Korean Job Discussion Forums

[canuckistan]

Am watching it again these days and it's so great. But then I'm a baseball fan.
9 "innings" of 2 hrs long. Being reminded of what a *beep* Ty Cobb was, but also his records.

The 1927 NY Yankees team.

I'm going to watch the 5th inning next.

It's all downloadable on bit torrent and it's fabulous.

[jajdude]

Ah, yes, that was good. I don't remember when, I think I watched it a good ten years ago. Two or three of my brothers and I are all big baseball fans, and we'd look forward to the next inning.

The history of the sport is really interesting I think, even for those who aren't so into the sport. We're talking about different eras in America as well as the game and its influence. Players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jackie Robinson were in some ways larger than just the game.

Yeah, I'm a fan too.

[Smee]

Pardon me, but I'd like to hijack this thread: What torrent did you use to get it? Is it called "bit torrent"? I ask b/c I've been using limewire but the video files never work on any of my players. Thanks!

[Ya-ta Boy]

Ken Burns does good stuff. I have his Civil War on tape and watch it once or twice a year. I'd forgotten he was going to make one about baseball. I'll have to check it out.

[kimchi_pizza]

Pretty much all of his documentaries are great. Civil War is the best as well as Baseball. You should also try to watch the ones on Lewis and Clark and another on Thomas Jefferson. Those are great as well. The only one I couldn't get into was Jazz. Guess I'm just not enough of a Jazz fan, but did give the video a try.

[Woland]

While I'm here in Kentucky, I've bought The New Bill james Historical Baseball Abstract to keep myself busy. If you are a willing to put up with some dense statistical analysis (which can also be skipped), it would be the perfect reading supplement to the Burns' films. It gives a decade by decade history of the game, followed by rankings of the top one hundred players at each position in the history of the game. The discussions of each player aren't about the player but about issues that their presence on the list raises about baseball. And some are just funny. Truly a great book.

Assorted comments from the book:

Bobby Bonilla (#41 among third basemen): "When I said that Carney lansofrd was an awful third baseman, I didn't mean, of course, that he was as bad as Bobby Bonilla. Bonilla, listed at 240 pounds, has played about 8,000 career innings at third base, so I suppose that makes him a third baseman, and if you sent him into space a few times, I suppose that would make him an astronaut, but apart from that, he was no more a third baseman than he was an astronaut. But he never gave up; he never let the position beat him, like a lot of people do. He had a good arma nd surprisingly quick feet for a big guy and if you put him at third base he would battle it as hard as he could battle it for nine innings, so managers always felt they could put him at third base if they needed to, to get his bat in the lineup. He was a terrific hitter, and he helped a lot of teams, at third base and in the outfield."

Sandy Koufax (#10 among pitchers): "3. Koufax, like Gibson, would have an entirely different career if he pitched today. After missing the end of the 1964 season with a circulatory ailment, he reportedly had a spring training game the next year in which he threw more than 150 pitches. The Dodgers wanted to find out how his arm would hold up to pitching a complete game. SUre enough, his elbow swelled up like a cantaloupe, but the Dodgers didn't back off. Their attitude was, 'We don't need Sandy to be a spot starter. We don't need Sandy Koufax to be a seven-inning pitcher. We need him to take his turn every fourth day and win, and we need to find out whether he can do that or not.

Now, of course, that approach is unthinkable. In the modern world, the team would think, 'We've got to protect Sandy at all costs.' He'd come out of the game after 6, 7 innings, they'd push back his start if his elbow swelled up, he'd go on the DL when it really started to hurt. He'd wind up the year 16-5 rather than 26-7, but he'd pitch until he was 40, rahter than being forced into retirement at 30."

[huffdaddy]

[canuckistan]

[Doogie]

[Ya-ta Boy]

This is the kind of thing Ken Burns finds and puts in his work:

Sullivan Ballou Letter

July 14, 1861
Camp Clark, Washington

My very dear Sarah:
The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days�perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write again, I feel impelled to write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more . . .

I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans on the triumph of the Government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and sufferings of the Revolution. And I am willing�perfectly willing�to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt . . .

Sarah my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me unresistibly on with all these chains to the battle field.

The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them for so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our sons grown up to honorable manhood, around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me�perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar, that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battle field, it will whisper your name. Forgive my many faults and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have often times been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness . . .

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the gladdest days and in the darkest nights . . . always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again . . .

Sullivan Ballou was killed a week later at the first Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861.

[kimchi_pizza]

The Sullivan Ballou letter is one of the best pieces and most moving ever written hands down.

After watching Civil War I even spent a whole spring break visiting many of more famous battle sites. Bull Run, Harper's Ferry (Amazingly unchanged!), Gettysburg, etc. I highly recommend it!

[tweeterdj]