSE I'M TRYING TO HIT IT TOO HARD.

I WANTED TO HIT THE BALL AS FAR AS I COULD.

[NARRATOR] OVER THE YEARS, HE HIT 536 HOME RUNS, PLAYED ON 16 ALL-STAR TEAMS, LED HIS LEAGUE IN HOME RUNS AND HITTING THREE TIMES, BATTED .300 10 TIMES, AND SET A RECORD OF 18 WORLD SERIES HOME RUNS.

MICKEY WAS MY FAVORITE PLAYER.

MICKEY IS THE MOST EXCITING PERSON EVER TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE, IN MY MIND, BECAUSE OF THE UNPREDICTABLENESS OF WHAT THE SAVAGENESS OF HIS STROKE COULD DO FROM EITHER SIDE OF THE PLATE.

THEY WOULD GET CLOSE-UPS OF MANTLE'S ARMS ON WPIX.

THEY'D TALK ABOUT IT.

RED BARBER AND MEL ALLEN, WHO WERE THE GREAT ANNOUNCERS OF OUR DAY, WOULD TALK ABOUT IT.

RED WAS VERY MUCH THE DIGNITARY OF THE TWO.

"WELL, HERE'S MR. MANTLE.

HERE'S MICKEY.

LOOK AT THOSE ARMS, MEL."

AND MEL-- "HOW ABOUT THAT?

"LOOK AT THAT!

YEAH, HE DON'T LIFT ANY WEIGHTS."

HE WAS JUST A BIG AMERICAN HERO.

[BUCK O'NEIL] MICKEY MANTLE?

HERE COME A KID THAT COULD HIT THE BALL A MILE.

THE ONLY THING THAT SADDENS ME-- YOU DIDN'T GET TO SEE MICKEY ON TWO GOOD LEGS.

HAD YOU SEEN MICKEY ON TWO GOOD LEGS, MICKEY PROBABLY COULD HAVE BEEN STEALING A HUNDRED BASES A YEAR.

MM-HMM.

[NARRATOR] SEASON AFTER SEASON, EVERYTHING SEEMED TO BETRAY HIM-- KNEES, GROIN MUSCLES, FINGERS, HIPS, FEET, SHOULDERS, ELBOWS.

"EVERY TIME HE MISSES, HE GRUNTS WITH PAIN," AN OPPOSING CATCHER SAID.

"IF HE HAD BEEN PHYSICALLY SOUND FOR EVEN ONE FULL SEASON," HIS TEAMMATE ELSTON HOWARD REMEMBERED, "HE WOULD HAVE HIT 70 HOMERS."

MANTLE MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER THAT EVER LIVED HAD HE REMAINED PHYSICALLY SOUND.

IT WAS AMAZING HE DID THE THINGS HE DID IN HIS PHYSICAL SHAPE.

BALLPLAYERS THAT HAD NOT SEEN MANTLE DRESS, SUCH AS AT AN ALL-STAR GAME, WERE JUST AGHAST AT THE AMOUNT OF BANDAGING HE HAD ON HIS LEGS.

[NARRATOR] IN 1952, MANTLE'S FATHER DIED AT THE AGE OF 39 OF HODGKIN'S DISEASE, AN INHERITED ILLNESS.

IT WAS TOO MUCH FOR THE COUNTRY BOY TURNED HERO WHO HAD BEEN ASKED TO FILL DiMAGGIO'S SHOES.

NOW HE BEGAN TO DRINK AND CAROUSE WITH HIS FRIENDS BILLY MARTIN AND WHITEY FORD.

HE LIVED HIS LIFE AS IF EACH DAY WOULD BE HIS LAST, STAYING OUT ALL NIGHT, SPENDING MONEY FAST.

"MY FATHER DIED YOUNG," HE ONCE SAID.

"I'M NOT GOING TO BE CHEATED."

MANTLE WAS CASEY STENGEL'S PRIDE AND JOY AND GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT.

STENGEL THOUGHT THAT MANTLE WAS HIS BOY, THE WAY MEL OTT WAS JOHN McGRAW'S BOY, AND THAT THIS MAN, WHO COULD RUN LIKE TY COBB AND HIT LIKE BABE RUTH, WOULD BE THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER OF ALL TIME.

MICKEY DIDN'T APPLY HIMSELF.

HE STILL WAS A GREAT BALLPLAYER-- TRIPLE-CROWN WINNER, HALL-OF-FAMER.

WHEN CASEY PICKED HIS ALL-TIME TEAM, HE PICKED BERRA, FORD.

HE DIDN'T PICK MANTLE.

MICKEY DISAPPOINTED HIM.

MICKEY WAS HIS SON.

STENGEL WAS HIS FATHER.

THAT'S CORNY, BUT IT'S TRUE.

MICKEY WAS THE WILLFUL ADOLESCENT.

HE WOULDN'T DO WHAT CASEY SAID.

HE SAID, "YES, SIR," BUT HE DIDN'T DO IT.

[MANTLE] CASEY BRAGGED ON ME SO MUCH, SAYING THAT I WAS GOING TO BE THE NEXT RUTH, GEHRIG, DiMAGGIO ROLLED INTO ONE.

IT JUST DIDN'T HAPPEN.

"THE LIVELIHOODS, THE CAREERS, "THE FAMILIES OF 400 NEGRO BALLPLAYERS "ARE IN JEOPARDY "BECAUSE FOUR PLAYERS WERE SUCCESSFUL IN GETTING IN THE MAJORS."

EFFA MANLEY, NEWARK EAGLES.

[NARRATOR] FOR 30 YEARS, BLACK BASEBALL HAD BEEN ONE OF THE LARGEST BLACK BUSINESSES IN AMERICA, BUT AFTER 1947, WHEN JACKIE ROBINSON AND A HANDFUL OF OTHER BLACKS ARRIVED IN THE MAJORS, IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE NEGRO LEAGUES WERE DOOMED.

THE FEW TEAMS STILL OPERATING SURVIVED NOT BY GATE RECEIPTS, BUT BY SELLING THEIR BEST TALENT TO THE MAJORS.

BY 1953, THERE WERE FEWER AFRICAN AMERICANS MAKING THEIR LIVING IN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL THAN AT ANY TIME IN THE CENTURY.

ONE BLACK SPORTSWRITER SAID, "NOTHING WAS KILLING NEGRO BASEBALL BUT DEMOCRACY."

I DON'T THINK IT'S SO MUCH BITTER AS THERE IS SWEET, BECAUSE TIME CHANGES, O.K.?

UH, WE WERE MAKING A FEW BUCKS, BUT RECOGNITION IS A BIG PART OF LIFE.

YOU WANT TO BE RECOGNIZED THAT I CAN DO SOMETHING AS WELL AS ANYBODY ELSE.

THAT'S WHAT INTEGRATION MEANT.

THE GOOD GUYS GOT A JOB.

SOME GUYS WERE OLD.

THEY WENT TO CANADA, THE CARIBBEAN, BUT TIME--IT WAS WORTH IT.

IT WAS WORTH IT FOR INTEGRATION.

WHY WOULD YOU FEEL SORRY FOR ME?

I THINK WE ARE THE CAUSE OF THE CHANGES.

SOME OF THE CHANGES THAT'S BEEN MADE WAS BECAUSE OF US.

WE DID OUR DUTY.

WE DID THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE JACKIE ROBINSONS, THE WILLIE MAYS, AND THE GUYS PLAYING NOW.

WE DID THE GROUNDWORK FOR THESE GUYS, SO WHY FEEL SORRY FOR ME?

[NARRATOR] AS THE PUSH FOR INTEGRATION SPREAD TO OTHER AREAS OF AMERICAN LIFE-- TO SCHOOLS, BUSES, LUNCH COUNTERS, PUBLIC REST ROOMS-- OTHER BLACK PLAYERS FOLLOWED IN JACKIE ROBINSON'S TURBULENT WAKE.

LARRY DOBY INTEGRATED THE AMERICAN LEAGUE AND HELPED LEAD CLEVELAND TO TWO PENNANTS.

JACKIE ROBINSON'S TEAMMATE ROY CAMPANELLA WAS ONCE A THIRD-STRING CATCHER FOR THE BALTIMORE ELITE GIANTS, BUT IN ONE FIVE-YEAR PERIOD WITH THE DODGERS, HE WAS NAMED THE LEAGUE'S MOST VALUABLE PLAYER THREE TIMES.

ERNIE BANKS--MR. CUB-- HIT MORE HOME RUNS BETWEEN 1955 AND 1960 THAN ANYONE IN THE MAJORS AND WAS SO FOND OF PLAYING THAT HE LIKED TO SAY, "LET'S PLAY TWO."

FRANK ROBINSON, CINCINNATI'S STAR OUTFIELDER, HIT A RECORD 38 HOME RUNS HIS ROOKIE YEAR, AND LIKE MANTLE, CAME TO DOMINATE THE GAME.

BY THE END OF THE DECADE, BLACKS IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE WOULD WIN THE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD 9 OF 11 YEARS.

BUT ALL OF THEM HAD TO FACE, ALL OVER AGAIN, MANY OF THE SAME BATTLES JACKIE ROBINSON HAD ALREADY FOUGHT, ESPECIALLY IN THE MINOR LEAGUES AS THEY STRUGGLED TO MAKE THE MAJORS.

IN 1952, A YOUNG SHORTSTOP WITH THE INDIANAPOLIS CLOWNS WAS SOLD TO THE BOSTON BRAVES FOR $7,500 AND SENT TO THEIR MINOR LEAGUE CLUB IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC LEAGUE.

HIS NAME WAS HENRY AARON, AND WHEN HIS CLUB TRAVELED THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH, HE WATCHED AS HIS WHITE TEAMMATES STAYED IN AIR-CONDITIONED HOTELS WHILE HE STRUGGLED EACH NIGHT TO FIND A PLACE IN THE BLACK SECTION OF TOWN.

ON APRIL 23, 1954, HE HIT HIS VERY FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE HOME RUN.

