I've only recently developed an interest in baseball, not surprising I suppose, given the almost zero coverage it's gotten here in my native Scotland and sought out this thrilling short documentary after watching Ken Burns' exhaustive 11 part history of the sport on Netflix.
So while being in no way an expert on the sport, I was at least aware of the huge rivalry between the two competing teams the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox as well as the heretofore history of domination of the former over the latter ever since, so the legend went, Boston sold all-time great Babe Ruth to their rivals and never won a World Series again for nigh on a hundred years when this dramatic series (actually for the right to play in the World Series Finals of that year).
What made it so dramatic was the circumstances of their win, a come-from-behind 4-3 triumph after falling three games behind. More than that, the story packs in the key moments of the drama as Boston improbably came back from the dead, with none more memorable than the game that their injured pitcher played through an excruciating (and obviously bleeding) ankle injury to help his team win.
Related in strictly day-by-day chronological fashion, the film-makers only sparingly use retrospective narration by key players in the drama, preferring to match these up with contemporary news and sport coverage of the day.
Focusing entirely on the events of the four days, the documentary does a good job in encapsulating the lows and highs of the Boston team, staff and fans as their team finally defeat "the Curse of the Bambino".
I enjoyed it very much and felt akin to the Bostonian cause having once visited Fenway Park for a Red Sox match fifteen years or so go.
My crush on baseball goes on, long may it flourish and documentaries like this to be made
So while being in no way an expert on the sport, I was at least aware of the huge rivalry between the two competing teams the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox as well as the heretofore history of domination of the former over the latter ever since, so the legend went, Boston sold all-time great Babe Ruth to their rivals and never won a World Series again for nigh on a hundred years when this dramatic series (actually for the right to play in the World Series Finals of that year).
What made it so dramatic was the circumstances of their win, a come-from-behind 4-3 triumph after falling three games behind. More than that, the story packs in the key moments of the drama as Boston improbably came back from the dead, with none more memorable than the game that their injured pitcher played through an excruciating (and obviously bleeding) ankle injury to help his team win.
Related in strictly day-by-day chronological fashion, the film-makers only sparingly use retrospective narration by key players in the drama, preferring to match these up with contemporary news and sport coverage of the day.
Focusing entirely on the events of the four days, the documentary does a good job in encapsulating the lows and highs of the Boston team, staff and fans as their team finally defeat "the Curse of the Bambino".
I enjoyed it very much and felt akin to the Bostonian cause having once visited Fenway Park for a Red Sox match fifteen years or so go.
My crush on baseball goes on, long may it flourish and documentaries like this to be made
