The Story Of The Brooklyn Dodgers –

The Legendary Boys Of Summer

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: C-     Programs: B-

 

 

BFS has issued a DVD set that collects several programs made on the great lost major league baseball franchise the Brooklyn Dodgers.  The seven half-hour programs are the core of The Story Of The Brooklyn Dodgers – The Legendary Boys Of Summer, which joins Yankee Immortals as entries in documentary DVDs on the subject form BFS.  The set tries to capture the what and the why of the team’s legend before the infamous move to Los Angeles.

 

The approach taken is to cover a specific subject instead of doing a chronological look at the team, you get the following segments:

 

Duke Snyder: The Duke Of Flatbush

The Captain: Pee Wee Reese

Campy: The Roy Campenella Story

Dem Bums From Brooklyn

Jackie Robinson: A Life Story

Gil Hodges: The Quiet Man

Tales From The Dodger Clubhouse

 

Each show offers new interviews, voice-over narration and generous stock footage about the history and influence of the Brooklyn-era of the teams’ greatness.  The point is that together or split apart, each person involved built baseball into the pastime it is at its best.  These arguments are convincing enough, but in none of the segments did I feel like I was getting much beyond the surface of the team and its people.

 

In the Jackie Robinson segment, the point is made to death that he broke the color barrier and even has people quote Martin Luther King, Jr. that Robinson made his efforts easier.  However, true as that may be and whatever racism and oppression Robinson may have shot down, the counter-argument that his success killed the “Negro” baseball leagues.  It also assumes racism suffered some permanent defeat, which it did not.  That best defines how limited the set is capable of being, which is somewhat detrimental to the set.  Fans will still enjoy what is offered.

 

The full frame images were made in older professional analog NTSC videotape and there is softness throughout as a result.  That extends to the filmed footage.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 does its best to offer the somewhat compressed sounding monophonic sound which further gives away the age and source of the program’s origin.  It is listenable, but average as well.  The few extras include text on Brooklyn Dodger player statistics, trivia, and quotes.

 

As a non-baseball fan, I was hoping to learn more about the legendary team, but some of this is so hung-up on “great guys” and “feeling good” that the time is not as well spent as it should have been.  Though it is loaded with good material, it is not definitive.  At least I get more of a sense of what Don Henley’s hit record was hinting at.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo