Jackie Robinson Bio A Few Details Short of a Home Run

I just came back from seeing 42, the new bio picture about Jackie Robinson. I did read a few reviews that mixed about the movie, mainly about how the story was told. Here's my takes, and it will include some spoilers...

The movie does lack several details that would have improved the story, and what Robinson really meant to baseball and this nation. It's still a good baseball movie that traces Robinson's road from the Negro Leagues to the major leagues, but it was just only the basics about Jackie's struggles. We see fans upset that he's on the field, plus racist remarks from opposing players. That was what was party of the first movie about him. Why not add a few more details, mainly about those who wanted him to play and those who didn't.

Sportswriter Wendell Smith, who plays a big part in the movie, could have mentioned early in the film how he tried to convince baseball owners that adding the best of the Negro Leagues could help them and the game...only to be ignored. In fact, Smith was about as welcome in the press box as Jackie was on the field.

If you saw PBS' Baseball mini-series, you know Rickey was deeply influenced about how racism affected a ball player he knew, and how he wanted to make sure that never happened again. That should have been made more clear. We should have had more on Jackie's year in Montreal, and how the team's manager, who didn't want him there, changed his mind.

Also, the movie claims Brooklyn manager Leo Durocher was suspended in 1947 because he had an affair with eventual wife Laraine Day, and the Catholic League was threatening to boycott. It was really because of Durocher's connection with gamblers, and that Yankees owner Larry MacPhail pressured Commissioner Happy Chandler to bench Durocher. MacPhail also hated Durocher.

On the other hand, it does include Durocher's famous "he's coming" speech to Dodger players who signed a petition saying they won't play with Robinson. The movie also included Pee Wee Reese willing to stand next to Robinson before a hostile Cincinnati crowd.

Chadwick Bozeman did a good job portraying Robinson, and Harrison Ford was just great as Rickey. If nothing else, it showed what an aging Han Solo will be like if we get a new Star Wars movie someday. Fans of Law and Order SVU and True Blood may recognize Chris Meloni as Durocher. He was pretty good in that role

There was one section that really sounded too good to be true. This was where Brooklyn played Philadelphia. Ben Chapman, manager for the Phillies (and played by Alan Tudyk), baited Robinson with racist remarks, Eventually, Robinson collapses from pent-up anger...and from out of nowhere, Rickey appears and gives him a pep talk to get him back on the field. That was a real stretch, although it's easy to imagine that both men had a lot of discussions about how people and players were reacting to Robinson being there.
(Update: Looking back, I would have believed Rickey's pep talk to Robinson if it happened after the game).

Robinson's legacy is well-known, but could there be a movie about him that's different to what we already know about him?
We could make one that starts when he retires, and we see how he makes a difference in the civil rights movement, and established businesses including a bank. The ending would be perfect: throwing out the first pitch of game two of the 1972 World Series, and saying he'd be more proud when he sees a Black man as a manager. That would send a message that baseball has come a long way, but not that far.
We had a TV movie that showed Robinson's court-martial because he wouldn't sit at the back of the bus. Why not one that shows his life after baseball?

For now, 42 is a good reminder of how Robinson changed baseball and this nation. It comes just in time for the 66th anniversary of his debut with the Dodgers. That's when everyone wears 42 for one day.

Why Being A Giants Fan Is Blissful Torture

It was a difficult Saturday night for me, wondering if I was actually going to check off something from my ever-changing Bucket List: being near a World Series.
C'mon, you know how much tickets costs? You need to win Fantasy 5 at least twice.

