1971 Pirates Documentary

[G-Fafif]

"Forever Brothers," a documentary about the '71 Pirates, airs tonight after NLCS Game One on FS1 and tomorrow at 5 PM, same channel. I know this topic hits a non-Mets sweet spot for at least one of you and figure it might be of demographic (and baseball) interest to others.

http://triblive.com/sports/pirates/11304430-74/fuqua-pirates-pittsburgh

Edited October 15, 2016 by Guest

[MFS62]

I did an historic KTE on the 1960 WS champion Bucs on the 50th Anniversary of that team, but don't remember any thread about the '71 team here.
It sounds interesting.
Thanks.

Later

Edited October 15, 2016 by Guest

[G-Fafif]

Batmags a big fan of that team.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Oh yeah. I bet I could still name just about that entire roster off the top of my head in less than three or four minutes.

[batmagadanleadoff]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Oh yeah. I bet I could still name just about that entire roster off the top of my head in less than three or four minutes.

I never got around to using this card in those Mets opponents card threads I hardly make anymore.

[fimg=644]https://c8.staticflickr.com/6/574/30345960335_3aee60ea4b_b.jpg[/fimg]

Edited October 15, 2016 by Guest

[batmagadanleadoff]

So when was the first time, if ever, that the Mets trotted out an all black/latino starting nine?

[batmagadanleadoff]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: So when was the first time, if ever, that the Mets trotted out an all black/latino starting nine?

The first black/latino catcher to start a game for the Mets, post 9/1/71, was Luis Rosado on 9/28/77. That was Rosado's only start as a Mets catcher. Craig Swan was the starting pitcher that day, so that game can't be it. After that, Alex Trevino caught many games for the Mets between '78 & '81. So anyone interested in solving this riddle may want to start there. That's it for the 70's: Trevino and Rosado. Junior Ortiz was the only other black/latino catcher to start games for the Mets in the 1980's.

Black/latino Mets catchers in the 1990's:

Orlando Mercado
Alex Trevino
Alberto Castillo

[Zvon]

This special was surprisingly excellent with really classic footage for the most part. And very candid conversation. Worth watching.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Zvon wrote: This special was surprisingly excellent with really classic footage for the most part. And very candid conversation. Worth watching.

But when the narrative got to the 1970 playoffs (that's what playoffs were called back then --- playoffs) where the Reds beat the Pirates to take the NL pennant, the footage was of Joe Morgan batting against Pittsburgh. Morgan was an Astro in 1970, traded to Cincy during the off-season in between the '71 and '72 seasons. The same off-season that yielded the Ryan for Fregosi trade.

[Zvon]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Zvon wrote: This special was surprisingly excellent with really classic footage for the most part. And very candid conversation. Worth watching. But when the narrative got to the 1970 playoffs (that's what playoffs were called back then --- playoffs) where the Reds beat the Pirates to take the NL pennant, the footage was of Joe Morgan batting against Pittsburgh. Morgan was an Astro in 1970, traded to Cincy during the off-season in between the '71 and '72 seasons. The same off-season that yielded the Ryan for Fregosi trade.

Good catch.

[Guest cooby]

This is something my husband would love

[G-Fafif]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Zvon wrote: This special was surprisingly excellent with really classic footage for the most part. And very candid conversation. Worth watching. But when the narrative got to the 1970 playoffs (that's what playoffs were called back then --- playoffs) where the Reds beat the Pirates to take the NL pennant, the footage was of Joe Morgan batting against Pittsburgh. Morgan was an Astro in 1970, traded to Cincy during the off-season in between the '71 and '72 seasons. The same off-season that yielded the Ryan for Fregosi trade.

Morgan's insertion from two years later was a little distracting, and you wish there had been more footage than postseason and a handful of games otherwise, but I thought the whole thing was well done, telling the story it wanted to tell. Though it had nothing to do with the theme, I thought it an exclusion to not mention that Game Four of the World Series was the first one at night, a huge deal at the time and a harbinger of what was to come. "A prime time audience was about to see what Pittsburgh had known all along..." or something like that.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Sadly, the team's biggest stars that season --- Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente and Dock Ellis --- are all dead.

Also, did Al Oliver lose his left eye over the years?

[batmagadanleadoff]

G-Fafif wrote: ... you wish there had been more footage than postseason and a handful of games otherwise, but I thought the whole thing was well done ....

Being that footage of regular season games was rarely preserved back then, I was surpriseed to see so much footage of the actual game where the Pirates started an all black/latino nine. There was even pre-game or batting practice footage of that game. But after thinking about it, I figured that whoever was in charge of deciding whether or not to save game film recognized the historical significance of that game, and decided to save footage, just like Pirates footage from the following season, albeit limited, exists of Clemente's 3,000th hit.

[G-Fafif]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: G-Fafif wrote: ... you wish there had been more footage than postseason and a handful of games otherwise, but I thought the whole thing was well done .... Being that footage of regular season games was rarely preserved back then, I was surpriseed to see so much footage of the actual game where the Pirates started an all black/latino nine. There was even pre-game or batting practice footage of that game. But after thinking about it, I figured that whoever was in charge of deciding whether or not to save game film recognized the historical significance of that game, and decided to save footage, just like Pirates footage from the following season, albeit limited, exists of Clemente's 3,000th hit.

A lot of Opening Day 1971 footage seemed to get repurposed. That was the Phillies at Three Rivers, so it conveniently fit the parameters of the historic game five months later.

[G-Fafif]

Just watched another recent MLB production, "Making Mr. October," about Reggie Jackson. Very good despite the MFY connection, but the mismatched footage does become an issue when narrator Ice Cube is talking about young Reggie becoming a star in the late '60s and there he is in the 1973 and '74 World Series in a totally different uniform. No doubt there's only so much film or tape from those days, but the audience for this sort of thing can tell.