TWO YEARS LATER, CURTIS CHARLES FLOOD, AN 18-YEAR-OLD OUTFIELDER FROM OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, WAS SIGNED BY THE CINCINNATI REDS AND SENT TO THE CAROLINA LEAGUE, WHERE HE BATTED .340 AND DROVE IN 128 RUNS.

[CURT FLOOD] BY 1957, MY SECOND YEAR IN THE SOUTH, I THOUGHT I WAS BEYOND CRYING.

ONE DAY, WE PLAYED A DOUBLEHEADER, AND AFTER THE END OF THE FIRST GAME, YOU TAKE YOUR UNIFORM OFF, THROW IT INTO A PILE.

THE CLUBHOUSE MANAGER GETS THE UNIFORM.

HE DRIES THEM.

HE CLEANS THEM.

YOU PLAY THE SECOND GAME WITH THE SAME UNIFORM.

I, LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE, THREW MY UNIFORM RIGHT INTO THE BIG PILE WITH EVERYBODY ELSE'S, AND THE CLUBHOUSE GUY CAME BY WITH ONE OF THESE LONG STICKS WITH A NAIL ON IT, AND HE VERY CAREFULLY PICKED MY UNIFORM OUT FROM THE WHITE GUYS' UNIFORMS-- MY LITTLE SWEAT SHIRT, MY LITTLE JOCK STRAP, WITH EVERYTHING-- SENT MY UNIFORM TO THE COLORED CLEANERS, WHICH WAS PROBABLY 20 MINUTES AWAY, AND THERE I SAT WHILE THE OTHER GUYS WERE ON THE FIELD.

THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN GIVING ME HELL ALL DAY LONG, AND NOW I'M SITTING THERE STARK NAKED, WAITING FOR MY UNIFORM, AND THE OTHER GUYS ARE OUT ON THE FIELD.

FINALLY THEY GET MY UNIFORM BACK, AND I WALK OUT ONTO THE FIELD, AND YOU'D THINK I'D JUST BURNED THE AMERICAN FLAG.

THEY CALLED ME EVERY NAME BUT A CHILD OF GOD.

[NARRATOR] "I AM PLEASED GOD MADE MY SKIN BLACK," CURT FLOOD LATER SAID.

"I WISH HE HAD MADE IT THICKER."

[MANTLE] I SAT BY HIM AT AN ALL-STAR GAME ONE TIME, AND HE STARTED TALKING TO ME ABOUT HITTING.

HE WANTED TO KNOW IF I USED MY BOTTOM HAND WHEN I'M HITTING LEFT-HANDED.

DO I PULL THE BAT WITH THIS HAND?

WHEN I HIT LEFT-HANDED, DID I PULL IT WITH THIS ONE?

HE WAS TELLING ME ABOUT HITTING.

AFTER THAT, I WENT 0 FOR 30.

I TRIED TO THINK OF THINGS HE SAID TO DO.

[NARRATOR] IN THE SPRING OF 1952, WITH THE KOREAN WAR RAGING, CAPTAIN TED WILLIAMS LEFT BASEBALL AND RETURNED TO ACTIVE DUTY WITH THE MARINES.

HE FLEW 37 COMBAT MISSIONS, SURVIVED A CRASH LANDING, PERMANENTLY DAMAGED HIS HEARING, AND WON THREE MEDALS FOR VALOR.

CAPTAIN, I WANT TO GIVE YOU THESE ORDERS.

THEY RELIEVE YOU FROM ACTIVE DUTY IN THE MARINE CORPS RESERVE AND ASSIGN YOU TO YOUR HOME.

TED, I UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR FUTURE ADDRESS IS FENWAY PARK, CORRECT?

THAT'S WHERE I'M SCHEDULED TO GO, COLONEL.

I PLAN ON BEING UP THERE TOMORROW.

NEEDLESS TO SAY, I'M ANXIOUS TO SEE IF I CAN STILL HIT.

WITH THE YOUNG CLUB THAT THE RED SOX HAVE, IF I CAN SWING A BAT AT ALL, MAYBE I CAN HELP THEM.

I CERTAINLY HOPE SO.

THE DAY HE RETURNED TO BASEBALL IN 1953, HE HIT A HOME RUN AT FENWAY PARK.

[CRYSTAL] TED WILLIAMS WAS A CLASSIC PLAYER.

I MET TED WILLIAMS LAST YEAR.

IT WAS LIKE SEEING JOHN WAYNE.

HE'S A GIGANTIC MAN.

HE HAS A LARGE, IMPOSING HEAD, BUT HE'S VERY HANDSOME, DISTINGUISHED.

IF YOU SAID, "THAT'S MR.

BASEBALL," YOU'D BUY IT.

I WALKED UP TO HIM, AND I SAID, "I HAVE A PICTURE," AND HE SIGNED IT TO ME.

I SAID, "TED, I HAVE HOME MOVIES OF YOU "STRIKING OUT AGAINST BOBBY CHANCE, 1957, YANKEE STADIUM, SECOND GAME OF A DOUBLEHEADER."

HE SAYS TO ME, "CURVE BALL, LOW AND AWAY."

WHAT'S THE GUY'S NAME ON FIRST BASE?

NO.

WHAT'S ON SECOND.

I'M NOT ASKING WHO'S ON SECOND.

WHO'S ON FIRST.

WHAT'S THE GUY'S NAME ON FIRST BASE?

WHAT IS ON SECOND.

I'M NOT ASKING WHO'S ON SECOND.

WHO IS ON FIRST.

I DON'T KNOW.

HE'S ON THIRD.

WAIT.

WHOA, WHOA.

WHOA.

HOW DID I GET ON THIRD BASE?

YOU MENTIONED HIS NAME.

I DON'T KNOW ANYBODY'S NAME.

HOW COULD I MENTION HIS NAME?

YOU DID.

WHAT'S THE GUY'S NAME ON THIRD BASE?

NO.

WHAT'S ON SECOND.

I DON'T KNOW.

HE'S ON THIRD.

WHO'S PLAYING THIRD BASE?

NO.

WHO'S ON FIRST.

I'M NOT ASKING WHAT'S ON FIRST.

WHAT'S ON SECOND.

WHO'S ON FIRST.

I DON'T KNOW-- HE'S THIRD BASE.

THERE'S NO CONTINUITY IN AMERICAN LIFE.

WE SEEM TO REINVENT OURSELVES EVERY 20 YEARS.

WHAT BASEBALL DOES IS IT GIVES US THE ILLUSION THAT SOMETHING LASTS.

ALL OF AMERICA, WHERE EVERYTHING IS SO RAPIDLY SPINNING AROUND OUR HEADS, THERE IS ONE CONSTANT.

[NARRATOR] IN THE 1950s, BASEBALL MAY HAVE BEEN THE BEST IT EVER WAS.

BUT THE COUNTRY WAS CHANGING, AND BASEBALL SEEMED UNABLE TO KEEP UP.

AMERICANS WERE ON THE MOVE-- AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM WAS STARTED, PASSENGER JETS SHORTENED DISTANCES, AND FOR THE FIRST TIME, TELEVISION BEGAN BROADCASTING BASEBALL GAMES COAST TO COAST.

WHITE FANS WERE LEAVING THE CITIES AND THEIR DECAYING BALL PARKS FOR THE SUBURBS, THE SUNBELT, AND THE WEST COAST, WHERE THERE WERE AS YET NO MAJOR LEAGUE TEAMS.

ATTENDANCE DECLINED DRASTICALLY FOR EVERY CLUB.

EVEN IN THE CAPITAL OF BASEBALL, THE MIGHTY YANKEES STRUGGLED, AND THE GIANTS AND DODGERS EACH LOST NEARLY HALF OF THEIR FANS.

ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY, A NEW GENERATION OF OWNERS SCRAMBLED TO FIND NEW WAYS TO FILL THE SEATS.

THE MOST IMAGINATIVE OWNER WAS BILL VEECK, BASEBALL'S GREATEST SHOWMAN.

HE IS BEST REMEMBERED FOR HIS YEARS AT THE HELM OF THE HAPLESS ST. LOUIS BROWNS, WHERE HE STAGED GRANDSTAND MANAGERS' DAY, IN WHICH FANS VOTED ON WHAT THE BROWNS SHOULD DO NEXT ON THE FIELD.

BUT HIS MOST MEMORABLE STUNT TOOK PLACE DURING A GAME BETWEEN THE BROWNS AND THE TIGERS.

IN THE FIRST INNING, VEECK SENT IN A PINCH HITTER-- EDDIE GAEDEL-- A MIDGET WHO STOOD JUST 3' 7" TALL.

HIS STRIKE ZONE WAS SAID TO MEASURE 1 1/2".

VEECK TOLD GAEDEL THAT A MAN IN THE STANDS WOULD SHOOT HIM IF HE SWUNG AT A PITCH.

GAEDEL OBEYED.

THE TIGER PITCHER WALKED HIM ON FOUR STRAIGHT PITCHES... TAKE A BASE.

ALL OF THEM HIGH.

I ONCE RAN INTO EDDIE GAEDEL.

HE BATTED ONCE, AND HE GOT A WALK BECAUSE THE PITCHER OF THE TIGERS--CAIN-- FELL OFF THE MOUND, LAUGHED, AND SO DID THE CATCHER BOB SWIFT.

EDDIE GOT A WALK ON FOUR PITCHES.

EDDIE SAID, "I'M DISAPPOINTED IN MR. VEECK.

"HE PROMISED I'D KEEP ON PLAYING.

I BATTED ONLY ONCE."

[NARRATOR] VEECK GOT THE PRESS HE'D WANTED.

"ALL I HAVE EVER SAID," VEECK TOLD HIS CRITICS, "IS THAT YOU CAN DRAW MORE PEOPLE WITH A LOSING TEAM "PLUS BREAD AND CIRCUSES THAN WITH A LOSING TEAM AND A LONG, STILL SILENCE."

BUT FEW CITIES COULD NOW SUPPORT TWO MAJOR LEAGUE TEAMS.

IN 1953, THE BRAVES LEFT BOSTON TO THE RED SOX AND MOVED TO MILWAUKEE, WHERE THEY DREW THE BIGGEST CROWDS IN BASEBALL.

