Steinberg: Watch rare footage from the 1924 World Series
From Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post on October 2, 2014:
When eight cans of nitrate film arrived at the Library of Congress in August, a staffer began a routine inspection to see what sort of physical condition the film was in. Without even watching the footage, she quickly noticed a headline screaming out from one of the newsreels: “SENATORS WIN WORLD SERIES,” it said. “40,000 frantic fans see American Leaguers take 12-inning deciding game, 4 to 3.”
And when archivists from the Library’s Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation watched the reel, they found nearly four minutes of footage from that 1924 World Series, footage that somehow had remained in nearly perfect condition for 90 years. Bucky Harris hitting a home run, Walter Johnson pitching four innings of scoreless relief, Muddy Ruel scoring the winning run, fans storming Griffith Stadium’s field: It was all there, and it was all glorious.
“You’ve got to understand: Nitrate film, sometimes it looks great, sometimes it doesn’t. We never know what we’re going to get,” said Mike Mashon, the head of the Library’s moving image section. “The fact that it looks so great is a miracle. It’s just a miracle.”
Read the full article here:http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/10/02/watch-rare-footage-of-the-senators-beating-the-giants-in-the-1924-world-series/
Related link: Read the SABR Games Project story of Game 7 of the 1924 World Series, written by Stew Thornley
Originally published: October 2, 2014. Last Updated: October 2, 2014.