You make the call — 50 years later!

The news that a kinescope recording of the final game of the 1960 World Series was found in the wine cellar of the late Bing Crosby is being hailed as such an important discovery, one would think we were talking about the Lost Ark of the Covenant.

Sure, it a cool find, kinda like an old family photo album, but it’s not as if there was no previous record of the game.

Today’s New York Times carries a Richard Sandomir story, “50 Years Later, a Slide Still Confounds,” which recounts how the Yankees scored the game-tying run in the ninth inning on a questionable decision by the Pirates defense.

I won’t go into the whole episode here (that’s what the link is for, silly). What interests me how technology has changed the way we view and analyze the game. Perhaps the most important innovation in sports was the invention of the replay, which has allowed for endless conversation and deconstruction of the most minute events. Think of it: you’re watching a simple strike, and before the pitcher has the chance to make his next throw, you can see at least a couple of replays — regular, slow-motion, close-up, from different angles. God forbid they broadcasters don’t use their gadgets and allow some actual “dead space.”

Thanks to we now get to go back 50 years and criticize anew the play made by Pirate first baseman Rocky Nelson (for trying to make a low-percentage play trying to tag out Mickey Mantle diving back to first), shortstop dick Groat (for perhaps being slow to cover second bae for the start of a potential game-ending double play), and catcher Hal Smith (for not being around the plate for a throw from Nelson).

There’s such a thing as over-analysis.

Tagged as: 1960 World Series, Bing Crosby, Hal Smith, Mickey Mantle, Rocky Nelson