I was a high-schooler in 1990, which was the last season that the Reds played in the World Series. As you might expect, the playoffs that year were pretty important to me, and I videotaped every game of the NLCS and World Series.
I still have the VHS videotapes with all the games, and every once in a while I pull them out for a blast from the past. No matter how many times I watch those old games, I still get a little bit of a thrill every time I put them in the VCR.
There has been much discussion here about the “1975 World Series Collector’s Edition” seven-DVD set, produced by A&E. Redleg Nation has given away three of the DVD sets to lucky winners (in addition to sets given away by other fine Reds blogs). Overall, there’s been a pretty good buzz about the set, and I’ve been waiting to review it until we had given away the final copy.
I’m ready to review it now, and there’s only one appropriate term to describe the DVDs: Homerun.
If you are a Reds fan, you must own this DVD collection. Don’t argue with me; you have to find some way to get your hands on it. It’s a must-have. Watching it, I get the same thrill as I get when I watch the 1990 Series…except this collection is on high-quality DVD that will last far longer than my poor little VHS tapes are going to.
Some specifics: as mentioned above, there are seven discs, one for each game of the magnificent 1975 World Series. These are the original NBC broadcasts, as seen over-the-air thirty years ago. That’s pretty neat for someone like me, who was two years old when the Series actually took place.
Also neat is seeing and hearing a young Marty Brennaman, who contributes play by play on some of the games, along with Tony Kubek and others.
Now, I say that these are the original broadcasts, but there are a couple of spots (in Game 2 and Game 3) where parts of the broadcast are missing. I’m not sure why they aren’t there, but I imagine that MLB’s master tapes had deteriorated to the point where they couldn’t be recovered (that’s a small problem with some of the files at MLB.com’s “Baseball’s Best” archive, which is an otherwise great feature, and worth the money for a baseball junkie; I’ll review that some other time). I wish those parts were included, but you won’t really miss them, since (fortunately) nothing important happens during the missing sections.
There’s also a problem with the audio for a while in Game 1, but it resolves itself quickly.
Honestly, though, those are the only substantial complaints I have about the set…but any negatives are far outweighed by the positives. If you didn’t see the games back when they actually happened (perhaps because you had to go see about a girl), you will be mesmerized. This really was a great series, with tense moments from beginning to end. I don’t need to review the specifics of the Series, as you already know about them. Just know that it is great to actually have them in your hands, with the ability to watch any time you want.
Bonus features aren’t many, but I did enjoy the video from the downtown celebration after the Series win. Really, though, who needs bonus features when there is more than seventeen hours of content in the collection?
Okay, enough already. Go buy the DVDs. You won’t regret it.
Wow, Bill’s old.
😉