The country and its favourite pastime were thriving as never before. Ken Burns, Baseball: The Tenth Inning III
Steroid-inflated home run records had replaced day to day heroics. ibid.
Pedro Martinez ... One of the greatest players the game had ever seen. ibid.
At eighteen Ichiro [Suzuki] made his debut. ibid.
Bonds hit home runs more frequently that year than he ever had before ... He appeared in only 102 games. ibid.
Off the field Bonds would work hard to improve his image. ibid.
Barnes had a sensational summer ... Barry Bonds: 73 home runs. Barnes’ 2001 statistics were astounding. (Baseball & Ball) ibid.
Baseball’s popularity surged. But rumours and suspicions about performance-enhancing drugs kept surfacing. ibid.
3-3: Everything came down to game seven at Yankee Stadium, enemy territory for Red Sox fans. Ken Burns, Baseball: Tenth Inning IV
[Curt] Schilling quickly agreed to be traded to the Red Sox ... When the 2004 season began Boston and New York picked up right where they had left off. ibid.
The New York Yankees were just one win away from going to the World Series for the seventh time in nine years. No team in baseball history had ever come from three games behind to win a best of seven series. ibid.
It was the greatest comeback in baseball history. ibid.
Boston swept St Louis. ibid.
The game’s steroid problems hit the front pages and airwaves once again. ibid.
Bonds testified that he had taken steroids inadvertently. ibid.
Bonds had become the symbol of the steroids era. Barry Bonds finished 2007 with 762 career home runs. ibid.
Although 89 players were named, the most sensational section of the report was devoted to allegations of extensive doping by the most successful pitcher of the last fifteen years Roger Clemens. ibid.
Some of the greatest stars in the game would also be exposed. ibid.
2009 ... One of the most exciting World Series in years ... New York v Phillies. ibid.
Dad was a Yankees fan, then so of course I rooted for Brooklyn, but in ’58 the Dodgers moved away. Field of Dreams 1989 ***** starring Kevin Costner & Ray Liotta & Burt Lancaster & Amy Madigan & James Earl Jones & Timothy Busfield & Dwier Brown & Frank Whaley & Fern Persons et al, director Phil Alden Robinson, commentary
If you build it, he will come. ibid. ghost voice
I used to have dreams. ibid. Costner to missus
I’d have played for food money. It was a game – the sounds, the smells ... ibid. Shoeless
Go the distance. ibid. ghost voice
Where did we come from? ibid. Shoeless
And cheered their heroes. And watched the game. And it’ll be as if they’d dipped themselves in magic waters. ibid. Jones
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. ibid.
Is there a heaven? ibid. Costner
I believe in the Church of Baseball. Bull Durham 1988 starring Kevin Costner & Susan Sarandon & Tim Robbins & Trey Wilson & Robert Wuhl & William O'Leary & Jenny Robertson & Danny Gans & Max Patkin & David Neidorf & Samuel Veraldi & Stephen Ware et al, director Ron Shelton, opening line
I fucking quit. ibid. Costner
Actually nobody on this planet ever really chooses. ibid. Sarandon
Stike-outs are boring; beside that they’re fascist. ibid. Costner
Good scouts are the heart of this game. Trouble With the Curve 2012 starring Clint Eastwood & Amy Adams & Justin Timberlake & Matthew Lillard & John Goodman & Robert Patrick & Scott Eastwood & Ed Lauter & Chelcie Ross & Raymond Anthony Thomas & George Wyner & Bob Gunton et al, director Robert Lorenz, Eastwood to Goodman
In 1945 America’s greatest generation came back from war. Nazi Germany had been defeated ... Some of baseball’s most beloved names. 42 2013 starring Harrison Ford & Chadwick Boseman & Andre Holland & Christopher Meloni & John C McGinley & Toby Huss & Lucas Black & Alan Tudyk & Nicole Beharie & C J Nitkowski & Brett Cullen et al, director Brian Helgeland
I’m gonna bring a Negro ball-player to the Brooklyn Dodgers. ibid. owner to sidekicks
Jack Roosevelt Robinson ... Batting .350. ibid. Harrison Ford
His talents caught the eye of the Baltimore Orioles in 1914. It was there he earned his nickname Babe. Sporting Greats: Babe Ruth
Ruth joined the Yankees in 1919. ibid.
In 1920 Ruth hit an astonishing 54 home runs. (Baseball & Ball) ibid.
By 1927 the Babe was at his best. ibid.
He was idolised wherever he went. ibid.
There’s a time in every man’s life, and I’ve had plenty of them. Casey Stengel
All right, everybody line up alphabetically according to your height. Casey Stengel
Most people my age are dead at the present time. Casey Stengel
I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes. Curt Flood
I am pleased God made my skin black. I wish He had made it thicker. Curt Flood
My pitching philosophy is simple – keep the ball away from the bat. Satchel Paige
Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don’t move. Satchel Paige
It’s a round ball and a round bat, and you got to hit it square. Pete Rose
They throw the ball, I hit it. They hit the ball, I catch it. (Ball & Baseball) Willie Mays
After that [collision], it was like the ball was glued to my hand. Fields of Fear, Mackey, ESPN short 2013
The poster boy with the yips because he was the obvious one. It looked funny … Much more widespread than people know. ibid. geezer
I had a lot of trauma. ibid. Mackey
Mackey retired from major league baseball in 1995, but continued to have problems in the days ahead. ibid.
The Mets have been trying to keep the secret as well as they can but slowly the word is starting to get out. Apparently, the Mets have signed a young ungainly, unknown pitcher who may be the best to ever play the game … He throws a pitch so fast that none of the batters in spring training have yet been able to even touch one of his pitches with a bat. We’re told his name is Sidd Finch. Unhittable: Sidd Finch and the Tibetan Fastball, reporter, ESPN short 2015
The Mets were dreadful. ibid.
And here he is throwing a ball 168 miles per hour? ibid.
There was no Sidd Finch. ibid.
The Pittsburgh Pirates returned early this morning after winning the World Series in Baltimore. The Pittsburgh Drug Trials, television news, ESPN short 2015
‘Everywhere you went someone was snorting this or sniffling that.’ ibid. dealer
‘Scurry said he had a $100,000 a year cocaine habit.’ ibid. news
‘The second full day of testimony in Pittsburgh …’ ibid. news
Hernandez: Over 40% used cocaine. ibid. newspaper article
During the time when I was pitching the no-hitters at San Diego I didn’t see the hitters. All I could tell was that they was at the left side or the right side … The opposing team and my teammates they knew I was high but they didn’t know what I was high on. They didn’t see it but I had acid in me. No No a Dockumentary, Dock Ellis, 2014
I pitched every game in the major league under the influence of drugs. ibid.
I put curlers in my hair. ibid.
I was anti-management. ibid.
Dexamyl: Maximum fifteen/seventeen pills. ibid.
Ellis: Quickest lip since Ali. ibid. newspaper article
‘He realised the racial tensions that were going on in the country and baseball gave him a platform to speak his mind.’ ibid. Dave Cash