TWO YEARS LATER, THE ATHLETICS LEFT PHILADELPHIA FOR KANSAS CITY.

EVEN BILL VEECK CONCEDED DEFEAT.

THE BROWNS ABANDONED ST. LOUIS AND MOVED TO BALTIMORE, WHERE THEY BECAME THE ORIOLES.

WHAT CAN YOU SAY?

HE'S AS GREAT AS THERE WAS.

HE COULD RUN, THROW, HIT WITH POWER.

IF THERE WAS A GUY BORN TO PLAY BASEBALL, IT WAS WILLIE MAYS.

[NARRATOR] HE WAS BORN IN WESTFIELD, ALABAMA, ON MAY 6, 1931.

HIS FATHER HAD BEEN A LEGENDARY SEMIPRO PLAYER, AND HE HAD TRAINED HIS BOY FOR BASEBALL SINCE BEFORE HE COULD WALK.

WILLIE MAYS FIRST MADE HIS MARK AS A MEMBER OF THE CHATTANOOGA BLACK LOOKOUTS, LATER PLAYED WITH THE BIRMINGHAM BLACK BARONS, AND WAS ONLY 19 WHEN HE SIGNED WITH THE NEW YORK GIANTS IN 1951.

WHEN WILLIE MAYS FIRST CAME TO THE MAJOR LEAGUES, HE WAS 0-12, 0-13, WITHOUT A HIT, AND HE WAS FACING WARREN SPAHN, BECOMING THE WINNINGEST LEFT-HANDED PITCHER IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL.

MAYS COMES TO THE PLATE.

SPAHN'S ON THE MOUND, 60' 6" AWAY FROM HIM, FIRES THE BALL, AND MAYS CRUSHES IT-- FIRST HIT, FIRST HOME RUN.

AFTER THE GAME, SPORTSWRITERS ASKED SPAHN, "SPAHNY, WHAT HAPPENED?"

SPAHN SAID, "GENTLEMEN, FOR THE FIRST 60 FEET, THAT WAS A HELL OF A PITCH."

[NARRATOR] THE HOME RUN CLEARED THE POLO GROUNDS' ROOF.

"IF IT'S THE ONLY HOME RUN HE EVER HITS," GIANT ANNOUNCER RUSS HODGES SAID, "THEY'LL STILL TALK ABOUT IT."

"THE BALL CAME DOWN IN UTICA," LEFTY GOMEZ ADDED.

"I KNOW.

I WAS MANAGING THERE AT THE TIME."

HE SEEMED ABLE TO DO EVERYTHING-- HIT, RUN, FIELD.

"IF HE COULD COOK," DUROCHER SAID, "I'D MARRY HIM."

SAY HEY, WILLIE, GO GET IT.

MAN, THAT BALL'S WAY IN LEFT FIELD.

WILLIE PLAYS ALL FIELDS.

YOU TALK ABOUT WILLIE PLAYS ALL THE FIELDS.

CALL WILLIE AND ASK HIM.

HEY, WILLIE!

YES?

ARE YOU WILLIE MAYS?

YES.

SAY WHO?

♪ SAY, WILLIE, SAY, HEY ♪ SAY WHO?

♪ SWINGING AT THE PLATE, SAY, HEY ♪ SAY WHO?

♪ SAY, WILLIE, THAT GIANTS KID IS GREAT ♪ ♪ HE RUNS THE BASES LIKE A CHOO-CHOO TRAIN ♪ ♪ SWINGS AROUND SECOND LIKE AN AEROPLANE ♪ ♪ HIS CAP FLIES OFF WHEN HE PASSES THIRD ♪ ♪ AND HE HEADS HOME LIKE AN EAGLE BIRD ♪ ♪ SAY, HEY ♪ SAY WHO?

♪ SAY, WILLIE, SAY, HEY ♪ SAY WHO?

♪ SWINGING AT THE PLATE ♪ ♪ SAY, HEY ♪ SAY WHO?

♪ SAY, WILLIE, THAT GIANTS KID IS GREAT... ♪ IN 1952, MAYS WENT INTO THE ARMY, AND NEXT YEAR, THE GIANTS SANK TO FIFTH PLACE.

♪ WHEN WILLIE SERVED HIS UNCLE SAM ♪ ♪ HE LEFT THE GIANTS IN AN AWFUL JAM ♪ ♪ BUT NOW HE'S BACK, AND HE'S LEO'S JOY ♪ ♪ AND WILLIE'S STILL A GROWING BOY ♪ ♪ SAY, HEY ♪ SAY WHO?

♪ SAY, WILLIE, SAY, HEY ♪ SAY WHO?

♪ SWINGING AT THE PLATE, SAY, HEY ♪ SAY WHO?

♪ SAY, WILLIE, THAT GIANTS KID IS GREAT ♪ ♪ THAT GIANTS KID IS GREAT ♪ ♪ SAY, WILLIE, WHAT YOU GONNA SAY?

♪♪ SAY, HEY!

WHEN HE RETURNED THE NEXT SEASON, THE GIANTS WON THE PENNANT AND THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.

HE WOULD GO ON TO PLAY 22 SEASONS, BAT .302 LIFETIME, DRIVE IN MORE THAN 100 RUNS 8 YEARS IN A ROW, AND SLAM 660 HOME RUNS-- THIRD ON THE ALL-TIME LIST.

IN THE OUTFIELD, HE RECORDED 7,095 PUT-OUTS-- THE MOST IN MAJOR LEAGUE HISTORY.

ACCORDING TO JOE DiMAGGIO, MAYS HAD THE GREATEST THROWING ARM HE HAD EVER SEEN.

"HE SHOULD PLAY IN HANDCUFFS TO EVEN THINGS UP," A SPORTSWRITER SAID.

TO MANY, HE WAS THE GREATEST PLAYER WHO EVER LIVED.

[ANGELL] WILLIE MAYS IS THE MOST EXCITING BALLPLAYER.

EVERYBODY ALWAYS HAD THAT SAME REACTION.

HE PLAYED SO WELL.

HE GOT MORE PLEASURE OUT OF PLAYING THAN ALMOST ANYBODY.

ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED, HIS EYES WENT LIKE THIS, LOOKING AT THE GAME, TAKING IT ALL IN.

HE SEEMED MORE IN THE GAME THAN ANY OTHER PLAYER.

MY IMAGE OF HIM IS ALWAYS ROUNDING SECOND AFTER HITTING THE BALL, AND THE RUNNERS ARE COMING AROUND TO THE PLATE, AND TO WATCH HIM RUNNING THE WAY HE DID WITH HIS FEET JUST BRUSHING THE GROUND AND THEN SKIDDING AROUND SECOND LIKE A SKIER, BUT AS HE RAN, HE ALWAYS LOOKED AROUND.

HE HAD THE WHOLE BALL GAME IN MIND.

HE HAD A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE GAME THAN ANYBODY ELSE.

SAFE!

[GEORGE WILL] WILLIE MAYS WAS NOT THE FIRST BLACK BALLPLAYER, BUT HE HAD HIS OWN BARRIER TO BREAK THROUGH-- A KIND OF GENTLE, GOOD-NATURED RACISM, BUT RACISM NONETHELESS.

WHEN HE CAME UP, PEOPLE WOULD SAY, "WHAT AN INSTINCTIVE BALLPLAYER HE IS.

"WHAT A NATURAL BALLPLAYER HE IS.

WHAT CHILDLIKE ENTHUSIASM."

WELL, 30 YEARS ON, WE CAN HEAR WITH OUR BETTER-TRAINED EARS THE RACISM IN THAT.

HE WAS WONDERFULLY GIFTED, YES, GREAT NATURAL GIFTS, YES, BUT NO ONE EVER GOT TO THE MAJOR LEAGUES ON NATURAL GIFTS WITHOUT AN AWFUL LOT OF REFINING WORK.

SURE, HE WAS A GREAT INSTINCTIVE BALLPLAYER, BUT HE WAS ALSO TREMENDOUSLY SMART.

AS A ROOKIE, HE'D GET TO SECOND, WATCH TWO BATTERS COME TO THE PLATE, AND HE'D GO TO THE DUGOUT HAVING STOLEN THE SIGNS.

HE'D KNOW THE INDICATOR SIGN FROM OTHER SIGNS.

WILLIE MAYS, NATURAL BALLPLAYER, SURE.

HARDEST-WORKING BALLPLAYER YOU EVER SAW.

NEARLY 53,000 WATCHED THE OPENER OF THE WORLD SERIES, WITH G-MAN J. EDGAR HOOVER JOINING THE FUN ALONG WITH LARAINE DAY DUROCHER, SPENCER TRACY, AND YOUNG CHRIS DUROCHER.

CLEVELAND MANAGER AL LOPEZ AND GIANT MANAGER LEO DUROCHER.

LITTLE LEAGUE CHAMPS CAPTAIN JIMMY BARBARIE OPENS THE SERIES.

[NARRATOR] ON SEPTEMBER 29, 1954, WILLIE MAYS AND THE NEW YORK GIANTS MET THE CLEVELAND INDIANS, WHO HAD WON A RECORD 111 GAMES THAT SEASON, IN THE WORLD SERIES AT THE POLO GROUNDS.

NO ONE THERE WOULD EVER FORGET THE REMARKABLE PLAY THEY SAW THAT AFTERNOON.

THE SCORE IS TIED 2-2 IN THE 8th, AND CLEVELAND IS UP.

DON LIDDLE WINDS UP.

VIC WERTZ LEANS IN.

WILLIE MAYS WAITS IN CENTER FIELD.

THERE'S A LONG DRIVE WAY BACK IN CENTER FIELD, WAY BACK, BACK, AND IT'S... [DEAFENING CHEERS] WILLIE MAYS JUST BROUGHT THIS CROWD TO ITS FEET WITH A CATCH WHICH MUST HAVE BEEN AN OPTICAL ILLUSION TO MANY PEOPLE.

[BOB COSTAS] IT WAS MORE THAN A GREAT CATCH.

IT WAS A CATCH NO ONE HAD EVER SEEN BEFORE.

