Great footage, solid commentary...almost perfect
Rohit | CA United States | 12/19/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"As an avid fan of the game and follower of the history, I was looking forward to this DVD very much. I had seen a bunch of these clips in ESPN, which I thought were very well done. This DVD has some masterful footage ranging from Gehrig's speech to Hubbell's strikeouts to Maris' chase of the Babe into Barry and Number 73. The special features piece is also interesting -- as an example, to hear Billy Ripken and his outtake on Cal coming through in big games, or each of the milestones homeruns that Bonds has reached in his career. The one tiny piece lacking and again, I say this as an avid fan, was that all the clips have been edited to fit into this DVD. So what you will find is a 9 minute segment is now a 4 minute segment...but hey! to find all 30 memorable moments in one DVD and have about 135 minutes of footage (including the special features) ..makes me give this two thumbs up.A great gift for a baseball fan, or any sports fan for that matter."
Johnny Vandermeer's Greatest Moment
Beverly Earl | Easton, PA | 03/09/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This DVD holds a VERY special place in my heart. My mom was around 90 when her cousin visited her for a day. He asked me if my husband liked baseball. I answered that he certainly did and that he would be joining us for lunch.
Much time and conversation later, the cousin asked my husband, "Do you know who Johnny Vandermeer is?" "Of course!" answered my husband, "He pitched back-to-back 'No Hitters' against the Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Dodgers back in '38."
A voice piped up from the other end of the table, and my mom asked, "Isn't that the kid we used to play baseball with every day after school?" Indeed it was the same "kid". No wonder Mom could hit anything she aimed at.
This is the only available footage of Vandermeer that I know of and I would have loved to see more of him on the DVD. A little known fact is that he also pitched six no hit innings into the next game.
So, to those who thought there was too much talking and not enough footage, you have a point. But I challenge you to dig into the history of these older players and introduce your kids to people who played "for the love of the game"."