THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 21, 1994 TAG: 9409210526
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Review
SERIES: BASEBALL
ABOUT THE SERIES
The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star asked nine local baseball
people to score acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns' "Baseball," appearing
on WHRO. Their comments will appear each day of the nine-part series,
an 18 1/2-hour work that traces the history of the sport - and of
America.
SOURCE: - Bud Metheny
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
The 1920s were an era of transition in baseball. Players became idols, and the way the game was played began to change. The Fourth Inning showed the positive and negative aspects of the change.
Babe Ruth was both good and bad for baseball. He brought excitement back to the game with his home runs and earned the admiration of people of all ages and races. But he was also the bad boy of the time.
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the baseball commissioner who banned the Black Sox, was hard on players like Ruth. He said if you make a living before the public, you should be good in public. Landis brought integrity back to the sport.
Blacks were struggling in America in the 1920s, but they began to do more for themselves. A black promoter named Matthew Foster started the negro leagues, and they thrived, becoming an important part of black culture.
Best scene: Judge Landis declaring that the players are not bigger than the game.
Most interesting fact: The racial problems America had at the time.
Weakest scene: Too much on Ruth and the Yankees, not enough on the rest of baseball.
Score this one: A triple. It brought back a lot of memories. ILLUSTRATION: ABOUT TODAY'S REVIEWER
BUD METHENY
Age: 79
Residence: Virginia Beach
Connection to baseball: Played with the New York Yankees, 1942-46.
Head coach at Old Dominion University, 1948-80.
Favorite team: Yankees
Most vivid baseball memory: All the great players I had the chance
to play with and against when I was with the Yankees.
by CNB