WHEN THAT BALL LEFT WERTZ'S BAT-- AND THIS IS ONE GREAT THING ABOUT BASEBALL-- YOU CALCULATE SO MANY THINGS SIMULTANEOUSLY.

A BALL'S HIT INTO THE GAP.

HOW GOOD IS THE OUTFIELDER'S ARM?

WHERE IS THE CUTOFF MAN?

THE RUNNER'S BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND.

HOW FAST IS THAT RUNNER?

HOW MANY OUTS?

SHOULD HE TRY FOR THIRD?

WILL HE TRY?

WHAT'S THE THIRD-BASE COACH DOING?

YOU TAKE IN ALL THESE THINGS.

YOU TRY AND CALCULATE IN THOSE FLEETING SECONDS WHAT ARE THE POSSIBILITIES.

WELL, WHEN THE BALL LEFT VIC WERTZ'S BAT IN THE MASSIVE POLO GROUNDS, WHERE IT WAS HEADED, WHERE MAYS WAS STANDING, THERE WAS ONLY ONE POSSIBILITY-- COULD HE GET IT BEFORE IT WAS AN INSIDE-THE-PARK HOME RUN?

CATCHING IT WAS OUT OF THE QUESTION, AND HE TURNED AND RAN TO A PLACE WHERE NO ONE CAN GO TO GET THAT BALL, STARTING WHERE HE STARTED WITH THE BALL HIT AS IT WAS HIT.

IT WAS MORE THAN JUST A GREAT ACROBATIC PLAY.

IT WAS A PLAY OUTSIDE THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY.

THERE'S A LONG DRIVE WAY BACK IN CENTER FIELD, WAY BACK, BACK, AND IT'S... [DEAFENING CHEERS] IT WAS FAR FROM THE BEST CATCH I'VE EVER SEEN.

IT HAPPENED TO BE ON TELEVISION.

IT WAS A VERY GOOD CATCH.

WE KNEW WILLIE HAD IT.

WILLIE ALWAYS LET HIS HAT FALL OFF.

HE WORE IT TOO BIG OR TOO SMALL.

WILLIE'S A GREAT ACTOR, A GREAT BALLPLAYER.

[MONTE IRVIN] I DIDN'T THINK HE'D GET TO THE BALL.

HE DID.

AND THEN HE HAD THE PRESENCE OF MIND TO THROW TO SECOND BASE TO KEEP LARRY DOBY FROM SCORING.

IF HE HAD TAGGED UP, HE COULD HAVE SCORED.

THAT'S HOW FAR THE BALL WAS HIT.

ON THE WAY IN, I RAN IN WITH HIM.

I SAID TO HIM, "I DIDN'T THINK YOU'D GET THAT."

HE SAID, "I HAD THAT ALL THE WAY."

WE FOUND THE MORE WE WATCHED HIM PLAY, HE HAD ONE HABIT-- WHEN HE WENT FOR A BALL, IF HE HIT HIS GLOVE, YOU KNEW HE WOULD CATCH IT.

ONCE HE DID THAT, YOU WERE OUT.

[COSTAS] WERTZ HIT IT OFF A LEFT-HANDER NAMED DON LIDDLE.

LIDDLE WAS RELIEVING SAL MAGLIE WITH TROUBLE BREWING IN THE EIGHTH.

LIDDLE WAS TO PITCH TO ONE BATTER--WERTZ.

MAYS MAKES THE CATCH.

IN COMES RIGHT-HANDER MARV GRISSOM WAVED IN BY LEO DUROCHER.

LIDDLE HANDS THE BALL TO GRISSOM AND SAYS IN GREAT HUMOR WITH A STRAIGHT FACE, "WELL, I GOT MY MAN."

LATER, WHEN MAYS TRIPLED TO THE SAME SPOT WHERE HE CAUGHT WERTZ'S DRIVE, A TEAMMATE SAID, "THE ONLY MAN WHO COULD HAVE CAUGHT IT HIT IT."

♪ SAY, HEY ♪ SAY WHO?

♪ SAY, WILLIE, THAT GIANTS KID IS GREAT ♪ ♪ THAT GIANTS KID IS GREAT ♪♪ [NARRATOR] "I DON'T MAKE HISTORY," WILLIE MAYS ONCE SAID.

"I CATCH FLY BALLS."

SAY, HEY!

ALL RIGHT, EVERYBODY, LET'S WARM UP.

7th INNING STRETCH.

♪ TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL-- ♪ NO.

START AGAIN.

♪ TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL-- ♪ WHY CAN'T I GET... [HUMMING] ♪ TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME ♪ ♪ TAKE ME OUT WITH THE CROWD ♪ ♪ BUY ME SOME PEANUTS AND CRACKERJACKS ♪ ♪ I DON'T CARE IF I NEVER GET BACK ♪ ♪ I WILL ROOT, ROOT, ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM ♪ ♪ IF THEY DON'T WIN, IT'S A SHAME ♪ ♪ FOR IT'S ONE, TWO, THREE STRIKES, YOU'RE OUT ♪ ♪ AT THE OLD BALLGAME ♪♪ AS MICKEY.

[IMITATING MICKEY MANTLE] ♪ TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME ♪ ♪ TAKE ME OUT-- ♪♪ HELL, I AIN'T DOIN' THIS.

♪ TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME ♪♪ ♪ TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME ♪ ♪ TAKE ME OUT TO THE GAME ♪ ♪ WE'LL HAVE SOME CRACKERJACKS... ♪ ♪ AND CRACKERJACKS ♪ ♪ WE WON'T COME TO THE-- ♪♪ ♪ TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME ♪ ♪ TAKE ME OUT TO THE CROWD ♪ ♪ BUY ME SOME PEANUTS AND CRACKERJACK ♪ ♪ I DON'T CARE IF I NEVER COME BACK ♪ ♪ ROOT, ROOT, ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM ♪ ♪ I CAN'T CARRY A TUNE, FOR IT'S ONE... ♪ ♪ TWO... ♪ ♪ THREE STRIKES, YOU'RE OUT ♪ ♪ AT THE OLD BALLGAME ♪♪ THAT'S PRETTY EMBARRASSING.

I'M NOT TOO MUCH OF A SINGER.

♪ TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME ♪ ♪ TAKE ME OUT TO THE CROWD ♪ ♪ BUY ME SOME PEANUTS AND CRACKERJACKS ♪ ♪ I DON'T CARE IF I EVER GET BACK ♪ ♪ WELL, WE'LL ROOT, ROOT, ROOT, FOR THE HOME TEAM ♪ ♪ IF THEY DON'T WIN, IT'S A SHAME ♪ ♪ ONE, TWO, THREE STRIKES, YOU OUT ♪ ♪ AT THE OLD BALLGAME ♪♪ GOT IT.

COME ON, EVERYBODY.

SING.

LET'S ALL SING.

WORLD SERIES MEANT YOU HAD TO WEAR A SWEATER.

IT WAS ALWAYS COOL OUT.

THE LEAVES WERE CHANGING.

WE USED TO CALL IT WORLD SERIES WEATHER.

BEFORE THE PLAY-OFFS AND THESE OTHER DIVISIONS, THERE WERE EIGHT TEAMS IN BOTH LEAGUES.

IT WAS LESS TIME, SO IT CAME EARLIER.

IT MEANT IT WAS A JEWISH HOLIDAY, THERE WOULD BE NO SCHOOL, OR THEY WERE TAKING A CENSUS-- "HOW MANY YOU GOT?

FOUR?

O.K."

YOU HAD TO STAY HOME.

THEY WERE COUNTING HEADS.

IT WAS HYSTERICAL, BUT YOU GOT TO SEE GAMES.

THE YANKEES AND THE DODGERS-- THERE WAS NOTHING LIKE IT.

IT WAS LIKE WATCHING ALI FIGHT EVERY DAY.

IT WAS THAT EXCITEMENT THAT YOU COULD JUST REMEMBER.

YOU TOOK THE PHONE OFF THE HOOK.

YOU DIDN'T DO ERRANDS.

YOU SCREAMED AT PEOPLE YOU LOVED, AND YOU ATE THINGS YOU NEVER WOULD EAT BEFORE.

YOU MADE YOUR DAY AROUND IT, THE WORLD SERIES.

YOU'D GET SOMETHING AT THE DELI.

YOU HAD IT ALL ORGANIZED FOR THE GAME.

YOU HAD IT ALL ORGANIZED FOR THE GAME.

[NARRATOR] IN 1955, THE DODGERS WON THE NATIONAL LEAGUE PENNANT FOR THE EIGHTH TIME.

SEVEN TIMES BROOKLYN HAD PLAYED IN THE WORLD SERIES, AND SEVEN TIMES THEY HAD BEEN DEFEATED, FORCED TO WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR.

BUT THE DODGERS WERE A GREAT TEAM IN 1955.

CENTER FIELDER DUKE SNIDER, THE SPORTING NEWS PLAYER OF THE YEAR, LED THE LEAGUE IN R.B.I.s.

GIL HODGES, THE VETERAN FIRST BASEMAN, HAD 27 HOME RUNS AND HIT .289.

CARL FURILLO, THE READING RIFLE, BATTED .314.

BUT JACKIE ROBINSON'S AGE WAS BEGINNING TO SHOW, AND HIS AVERAGE HAD FALLEN TO .256.

AND PITCHER JOHNNY PODRES HAD HAD A BAD YEAR, ALTHOUGH TWO OF HIS MOST IMPORTANT GAMES WERE AHEAD OF HIM.

ONCE AGAIN, THEY FACED THE NEW YORK YANKEES, WHO HAD ALREADY BEATEN THEM IN THE SERIES FIVE TIMES IN A ROW.

BROOKLYN FANS BRACED THEMSELVES FOR MORE DISAPPOINTMENT AS NEW YORK TOOK THE FIRST TWO GAMES DESPITE THE SPARKLING BASE RUNNING OF JACKIE ROBINSON.

NO TEAM IN HISTORY HAD EVER COME BACK FROM SO FAR BEHIND TO WIN A SEVEN-GAME SERIES.

