Just what I needed to get in the mood for spring training.
The first thing I like to do after seeing a film about historic events is to check the accuracy as portrayed.
Burt Shotton was actually the manager of the Dodgers in 1947, after the firing of Leo Durocher, the team was without a manager on opening day until Shotton was hired by Branch Rickey. Clyde Sukeforth served as interim manager for one day. All of the Dodgers portrayed were actually members of the team at the time: Ralph Branca, Eddy Stanky, Pee Wee Reese, Dixie Walker, and Kirby Higbe (Higbe was 2-0 with Brooklyn before his ill-fated trade to Pittsburgh, where he was 11-17).
Ben Chapman was indeed the manager for the Phillies, and Fritz Ostermueller was a pitcher for Pittsburgh.
There were also pretty realistic images of Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds, even though those ball parks have been long ago torn down.
I especially like the guy who played Leo Durocher, by the way, though I believe the real reason for his suspension from baseball for one year was due to his association with gamblers and some shady underworld characters, not for his running around with women. His world-famous quote, though, "Nice guys finish last" made it in the script.
My only concern is, this film and almost all of the Academy Award nominated films this year depicted racism at its ugliest. Why is Hollywood so interested in continuing to stir up hatred between the races over something that happened so long ago, very few people are still alive today who even remember it? By the way, Jackie Robinson was not the first black player to play in the major leagues. Moses Fleetwood Walker played 46 games for the Toledo Blue Stockings in the American Association in 1884, 63 years before Robinson.
The first thing I like to do after seeing a film about historic events is to check the accuracy as portrayed.
Burt Shotton was actually the manager of the Dodgers in 1947, after the firing of Leo Durocher, the team was without a manager on opening day until Shotton was hired by Branch Rickey. Clyde Sukeforth served as interim manager for one day. All of the Dodgers portrayed were actually members of the team at the time: Ralph Branca, Eddy Stanky, Pee Wee Reese, Dixie Walker, and Kirby Higbe (Higbe was 2-0 with Brooklyn before his ill-fated trade to Pittsburgh, where he was 11-17).
Ben Chapman was indeed the manager for the Phillies, and Fritz Ostermueller was a pitcher for Pittsburgh.
There were also pretty realistic images of Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds, even though those ball parks have been long ago torn down.
I especially like the guy who played Leo Durocher, by the way, though I believe the real reason for his suspension from baseball for one year was due to his association with gamblers and some shady underworld characters, not for his running around with women. His world-famous quote, though, "Nice guys finish last" made it in the script.
My only concern is, this film and almost all of the Academy Award nominated films this year depicted racism at its ugliest. Why is Hollywood so interested in continuing to stir up hatred between the races over something that happened so long ago, very few people are still alive today who even remember it? By the way, Jackie Robinson was not the first black player to play in the major leagues. Moses Fleetwood Walker played 46 games for the Toledo Blue Stockings in the American Association in 1884, 63 years before Robinson.