Play ball! There's a saying: a picture is worth a thousand words and nowhere is this saying more apropos than in this documentary. Containing remarkable footage, this documentary chronicles an era in baseball that also reveals much about American society in a bygone time. Baseball was really special; going to a ballgame was a big deal, a major social event. The players were larger than life. They played in ballparks that were like cathedrals - to a sport. Far from being bandboxes, the old ballparks, which were once new ballparks, were huge, sprawling structures, places that projected an aura of greatness that made one feel that they were witnessing a major historical event. And what made it even more special was that each game WAS a major historical event. Every game was an expression of American culture. Every game made an indelible mark on American history. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe Di Maggio, Hank Greenberg, Ted Williams, all are icons of American history. Ebbets Field, The Polo Grounds, Shibe Park, Sportsmans Park, places that are still recalled with reverence by grown men and women who went to those places when they were kids. And it's all gone. A mere memory, but what a wonderful memory, a time when baseball was king. Remember, it was a time before television, which made the ballplayers seem that much more ... godlike. And this is not mere hyperbole. The baseball players from the past had a style and class that made them objects of admiration. They were loved and respected. They played a game that was uniquely American. The game was clean. It was fun. Times have changed; baseball is now a huge multibillion-dollar business which is played around the world. Other sports have taken over the limelight pushing baseball, if not off the stage, then to the side. But one thing that has not changed is this: the public's fascination with a special group of athletes who have the ability to successfully hit a hard ball with a bat, and as long as that fascination persists baseball will remain an important part of the American cultural scene.
Review of When It Was a Game