WHEN 1955's WORLD SERIES CAME AROUND, THERE WAS THAT AWESOME FEAR THAT IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN AGAIN.

IN FACT, WHEN THE DODGERS LOST THE FIRST TWO GAMES, IT SEEMED IT WOULD HAPPEN AGAIN.

EBBETS FIELD FOR GAME NUMBER THREE.

THEM BUMS SNIFFED THE GOOD AIR OF FLATBUSH AND CAME TO LIFE.

EIGHTH INNING, SCORE TIED, ROY CAMPANELLA AGAINST VIC RASCHI.

CAMPY ATONED FOR PREVIOUS FAILURES AT THE PLATE.

HIS ROUND TRIPPER PUT THE DODGERS OUT FRONT IN GAME THREE.

[NARRATOR] THE BAT OF ROY CAMPANELLA AND PITCHING OF JOHNNY PODRES WON THE 3rd GAME FOR BROOKLYN, 8-3.

THE DODGERS TOOK THE FOURTH GAME WITH HOME RUNS BY CAMPANELLA, GIL HODGES, AND DUKE SNIDER.

IN GAME FIVE, TWO MORE HOME RUNS BY DUKE SNIDER AND ANOTHER BY OUTFIELDER SANDY AMOROS GAVE BROOKLYN THE WIN.

THE DODGERS WERE NOW AHEAD THREE GAMES TO TWO.

THEY HAD COME FROM BEHIND.

BUT FIVE YANKEE RUNS IN THE FIRST INNING OF THE SIXTH GAME BUILT NEW YORK AN INSURMOUNTABLE LEAD, AND THE DODGERS LOST.

THE SERIES STOOD AT 3-3.

THE SEVENTH AND DECIDING GAME WOULD BE PLAYED IN YANKEE STADIUM-- ENEMY TURF FOR BROOKLYN FANS.

IT WOULD BE JOHNNY PODRES' SECOND SERIES START.

BOB GRIM DELIVERS TO GIL HODGES, WHO SENDS A FLY BALL INTO RIGHT CENTER.

IN THE TOP OF THE SIXTH INNING, GIL HODGES DROVE IN HIS SECOND RUN FOR THE DODGERS.

JOHNNY PODRES HAD HELD NEW YORK SCORELESS THROUGH FIVE INNINGS.

IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH, THE YANKEES THREATENED.

HE WALKED BILLY MARTIN.

GIL McDOUGALD REACHED FIRST BASE ON A BUNT.

THE NEXT BATTER WAS YOGI BERRA.

[COSTAS] EVERYBODY IS SITTING THERE TRYING TO FIGURE HOW FATE WILL TURN ON THE DODGERS THIS TIME.

SURE, THEY'RE AHEAD 2-0.

SURE, THE GAME IS MORE THAN HALF OVER, BUT THESE ARE THE YANKEES, AND SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN.

YOGI BERRA THE BATTER.

THE OUTFIELD SWUNG TOWARD RIGHT.

HERE'S THE PITCH.

BERRA SWINGS.

PLAYING LEFT FIELD WAS SANDY AMOROS.

HE MAKES A SENSATIONAL RUNNING ONE-HAND CATCH... McDOUGALD WAS THROWN OUT TRYING TO GET BACK TO FIRST, AND THE NEXT BATTER, HANK BAUER, GROUNDED OUT.

THE YANKEE'S RALLY IS STYMIED.

IT WAS THE PLAY OF THE SERIES.

[COSTAS] AND I THINK THE VERY FACT THAT THAT PLAY STUFFED THE CHEERS BACK DOWN 60,000 YANKEE FANS' THROATS-- IT WAS--IT WAS THE EMOTION OF THAT MOMENT, THE SURPRISE OF THAT MOMENT, THAT ELEVATES THE PLAY.

BERRA IS BASICALLY A BULL HITTER.

BERRA NEVER HIT THE BALL THAT WAY.

AMOROS WAS PLAYING WAY OFF THE LINE.

WILL IT BE A GROUND-RULE DOUBLE, OR WILL IT STAY DOWN AND BOTH RUNNERS SCORE?

AND THEN, OUT OF NOWHERE, HERE COMES AMOROS, AND HE'S GOT THE GLOVE ON THE RIGHT HAND INSTEAD OF ON THE LEFT, WHICH MAKES THE PLAY POSSIBLE.

BAM!

HE'S GOT IT.

...AND THE YANKEE'S RALLY IS STYMIED.

I KNEW WE WOULD WIN.

THERE'S ALWAYS THESE OMENS.

WHEN THEY STRIKE OUT, YOU THINK THEY'RE GOING TO LOSE EVEN IF THEY WIN.

I KNEW THEN THEY WOULD WIN.

[NARRATOR] THE YANKEES THREATENED AGAIN IN THE EIGHTH, BUT PODRES SNUFFED THEM OUT.

IT WAS STILL 2-0, BROOKLYN.

IF PODRES COULD STOP THE YANKEES IN THE NINTH, THE DODGERS WOULD WIN THEIR FIRST WORLD SERIES.

IT'S A TENSE STRUGGLE INTO THE LAST OF THE NINTH.

PODRES PITCHING BRILLIANT BALL, ONE OUT TO GO.

ELSTON HOWARD GROUNDS TO SHORT.

REESE THROWS TO HODGES.

BROOKLYN WINS.

THE DODGERS GO WILD.

PODRES HURLS BROOKLYN TO ITS FIRST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.

FOR THE DODGERS, IT HAD ALWAYS BEEN "WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR," BUT THIS WAS THE YEAR.

MOMENTS HAVE A-- HAVE A TENDENCY, I THINK, TO RELATE TO YOUR AGE.

I WAS MORE IMPRESSIONABLE WHEN I FIRST STARTED.

THEREFORE, THE WINS AND THE LOSSES-- THE EUPHORIA WAS GREAT, THE DEPRESSION WAS DEEPER.

I THINK NOW I TAKE THINGS IN STRIDE.

I PUT THEM IN PROPER PERSPECTIVE.

MAYBE A MOMENT IN TIME-- HAPPY MOMENT--WOULD BE 1955 BECAUSE I KNEW THIS TEAM.

I KNEW THEIR FRUSTRATIONS.

I GREW UP WITH THEM EVEN THOUGH I WASN'T WORKING WITH THEM.

THE BROOKLYN DODGERS LOST TO THE YANKEES IN '41.

THEY LOST TO THEM IN '47.

THEY LOST IN '49.

THEY LOST IN '52 AND IN '53.

IT WAS JUST--GOSH.

IN '55, THEY DID THE REMARKABLE.

THEY WON IT, AND I WAS THE ONE ABLE TO SAY ON TELEVISION, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE DODGERS ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS."

THAT'S ALL I SAID.

NOT ANOTHER WORD.

PEOPLE SAID TO ME, "HOW COULD YOU HAVE BEEN SO CALM?"

I WASN'T.

I COULD NOT HAVE SAID ANOTHER WORD WITHOUT BREAKING DOWN IN TEARS.

TODAY WAS GRAND, BOYS!

IT WAS JUST TERRIFIC!

I JUST FEEL WONDERFUL.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY.

YOU FELT NERVOUS OUT THERE?

I FELT GOOD ALL THE WAY.

I WAS LIKE A PRO TODAY.

♪ GO!

JOHNNY!

GO!

♪ ♪ GO!

♪ ♪ GO!

JOHNNY!

GO!

♪ ♪ GO!

♪ ♪ GO!

JOHNNY!

GO!

♪ ♪ GO!

♪ ♪ JOHNNY B. GOODE... ♪ "PLEASE DON'T INTERRUPT, "BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE-- "THE BROOKLYN DODGERS, "CHAMPIONS OF THE BASEBALL WORLD.

"HONEST.

"AT PRECISELY 4:44 P.M. TODAY IN YANKEE STADIUM, "OFF CAME THE 52-YEAR SLUR ON THE ABILITY OF THE DODGERS "TO WIN A WORLD SERIES, "FOR AT THAT MOMENT, "THE LAST STRAINING YANKEE WAS OUT AT FIRST BASE, "AND THE DAY, THE GAME, AND THE 1955 SERIES BELONGED TO BROOKLYN."

SHIRLEY POVICH, WASHINGTON POST.

♪ GO!

♪ ♪ JOHNNY B. GOODE ♪♪ THE GAME WAS AT YANKEE STADIUM, AND THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE A CELEBRATION IN BROOKLYN, BUT THERE WAS A COUPLE HOURS IN-BETWEEN, SO MANY OF US IN THE DODGER GROUP WENT TO THE LEXINGTON HOTEL TO WASH AND RELAX.

IT WAS FALL.

FOOTBALL WAS IN THE AIR.

THE STREETS WERE QUIET.

THEY WERE GOING ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS.

WE LEFT THE LEXINGTON HOTEL, WENT THROUGH THE BATTERY TUNNEL, CAME OUT ON THE OTHER SIDE, AND IT WAS NEW ORLEANS CHAOS!

[CHEERING] [HORNS HONKING] [CLAPPING] [NARRATOR] TELEPHONE CIRCUITS IN THE BOROUGH COLLAPSED FROM OVERLOAD.

WESTERN UNION SENT AND RECEIVED THE GREATEST FLOOD OF TELEGRAMS SINCE V-J DAY.

CARAVANS OF HONKING CARS BLARED UP AND DOWN FLATBUSH AVENUE AND OCEAN PARKWAY.

THE SKIES OVER BROOKLYN FILLED WITH FIREWORKS, AND JOSEPH SADEN, OWNER OF JOE'S DELICATESSEN AT 342 UTICA AVENUE, SET UP A SIDEWALK STAND AND HANDED OUT FREE HOT DOGS-- A GESTURE ONE REPORTER SAID, "FOR A BROOKLYN MERCHANT, IS BUT ONE STEP FROM TOTAL NUMBNESS."

[DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN] AFTERWARDS MY FATHER CAME HOME FROM WORK, AND WE CELEBRATED THAT NIGHT, AND HE GAVE ME A LITTLE DRINK OF WINE, WHICH WAS THE FIRST ONE I'D EVER HAD.

