Take Me In to the Ballgame

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Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde discuss the 1950 film, "The Jackie Robinson  Story," featuring Robinson as himself in this scripted version of his life. They consider the ramifications of this film being made in the era of Jim Crow, the oddity of playing yourself in your own life story, and why the heck, in a 77 minute film, any time is spared for the comic relief character "Shorty." Amidst puzzling inaccuracies and predictable omissions, they score the film on the 20-80 scouting scale.

Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde watched "Ed." They did it. That's the recap.  ...No, of course, gentle listener, we can promise more in this  discussion of the 1996 film "Ed," about a chimpanzee playing baseball. Eric is deeply unnerved by what the movie implies about Mickey Mantle, while Ellen flounders in an attempt to determine the nature of Jack "Deuce" Cooper's (Matt  LeBlanc's) pitching arsenal. On their way to scoring on the 20-80 scouting scale one of the worst baseball movies ever made, they discuss the brief foray into the horror genre that is Ed eating, and the montage device hitting rock-bottom. Ellen has a brief tirade into the naming of the "Utley rule," and, as it turns out, a timely reference to Trevor Bauer.

In lieu of releasing our planned episode this week, we are participating in the #podcastblackout, started by the Cult 45 Podcast, and will be reading a brief selection of names of recent victims of racist violence or police brutality. We want to support the notion that black lives matter, that we need police reform now, and that we are all responsible to dismantle systemic injustice in progress towards a true understanding of our mutual humanity. If you have any money to spare, please consider the George Floyd Memorial Fund, Black Visions Collective, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Reclaim the Block or Campaign Zero, to name only a few.