A great amount of what ESPN does is simply too short to act as anything but a brief introduction to the topic at hand. In terms of baseball’s 162-game season (and lengthy yearly history), what they provide is simply not enough. There is a new series out by Ed Rendell that looks to delve the depths of baseball, for each of the league’s storied franchises.
The great thing about the Talking Baseball series is that the listings say Volume 1 – individuals may yet be able to get more indepth views into a team’s mythos through interviews with former players and employees from different eras. The New York Yankees release has interviews with Phil Rizzuto, Mickey Mantle, Joe Pepitone, and even Yogi Berra while the Boston Red Sox release gives valuable air time to Wade Boggs, Ted Williams, Luis Tiant, and Roger Clemens.
The interview style that is used during the Talking Baseball releases does not constrain the interviewees too much – there seems to be more than ample time to explore the questions and provide interesting anecdotes. In regards to the technical side of things, the audio is crisp and clear, while the video quality is perfectly serviceable for an interview DVD. While we only covered the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox releases in this series, there are a number of other team releases; individuals that wish to view just one individual’s stories can go onto online retailers and view just them. Regardless, this is a great release and one that should continue on for years to come.
Rating: 7.9/10
Talking Baseball: New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox (DVD) / 2011 Talking Baseball Productions / 129 Minutes /