THE NEXT DAY, THE NEWSPAPERS HAD, "WE AIN'T BUMS" OR, "THIS IS NEXT YEAR."

MY FATHER CUT IT OUT, AND WE HAD IT IN OUR KITCHEN FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER.

YOU KNOW, ALL OF THOSE YEARS, THE GREAT DYED-IN-THE-WOOL DODGER FAN HADN'T HAD A WORLD SERIES, AND THEY HAD SOME GOOD BALL CLUBS, AND THE GIANTS HAD, THE YANKS HAD, BUT THEY HADN'T WON.

SO NOW THEY WIN IT.

THAT WAS IT.

THAT WAS NEW YORK CITY WHEN IT WAS NEW YORK CITY.

WHEN YOU PAY OFF THE FIRST BASEMAN EVERY MONTH, WHO GETS THE MONEY?

EVERY DOLLAR OF IT.

EVERY DOLLAR OF IT.

WHO GETS IT?

HE DOES.

SOMETIMES HIS WIFE COMES OUT AND COLLECTS IT.

WHO'S WIFE?

YES.

WHY NOT, LOU?

HE'S EARNED IT.

WHO DID?

YES.

WHEN YOU PAY HIM, DO YOU GET A RECEIPT?

SURE.

HOW DOES HE SIGN HIS NAME?

WHO.

THE GUY YOU GIVE THE MONEY TO.

THAT'S HOW HE SIGNS IT.

THAT'S HOW WHO SIGNS IT?

YES.

YOU GO TO THE FIRST BASEMAN, YOU SAY, "HERE.

SIGN THE RECEIPT."

HOW DOES HE SIGN HIS NAME?

WHO.

THE GUY.

THAT'S HOW HE SIGNS IT.

THAT'S HOW WHO SIGNS IT?

YES.

YOU GOT TO GET A RECEIPT, DON'T YOU?

HOW DOES THE GUY ON FIRST BASE SIGN HIS NAME?

WHO.

THE GUY ON FIRST.

WHAT'S THE GUY'S NAME?

WHAT SIGNS HIS OWN.

WHO SIGNS HIS OWN?

NO.

WHO SIGNS HIS.

WHAT'S THE GUY'S NAME ON FIRST?

WHAT'S ON SECOND BASE.

I'M NOT ASKING WHO'S ON SECOND!

WHO'S ON FIRST.

I DON'T KNOW.

THIRD BASE.

THIRD BASE.

[CUOMO] IT WAS BEFORE TELEVISION.

IT WAS IN TOWNS WHERE THE POPULATION, LIKE BRUNSWICK, GEORGIA, COULD BE SOMETHING UNDER 15,000, AND YOU COULD GET 3,000 PEOPLE TO COME EVERY NIGHT.

NOW, IF YOU'RE UNDER 15,000, AND YOU TAKE OUT THE YOUNG, THOSE WHO WERE TOO OLD, THOSE WHO WERE WORKING AT THE GAS STATIONS, YOU GOT AN IMMENSE PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION TO COME TO THE BALL GAME.

IT WAS THEIR PRINCIPAL RECREATION, AND THEY TIED THEMSELVES EMOTIONALLY TO THESE PLAYERS IN THE MOST PROFOUND WAYS, AND I LOVED IT.

I WAS HIT BY A PITCH... AND HOSPITALIZED.

I WAS HIT ON A 3-2 PITCH-- BECAUSE I WAS DUG IN, AND YOU COULDN'T BACK AWAY-- GOT HIT IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD AND WAS OUT.

I HAD TROUBLE WITH MY EYESIGHT.

THAT ENDED THE SEASON FOR ME.

I WENT TO THE DOCTOR IN THE OFF-SEASON, AND THEY SAID, "TAKE ONE MORE SEASON OFF."

BY THEN, I GOT MARRIED, AND THAT WAS THE END OF MY CAREER.

I LIKE TO SAY THE RESIDUAL EFFECTS OF THE BLOOD CLOT EVENTUALLY DROVE ME INTO POLITICS, BUT I WAS NOT A GOOD PROSPECT, REALLY, DESPITE WHAT THE SCOUTING REPORTS SAID, BECAUSE I DIDN'T FEEL IT WAS RIGHT FOR ME.

THEREFORE, THERE WAS A LITTLE BIT OF RESERVE.

I DIDN'T GIVE IT EVERYTHING BECAUSE I DIDN'T THINK I WAS GOOD ENOUGH.

WE LEARN FROM THE REST OF OUR LIVES YOU CAN'T MAKE IT ANYWHERE UNLESS YOU GO ALL-OUT, AND THAT'S PART OF BASEBALL, TOO.

[NARRATOR] THE YANKEES AND DODGERS FACED OFF AGAIN IN 1956, AND ONCE AGAIN, THE SERIES WENT TO SEVEN GAMES BEFORE NEW YORK BEAT BROOKLYN FOR THE 6th TIME IN 15 YEARS.

MICKEY MANTLE ACHIEVES HIS THIRD HOME RUN OF THE SERIES.

BUT IT WAS THE FIFTH GAME THAT MADE BASEBALL HISTORY.

ON OCTOBER 8, 1956, YANKEE DON LARSEN, A MEDIOCRE PITCHER, DID SOMETHING NO OTHER MAN HAD EVER DONE BEFORE IN A WORLD SERIES.

THERE'S A SUPERSTITION IN BASEBALL THAT WHEN YOU'RE PITCHING A NO HITTER, YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT IT, AND HE WAS TRYING TO GET SOMEBODY TO TALK TO HIM.

HE SAID, "MICK, I'M PITCHING A PERFECT GAME HERE."

I'M TRYING TO LEAVE HIM BY HIMSELF, AND HE WAS GOING AROUND TO EVERYBODY.

IT'S SOMETHING YOU DON'T DO.

WELL, ALL RIGHT.

LET'S ALL TAKE A DEEP BREATH.

YANKEE STADIUM'S SHIVERING IN ITS CONCRETE FOUNDATION RIGHT NOW.

MR. DON LARSEN.

DALE MITCHELL UP THERE WITH TWO AWAY IN THE TOP OF THE NINTH.

HERE'S THE PITCH.

A STRIKE CALL.

BATTER'S 1-1, AND THIS CROWD, JUST STRAINING FORWARD AT EVERY PITCH.

I'LL GUARANTEE THAT NOBODY, BUT NOBODY, HAS LEFT THIS BALL PARK.

HERE IT COMES.

A SWING AND A MISS.

TWO STRIKES, BALL ONE, TO DALE MITCHELL.

LARSEN IS READY, GETS THE SIGN.

TWO STRIKES, BALL ONE.

HERE COMES THE PITCH.

STRIKE THREE!

A NO HITTER!

A PERFECT GAME FOR DON LARSEN!

YOGI BERRA RUNS OUT THERE!

HE LEAPS ON LARSEN!

AND HE'S SWARMED BY HIS TEAMMATES!

LISTEN TO THIS CROWD ROAR!

THE FIRST WORLD SERIES NO HITTER-- A PERFECT PERFORMANCE BY DON LARSEN.

[NARRATOR] IT WAS A PERFECT GAME-- 27 BATTERS UP, 27 BATTERS OUT.

NO RUNS, NO HITS...

I WAS IN SCHOOL IN A TOUGH NEW YORK PUBLIC SCHOOL.

EVERY TEACHER WAS LETTING US LISTEN.

IT WAS THE SEVENTH INNING.

WE GOT TO OUR FRENCH CLASS, TAUGHT BY A CRUSTY TEACHER WHO DIDN'T KNOW HER BASEBALL.

I WAS APPOINTED TO PLEAD.

I SAID, "YOU'VE GOT TO LET US LISTEN.

THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED IN BASEBALL."

SHE SAID, "THIS IS A FRENCH CLASS."

BOB HACKER, WHO WAS A DODGER FAN, SNUCK A RADIO IN WITH EARPHONES.

HALFWAY THROUGH, I FEEL THIS SEPULCHRAL TAP ON MY SHOULDER.

HE'S ASHEN, AND HE SAYS, "THAT BASTARD DID IT."

SO I THREW MY JACKET UP IN THE AIR.

MRS. GURRIN WAS TEACHING THE DECLENSION OF THE VERB ECRIRE.

SHE LOOKED AT ME ICILY, KNOWING WHAT HAD HAPPENED, AND SAID, "I'M SURE ECRIRE CAN'T BE THAT EXCITING."

64,517 HAVE SEEN IT, MILLIONS MORE ON TELEVISION.

[NARRATOR] IT WOULD BE THE LAST WORLD SERIES THE BROOKLYN DODGERS WOULD EVER PLAY IN.

...RETIRING 27 DODGERS IN A ROW.

ON AUGUST 19, 1957, IN THE CAPITAL OF BASEBALL, THE NEW YORK GIANTS MADE AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT STUNNED THE CITY-- THEY WERE MOVING TO SAN FRANCISCO.

[ANGELL] THE LOSS OF THE GIANTS WAS ABSOLUTELY HEARTBREAKING, ABSOLUTELY HEARTBREAKING.

I WENT TO THE LAST GAME WITH MY DAUGHTER, AND I JUST COULDN'T BELIEVE THIS WAS HAPPENING.

IT WAS AS IF BASEBALL ITSELF WAS ENDING.

[NARRATOR] THEIR LAST GAME IN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS SEPTEMBER 29, 1957.

THE GIANTS LOST.

THE MOVE WAS GOING TO BE MADE ANYWAY.

AT THE TIME SAN FRANCISCO WAS BROACHED TO US, MINNEAPOLIS WAS THE CITY WE WERE GOING TO MOVE TO.

WE HAD A FARM TEAM IN MINNEAPOLIS.

WE HADN'T BEEN DRAWING PEOPLE IN THE POLO GROUNDS-- 600,000 ONE YEAR, THEN ANOTHER 600,000-- SO THE MOVE WAS A NECESSITY.

SAN FRANCISCO CAME TO US, AND WE WERE DELIGHTED THAT WE MADE THAT SWITCH.