Anyway, while the Giants were battling the Phillies in Game 6, I watching many things besides that game.
Why? Well, I kind of blame Marcos Breton of the Sacramento Bee.
When PBS aired Baseball: The 10th Inning last month, he was a featured commentator. He talked about how he waited for years to see the Giants get back to the World Series and win it all, and that Barry Bonds would lead the way. He also recalled how the Giants were six outs away from doing just that in the 2002 World Series.
Of course, the Angels and that Rally Monkey ruined that.
Then there was a column he wrote last week after the Giants lost game 5 at home. He talked about how the Giants failed to win the 1986 NLCS and 2002 Series after leading three games to two. He sounded very worried...in print.
AND...the Phillies were practically expected to dismantle Texas when the Series starts Wednesday. These were the Phillies of the 21st Century, far more advanced than their ancestors.

So, I wound up watching the NFL Network, seeing a show about why there are a handful (literally) of left-handed quarterbacks that had good careers. I saw a Ken Burns documentary about radio. I kept checking on the Oklahoma-Missouri football game.
Occasionally, I watched the Giants and Phillies, fearing the worst.
I also started working on my Whedonopolis story about Amber Benson doing a book signing at Borders in Sacramento the night before.

Finally, I committed to watching the game around the sixth inning. I wondered what happened to Johnathan Sanchez, but that was before I heard about him hitting a guy with a pitch, and how that sparked a near-riot. The Giants bullpen kept the Phillies at bay, and it stayed tied at two.
Then came Juan Uribe's homer in the 8th. I was hopeful, but not confident.

Torture. Giants fans were feeling it again.
That included Breton, whose comments in the Baseball documentary suggested that the Giants were the West Coast version of the Red Sox. Every few years, they get to the World Series, yet fail to bring a world title to Northern California.
The A's did it several times, even against the Giants in 1989.
Not the Giants. Six outs away, then looking forlorn as the Angels celebrated in 2002. So similar to what the Red Sox felt in 2003 against the Yankees, or 1976 and 1986.
Sure, Boston finally got that World Series title in 2004, then another in 2007.
But the Giants are not the Red Sox. They were not supposed to be pennant winners in 2010. The Phillies would come back, then win game seven the next night, and clobber the Texas Rangers a week later.
It all came to this: Brian Wilson against Ryan Howard, who was due to drive in some runs and end this silly idea of the Giants beating the Phillies.
3-2 pitch. Howard didn't swing.
He should have.
The Giants won the pennant. The Giants won the pennant!
THE! GIANTS!! WON!!! THE!!!! PENNANT!!!!!
Breton, of course, wrote a much happier column, and an even happier one will likely follow that.

Wonderful news for Northern California fans, but not so much for Fox TV executives who were hoping for a Yankees-Phillies rematch. Even a few web reporters are predicting a Giants-Rangers World Series will attract fewer viewers than Lone Star, the show that lasted all of three weeks against Dancing With The Stars.

Well, so what? People wondering whose these guys are will attract enough interest and fans.

This also changes by plans for this week. A while ago, I asked to have this coming Thursday off so I can see the annual Rifftrax (or MST3K 2.0...Cinematic Titanic is MST3K 2.1) Halloween Movie Barbecue. Mike Nelson and the guys were going to riff on the original House on Haunted Hill, which would be colorized.
My request was granted, mainly because I was piling up some vacation time anyway.
Now, with the Giants playing on Thursday at home, should I choose between Rifftrax and the Series?
Let's see...Rifftrax is 12 bucks, and they're likely going to do another holiday spectacular in December. The World Series is five zillion dollars a ticket, and that's in the bleachers.
Well, naturally, I'd go to Rifftrax, but it doesn't cost that much to stand outside AT&T Park while the Series is being played. There's also bound to be a lot of activity before the game itself. That's reason enough to go.
I'll hang around until about seven p-m, then I'll head to the Century Theater at Market, and see Vincent Price's mustache be mocked.

Of course, if for some reason, I actually get a real ticket...welll.....
I doubt it, naturally. I was at the Citywalk outside the MTV Music Awards last year, and was glad about that after the fact since Twilight swept everything.

So, we'll see what happens. I'm glad this blog got published at all, since heavy rain and some blown transformers cut off power twice in 30 minutes. Thank goodness for auto-save,