July 13, 200817 yr I found these pictures on Wikipedia of Babe Ruth's supposed "called shot". I made them into a .gif. Enjoy!
July 14, 200817 yr Author Here is the origin of the Home Run Derby. A TV show made in the 1959-60 offseason. MLB stars like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Henry Aaron and others battled it out for thousands of dollars. Most MLB guys didn't make a lot of money in the older days, so this was a real boon to them. Here's part 1 and 2 of Willie Mays vs. Mickey Mantle. Enjoy!
July 15, 200817 yr The past few years before the annual home run derby, ESPN Classic used to play a lot of the old classics from the early Home Run Derby era. If it is ever put back on and you get a chance to watch it, watch the one with Mickey Mantle vs. Harmon Killebrew. Mantle had a big lead and thought he had it wrapped up. He was smiling, laughing and having fun. Killebrew then went on a late inning tear. You see Mantle was really getting quietly pretty peeved. Killebrew pulled it off. Great show. For those of you unfamiliar with the old format, it used to be played one on one in a nine inning game WITH NO AUDIENCE. Just had the 2 hitters, one announcer, and a couple of guys in the outfield to shag the fly balls. Really a quiet and laid back show. Each inning had 3 outs (any 3 balls that were hit that were non-home runs) and the next batter would come up. At the end of nine innings, the one with the most total HRs won.
July 15, 200817 yr QUOTE (Rooftop Shots @ Jul 14, 2008 -> 09:10 PM) For those of you unfamiliar with the old format, it used to be played one on one in a nine inning game WITH NO AUDIENCE. Just had the 2 hitters, one announcer, and a couple of guys in the outfield to shag the fly balls. Really a quiet and laid back show. Each inning had 3 outs (any 3 balls that were hit that were non-home runs) and the next batter would come up. At the end of nine innings, the one with the most total HRs won. OOPS Guess I should have watched the videos before I posted the rules and format of the show. The videos that wre posted with Mantle and Mays pretty much explain it all. Someone give me a "D-UH" on that one.
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