IT RIPPED AT THE LOYALTIES OF PEOPLE WHO FELT THAT THE TEAMS WERE LOYAL TO THEM.

IT WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST TIME IN 20, 30 YEARS THAT FANS WERE REMINDED THAT THIS WAS A BUSINESS.

[NARRATOR] THERE WAS MORE BAD NEWS IN FLATBUSH.

"BROOKLYN-- "A COMMUNITY OF OVER THREE MILLION PEOPLE-- "PROUD, HURT, JEALOUS, "SEEKING GEOGRAPHICAL, SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL STATUS "AS A CITY APART, ALONE, AND SUFFICIENT.

"ONE COULD NOT LIVE FOR EIGHT YEARS IN BROOKLYN "AND NOT CATCH ITS SPIRIT OF DEVOTION "TO ITS BASEBALL CLUB, "SUCH AS NO OTHER CITY IN AMERICA EQUALED.

"CALL IT LOYALTY, AND SO IT WAS.

"IT WOULD BE A CRIME "AGAINST A COMMUNITY OF THREE MILLION PEOPLE "TO MOVE THE DODGERS.

"A BASEBALL CLUB IN ANY CITY IN AMERICA "IS A QUASI-PUBLIC INSTITUTION, "AND IN BROOKLYN, THE DODGERS WERE PUBLIC WITHOUT THE QUASI."

BRANCH RICKEY.

WELL, I CAN REMEMBER, IN THE SUMMER OF '56, WHEN THE RUMORS STARTED, I NEVER, EVER BELIEVED THEY WERE GOING TO LEAVE.

I REMEMBER ASKING MY FATHER, "IT CAN'T HAPPEN, CAN IT?"

HE SAID, "DON'T WORRY.

SOMETHING WILL WORK OUT."

WE USED TO GET ANGRY WHEN THEY'D TALK MEANLY ABOUT EBBETS FIELD.

IT WAS LIKE AN ASPERSION ON US SOMEHOW.

THEY KEPT SAYING, "IT'S DILAPIDATED.

IT'S IN A RUN-DOWN AREA.

NOBODY WANTS TO GO."

WE WANTED TO GO THERE ALL THE TIME, SO THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT LEAVING US BEHIND.

[NARRATOR] DODGER OWNER WALTER O'MALLEY HAD INHERITED A POORLY RUN FRANCHISE, WORKED HARD TO TURN IT INTO A WINNER, AND THEN WATCHED AS ATTENDANCE DECLINED STEADILY THROUGHOUT THE FIFTIES.

NIGHT BASEBALL HAD ONCE LIFTED THE FORTUNES OF THE DODGERS, BUT NOW WHITE FANS WERE MORE AND MORE RELUCTANT TO TRAVEL TO THE BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD FLATBUSH HAD BECOME.

O'MALLEY LOATHED BRANCH RICKEY, WHOM HE HAD MANEUVERED OUT OF HIS JOB IN 1950, TOOK A DIM VIEW OF THE BLACK CROWDS COMING TO EBBETS FIELD, AND CLAIMED HE WAS LOSING MONEY, EVEN THOUGH THE DODGERS WERE ONE OF BASEBALL'S RICHEST CLUBS.

WHEN HE SAW HOW MUCH THE BRAVES WERE MAKING IN MILWAUKEE, O'MALLEY DEMANDED THAT NEW YORK BUILD HIM A NEW STADIUM, OR HE'D TAKE HIS TEAM ELSEWHERE.

DO YOU FEEL THAT A BALL-CLUB OWNER HAS THE RIGHT TO MOVE HIS BALL CLUB?

NO.

I FEEL THAT A FRANCHISE BELONGS TO THE CITY, REGARDLESS WHAT CITY IT IS IN.

THE PEOPLE OF BROOKLYN RALLIED TO KEEP THEIR TEAM.

"DEAR MR. MAYOR, I CANNOT IMPRESS UPON YOU ENOUGH "HOW IMPORTANT IT IS "TO KEEP THE DODGERS IN BROOKLYN.

"IT KEEPS CHILDREN OFF THE STREETS DURING THE DAY.

"INSTEAD OF ACTING LIKE TOUGH GUYS, "THEY TRY TO IMITATE DUKE SNIDER, PEE WEE REESE, "ROY CAMPANELLA.

"AND THE DODGERS, BEING COMPOSED "OF NEGROES, SPANISH, AND WHITES, "ARE A GOOD EXAMPLE OF HOW GOOD YOU CAN GET "IF EVERYONE WORKS TOGETHER, REGARDLESS OF RACE OR COLOR.

RESPECTFULLY YOURS, T.

CIAPPINA."

"DEAR MAYOR WAGNER, I'M A MAN OF VERY FEW WORDS, "SO I WILL COME STRAIGHT TO THE POINT.

"I VOTED FOR YOU.

I PAY YOUR SALARY.

"I WANT THE DODGERS IN BROOKLYN.

"I DON'T WANT ANY EXCUSE "FROM YOU OR ANY OF YOUR MEN AT CITY HALL.

"I WANT THE DODGERS IN BROOKLYN!

"AND YOU CAN DO IT "BY BUILDING THE SPORTS CENTER.

"YOU HAD BETTER GET IT BUILT, OR YOU'LL NOT GET A VOTE FROM ME."

SIGNED R. CUCCO.

THE CITY REFUSED TO BOW TO O'MALLEY'S DEMANDS, AND HE ANNOUNCED HE WOULD MOVE THE DODGERS 3,013 MILES AWAY TO LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, FOR THE 1958 SEASON.

[CRYSTAL] IT WAS, UH, YOUR UNCLE DIED.

IT WAS A DEATH IN THE FAMILY.

I WASN'T REALLY A DODGER FAN, BUT YOU LOVED THAT THEY WERE THERE BECAUSE THERE WAS TREMENDOUS TALENT ON THAT TEAM-- JACKIE AND GIL AND DUKE AND PEE WEE AND ROY.

EVEN THOUGH I WAS A YANKEE FAN, YOU'D ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY WERE GREAT TEAMS.

IT WAS REALLY LIKE A DEATH IN THE FAMILY, AND THERE WAS GREAT MOURNING, AND THEN COMPLICATED BY THE FACT THAT THE GIANTS LEFT.

SO TWO--TWO GREAT SPIRITS REALLY LEFT NEW YORK, AND I THINK IT WAS A REALLY SAD TIME.

I FELT BAD ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT WAS THAT, "IF THEY COULD LEAVE, IF BASEBALL COULD LEAVE, WHAT ABOUT--WHAT'S NEXT?"

I REMEMBER, IN OCTOBER OF '57, WHEN THE CITY COUNCIL IN LOS ANGELES FINALLY OK'd THE DEAL AND MY FATHER CAME HOME THAT NIGHT, I REMEMBER HUGGING HIM AND CRYING.

I WAS THEN 14 YEARS OLD.

I WASN'T LITTLE.

IT WAS AS IF MY CHILDHOOD WAS OVER.

IN FACT, MY MOTHER DIED A COUPLE MONTHS AFTER THAT.

WE MOVED TO AN APARTMENT AND LOST THE DODGERS.

WE NEVER TRANSFERRED OUR ALLEGIANCE TO LOS ANGELES.

BASEBALL WAS GONE FROM OUR LIVES UNTIL HE BECAME A METS FAN IN THE SIXTIES, AND I BECAME A RED SOX FAN.

THAT WAS THE GREAT TRAGIC MOMENT IN THE FIFTIES OF NEW YORK.

IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE WE OBSERVE TODAY.

1958, O'MALLEY AND STONEHAM DECIDED TO PULL THEIR TEAMS OUT.

BOTH WERE PROFITABLE.

THERE WERE JUST MORE PROFITS IN CALIFORNIA.

IT WAS A CYNICAL, PURELY COMMERCIALLY ORIENTED MOVE, WHICH WAS IMMENSELY PROFITABLE IN THAT NARROW SENSE AND RIPPED OUT NEW YORK CITY'S SOUL.

[NARRATOR] ON SEPTEMBER 24, 1957, A FEW THOUSAND DODGER FANS TURNED OUT TO SEE THE LAST GAME AT EBBETS FIELD.

GIL HODGES DROVE IN THE LAST RUN, BUT BROOKLYN LOST.

THINGS WENT FROM BAD TO WORSE.

ROY CAMPANELLA, THEIR BELOVED CATCHER, WAS PERMANENTLY PARALYZED IN A CAR CRASH IN JANUARY OF 1958.

A DEEP, DEEP SADNESS.

YOU KNOW, THERE'S A THEOLOGIAN, MICHAEL NOVAK, WHO SAYS THAT A COMMUNITY IS BETTER OFF LOSING ITS OPERA HOUSE OR ITS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OR ITS CHURCH-- HERE'S A THEOLOGIAN SPEAKING-- THAN ITS BALL TEAM.

BROOKLYN HAS NEVER BEEN THE SAME SINCE THE DODGERS WERE TAKEN AWAY.

[NARRATOR] BUT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIANS WERE DELIGHTED.

TO THEM, WALTER O'MALLEY WAS A HERO-- THE MAN WHO HAD BROUGHT THEM MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL.

AT FIRST, THEY PLAYED IN THE LOS ANGELES COLISEUM WHILE A BRAND-NEW STADIUM WAS BEING BUILT JUST NORTH OF CITY HALL.

JACKIE ROBINSON DID NOT GO WEST WITH THE DODGERS.

HE HAD RETIRED AT THE END OF THE 1956 SEASON, WEARY AND SUFFERING FROM 10 YEARS OF INJURIES AND ABUSE BUT STILL DETERMINED TO FULLY INTEGRATE THE GAME.

"WHEN THINGS LOOK DARK, VOID, AND ALTOGETHER HOPELESS "TO THE COLORED YOUTH OF AMERICA, "WHEN THEY NEED AN INSPIRING THOUGHT "THAT SHOULD URGE THEM ONWARD TO THE ROAD OF ACHIEVEMENT, "DESPITE FORBIDDING OBSTACLES, "THEY WILL ONLY NEED TO READ AND REFLECT UPON THE REMARKABLE CAREER OF JACKIE ROBINSON."

