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BASEBALL: THE DREAM VS. THE MONEY
To The Best of Our Knowledge
from Wisconsin Public Radio
Remember the movie "Field of Dreams," about
Shoeless Joe Jackson with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones? Well,
the Field of Dreams is a real place, not a Hollywood studio lot.
It's a cornfield in Dyersville, Iowa and it's become something of
a religious site for many baseball fans. In this hour of To the
Best of Our Knowledge, are the dreams of baseball or of money?
SEGMENT 1:
Historian Henry Fetter is the author of "Taking
on the Yankees: Winning and Losing in the Business of Baseball,
1903-2003." He tells Jim Fleming the Yankees have been accused
of buying their way to the top and the players have been accused
of bankrupting the game for a hundred years but both the team
and the game are going strong. Also, TTBOOK's Charles Monroe-Kane
visits the cornfield in Dyersville, Iowa where they filmed "Field
of Dreams." It's become the site of two competing tourist
traps and a religious mecca for baseball fans. Chuck explores
the collision of the dreams of baseball and money.
SEGMENT 2:
Jeremy Spear made a documentary film called
"Fastpitch" about the world of professional fastpitch
softball. He talks with Anne Strainchamps about his film, the
game of fastpitch, the players and the teams he followed, and
we hear clips from the film. Also, Arturo Marcano is an
attorney from Venezuela. He is the co-author (with David Fidler)
of "The Globalization of Baseball and the Tragic Story of
Alexis Quiroz." Marcano tells Steve Paulson about the exploitative
system of player development in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic
that fuels the American major leagues.
SEGMENT 3:
We remember Bobby Thompson hitting the infamous
"shot heard ‘round the world" from the Brooklyn
Dodgers pennant race of 1951. Then, journalist Michael Shapiro,
author of "The Last Good Season: Brooklyn, the Dodgers, and
Their Final Pennant Race Together" tells Jim Fleming why
baseball in Brooklyn was special.
Cassette copies are available
at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 03-10-19-A.
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Books:
- Henry D. Fetter, Taking on the Yankees:
winning and losing the business of baseball 1903-2003 (Norton)
- Arturo J. Marcano Guevara & David P. Fidler,
Stealing Lives: The Globalization of Baseball and the Tragic Story
of Alexis Quiroz (Indiana)
- Michael Shapiro, The Last Good Season: Brooklyn,
the Dodgers, and Their Final Season Together (Doubleday)
- Jeremy Spear, Fastpitch: a film by Jeremy
Spear (Docurama)
Links:
Music:
The show features different versions of the classic
song Take Me Out To The Ball Game including versions by:
- Don and Merle Watson
- Jacquelin Schab
- Harvey Hindermyer (from 1908)
- New York Hawks
- Lester Young with Count Basie and his Orchestra
- King Curtis
- Carly Simon
Distribution dates:
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Questions and comments can
be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org
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