Real Home Run Derby

Major League Baseball has succeeded in over-producing its product to the point that it is unwatchable. Last night's all-star game didn't even get going until 8:40. I spent most of that 40 minutes while waiting for the actual game to start watching Casino Royale on the MGM HD network. This was the version made in 1967. It was pretty stupid, but featured Switzerland's Ursula Andress, who is better engineered than any other Swiss product including the Army knives and watches. Any way, I digress . . .

Monday night, while the home-run derby was taking longer to end than it does to score a goal in the World Cup, I was watching the Christina Aguilara concert on Palladia and then a 1962 episode of The Virginian on .retroplex HD. Perhaps Roch Kubatko said it best in his blog yesterday when he wrote, "I watched about 12 seconds of the Home Run Derby before realizing that I no longer care about the Home Run Derby." It's over-produced, over-hyped, and over-announced.

It was not always this way. In the winter of 1959-1960, a guy by the name of Mark Scott brought big leaguers such as Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, Rocky Colavito, Harmon Killebrew, and many others to Los Angeles, two at a time to film the original television series entitled simply, Home Run Derby. The show featured two sluggers, the pitcher, a catcher, two umpires, and an outfielder. One guy would hit while a the other would talk to Scott. The stands were empty. There was no one sounding as if he was on the verge of a stroke yelling "Back! Back! Back!" It was just two guys taking their swings in the California sun. It was pure baseball. It was wonderful. Check it out the clip below featuring Hank Aaron and Duke Snider and see if you find it much more enjoyable than the pre-all-star game version.