THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409170043
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
THE BASEBALL FAN in Craig Van Gorp is sorry about all that's gone down since Aug. 12.
The businessman in him can't help but see the sunny side of the strike-shortened season.
Van Gorp, executive vice president of sales for Turner Home Entertainment, figures he has a pretty hot product in Ken Burns' ``Baseball.''
Friday, midway through the series' PBS premiere, T.H.E. is bringing the nine-part, 18-hour saga out on video.
It's a bold move. Most titles take six months to make the transfer to tape.
``In this industry, you've got a lot of different ways of promoting product,'' Van Gorp said from his office in Atlanta. ``There's the traditional ways and there's ways of going outside tradition. In most cases, we try and do things a little bit differently. We wanted to capitalize with the immediate exposure that is there with `Baseball.' Their appetites are going to be hot.
``I don't care what your religion or race is, everybody - male, female, adult, child - has a fascination with this game.''
``Baseball'' won't be a cheap acquisition. The box lists for $179.98, individual tapes are $24.98. T.H.E. already is running TV spots and will soon place ads in Sports Illustrated, USA Today and the sports sections of newspapers in big-league cities.
Another promotion is planned next March, during spring training.
``This is a history of baseball,'' Van Gorp said. ``This is what it's all about. What you see is there were strikes in the past. There were the scandals. It brings up all the different aspects in baseball when people think, `Wow, it was never like this in the old days.' God knows, guy, it was.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
NATIONAL BASEBALL LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES
``Shadow Ball,'' the fifth installment of the miniseries, tells the
story of Josh Gibson and other greats of the Negro leagues.
by CNB