KANSAS CITY CALL.

MY FATHER AND I HAD NOTHING IN COMMON, SAD TO SAY, NOTHING, EXCEPT BASEBALL.

MY FATHER TOOK ME TO YANKEE STADIUM IN 1959.

I WAS 7 YEARS OLD.

THE YANKEES LOST TO THE ORIOLES, 7-2.

MANTLE DIDN'T PLAY.

HE WAS HURT.

AND AT THAT TIME, AFTER THE GAME WAS OVER, YOU COULD LEAVE BY WAY OF THE FIELD.

THEY'D OPEN UP THE BULLPEN GATES, AND YOU COULD WALK AROUND THE WARNING TRACK, TAKE IN THE ENTIRE MAJESTIC, ENORMOUS BALL PARK, AND THEN WALK OUT OF THE BULLPENS INTO THE STREET.

GAME WAS OVER, AND MY FATHER TOOK ME BY THE HAND AND WALKED ME PAST THE DUGOUTS.

LOOKED INTO THOSE DUGOUTS AND THOUGHT TO MYSELF, "MICKEY MANTLE SAT THERE.

WHITEY FORD SAT THERE."

AND I WAS CAREFUL, CAREFUL NOT TO DISTURB ANYTHING.

LOOKED DOWN AT THE RED CLAY OF THE WARNING TRACK, BUT I WOULDN'T KICK IT.

I WAS A VISITOR.

I WAS BEING ALLOWED TO SEE THIS.

AND WE GOT OUT TO DEAD CENTER FIELD, WHERE THE MONUMENTS TO RUTH AND HUGGINS AND GEHRIG WERE, AND I STOOD THERE, 7 YEARS OLD, AND I STARTED TO CRY.

AND PART OF IT WAS JUST THE SURROUNDINGS-- SO IMPRESSIVE, THE FACADE, THE ENORMITY OF THE PLACE.

A 7-YEAR-OLD KID COULDN'T SEE OVER THE MOUND FROM THAT DISTANCE.

HOME PLATE SEEMED A MILE AWAY.

THE PLACE WAS SO IMPOSING, BUT ALSO, I REALLY THOUGHT THAT THESE GUYS WERE BURIED THERE.

I THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS A SACRED YANKEE BURIAL GROUND, AND SURELY WHEN DiMAGGIO AND MANTLE PASSED AWAY, THEY'D BE BURIED THERE, TOO.

MY FATHER TRIED TO EXPLAIN THAT, YES, THESE MEN WERE DEAD, BUT THEY'RE BURIED SOMEWHERE ELSE.

I WOULD HAVE NONE OF IT.

I WAS CONVINCED THAT THAT WAS THEIR TOMBSTONE.

NOW, IF YOU ASK ME, "WHAT IS THE HAPPIEST MEMORY OF YOUR FATHER?"

TO ME, THAT DAY.

[NARRATOR] ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1960, AT FENWAY PARK IN BOSTON, 42-YEAR-OLD TED WILLIAMS-- THE LAST MAN TO HIT .400-- CAME TO BAT FOR THE LAST TIME IN HIS CAREER.

INJURIES THE SEASON BEFORE HAD BROUGHT HIS BATTING AVERAGE BELOW .300 FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND HE HAD FELT SO BAD ABOUT IT THAT HE HAD VOLUNTEERED FOR A CUT IN PAY.

DESPITE STEADY PAIN FROM A PINCHED NERVE IN HIS NECK, HE HAD BROUGHT HIS AVERAGE BACK UP AGAIN TO .316 IN 1960, AND DESPITE HAVING MISSED FOUR SEASONS IN THE MILITARY, HAD A LIFETIME TOTAL OF 520 HOME RUNS AND HAD COMPILED THE HIGHEST CAREER BATTING AVERAGE SINCE ROGERS HORNSBY--.344.

NOW HE HAD FINALLY HAD ENOUGH.

10,454 LOYAL FANS CAME OUT TO SAY GOOD-BYE.

[TED WILLIAMS] LOUSY DAY--DAMP, DRIZZLY, HEAVY.

AND I HIT TWO BALLS THAT I THINK SOME DAYS WOULD HAVE GONE OUT FOR SURE, BUT THIS DAY THEY DIDN'T.

BUT THE LAST TIME UP, I GOT THE COUNT 2-0 ON FISHER, AND I MISSED A BALL.

I DON'T KNOW YET HOW I MISSED THAT BALL.

I KNOW HE THOUGHT HE THREW IT BY ME, AND HE COULDN'T WAIT.

NOW, THERE IS AN EXPERIENCE, UH, THOUGHT THERE BECAUSE I COULD JUST SENSE, HE SAID, "GEE, GIVE ME THAT BALL.

I'LL THROW ANOTHER ONE BY HIM."

SURE ENOUGH, HE COME BACK WITH THE SAME PITCH, AND I HIT IT GOOD, AND IT WENT FOR A HOME RUN, WHICH IS KIND OF A STORYBOOK FINISH.

...LIKE TO HIT ONE OUT.

THERE'S A DRIVE TO DEEP RIGHT CENTER!

THIS MAY BE GONE!

HOME RUN--TED WILLIAMS!

[NARRATOR] WILLIAMS HIT IT INTO THE RED SOX BULLPEN, SCATTERING HIS TEAMMATES.

THEN HE CIRCLED THE BASES FOR THE LAST TIME.

HIS LONG CAREER OF FEUDING WITH THE FANS AND THE PRESS WAS OVER.

SOME HOPED HE MIGHT FINALLY TIP HIS CAP, SOMETHING HE HADN'T DONE SINCE HIS ROOKIE YEAR.

I JUST--I JUST COULDN'T DO IT.

I EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT IT GOING AROUND THE BASES, KNOWING THIS IS MY LAST TIME THERE.

IT WAS 80/20 OF NOT DOING IT.

THERE WAS JUST A THOUGHT.

[NARRATOR] "I HAD A REALLY WARM FEELING," HE SAID LATER, "BUT IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ME."

[COSTAS] FOR MY MONEY, TED WILLIAMS WAS THE GREATEST HITTER OF ALL TIME.

I'D TAKE HIM OVER RUTH.

I'D TAKE HIM OVER COBB.

I'D TAKE HIM OVER COBB BECAUSE OF THE COMBINATION OF POWER AND AVERAGE, AND WITH RUTH, YOU CAN ONLY SPECULATE ABOUT WHAT HE WOULD HAVE DONE IN THE MODERN ERA.

WILLIAMS HIT .388 AT THE AGE OF 39 IN 1957.

HE WAS WHAT FEW OF US EVER BECOME.

HE WAS EXACTLY WHAT HE SET OUT TO BE.

HE SAID HE WANTED TO HAVE PEOPLE SAY, "THERE GOES THE GREATEST HITTER WHO EVER LIVED," AND IF THEY DON'T SAY THAT, IT'S ONLY BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT.

[CUOMO] LET ME EXPLAIN TO YOU HOW BIG $2,000 WAS.

MICKEY MANTLE SIGNED THE YEAR BEFORE WITH THE YANKEES FOR 1,100 BUCKS.

I GOT 2,000 THE NEXT YEAR.

WE WERE TOGETHER IN BUFFALO AT A DRUG RALLY, AND MICKEY MANTLE SAID, "THE TWO DUMBEST SCOUTS SIGNED ME AND CUOMO.

"THEY SIGNED ME FOR ONLY 1,100, "AND I WENT TO THE HALL OF FAME.

"THEY SIGNED HIM FOR 2,000, AND HE STILL COULDN'T HIT A BARN WITH A PADDLE."

THE BONUS MONEY EVENTUALLY WOUND UP ON THE HAND OF MATILDA RAFFA, WHO BECAME MATILDA RAFFA CUOMO.

I BOUGHT A RING FOR MATILDA, GOT MARRIED, AND IT'S WONDERFUL.

IN ADDITION TO ALL THE OTHER MAGNIFICENT THINGS THAT I'VE HAD OUT OF THAT MARRIAGE WITH MATILDA, I HAVE THE PERMANENT RECOLLECTION OF A SCOUT'S MISTAKE.

♪ YEAH ♪ [BAT HITS BALL] ♪ YEAH ♪ ♪ A-DID YOU SEE JACKIE ROBINSON HIT THAT BALL?

♪ ♪ IT WENT ZOOMING 'CROSS THE LEFT-FIELD WALL ♪ ♪ HEY, BOY ♪ ♪ YES, YES, JACKIE HIT THAT BALL ♪ ♪ HE SWUNG HIS BAT, AND THE CROWD WENT WILD ♪ ♪ 'CAUSE HE HIT THAT BALL A SOLID MILE ♪ ♪ HEY, BOY ♪ ♪ OH, YES, YES, JACKIE HIT THAT BALL ♪ ♪ WELL, NOW, SATCHEL PAIGE IS MELLOW ♪ ♪ AND SO IS CAMPANELLA ♪ ♪ NEWCOMBE AND DOBY, TOO ♪ ♪ BUT IT'S A NATURAL FACT WHEN JACKIE COMES TO BAT ♪ ♪ THE OTHER TEAM IS THROUGH ♪ ♪ A-DID YOU SEE JACKIE ROBINSON HIT THAT BALL?

♪ ♪ REALLY HIT IT, YES, AND THAT AIN'T ALL ♪ ♪ HE STOLE HOME ♪ ♪ YES, YES, JACKIE'S REAL GONE ♪ ♪ A BOO A DOO, DOO DOO DOO DOO ♪ ♪ DUB A DUB A DOY ♪ ♪ DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH DOY, OH!

♪ ♪ A-DID YOU SEE JACKIE ROBINSON HIT THAT BALL?

♪ ♪ REALLY HIT IT, YES, AND THAT AIN'T ALL ♪ ♪ HE STOLE HOME ♪ ♪ YES, YES, JACKIE'S REAL GONE ♪ ♪ YES, JACKIE'S ♪ ♪ HE'S A REAL GONE GUY ♪ ♪ DOO WOOO-OOO... ♪♪