Dan Steinberg, Washington Post, October 2, 2014:
When eight cans of nitrate film arrived at the Library of Congress in August, a staffer began a routine inspection ... [and] noticed a headline screaming out from one of the newsreels: "SENATORS WIN WORLD SERIES," it said. "40,000 frantic fans see American Leaguers take 12-inning deciding game, 4 to 3." ...Old habits die hard — players were sliding into first base 95 years ago!!
[The reel contained] nearly four minutes of footage ... that somehow had remained in nearly perfect condition for 90 years. Bucky Harris hitting a home run, Walter Johnson pitching four innings of scoreless relief, Muddy Ruel scoring the winning run, fans storming Griffith Stadium's field ...
"Nitrate film, sometimes it looks great, sometimes it doesn't [it's flammable and degrades quickly]. We never know what we're going to get," said Mike Mashon, the head of the Library's moving image section. "The fact that it looks so great is a miracle." ...
The back story is just as miraculous. The mother of one of Mashon's Packard Campus colleagues was recently named the executor of an estate left behind by an older neighbor outside of Worcester, Mass. While preparing the house for sale, her family found these eight reels of film — "in the rafters of the detached and not climate-controlled garage, a space we archivists would not normally recommend for long term storage of motion picture film," Mashon wrote in an e-mail.
President Calvin Coolidge and Senators pitcher Walter Johnson,
then 37 years old and in his 19th major league season
then 37 years old and in his 19th major league season
and he was (from 1:06-1:09) running in fair territory until he dove.
ReplyDeleteI love the windmill the pitchers give their arms, presumably not with men on base....
ReplyDeleteFascinating Footage
ReplyDeleteIt is obvious Coolidge was more popular than Dump !
Would've loved it IF the entire Nats team had told Dump to stick it ......
Loved it even more if Sean Doolittle had thrown a Fastball at the Orange Scone !