Wednesday night at 11:45 (Eastern) on Turner Classic Movies - "The Winning Team" (1952) starring Doris Day and Ronald Reagan. It is the story of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, and, typical of sports movies of that era, it's not what you would call very hard hitting or even true to Alexander's actual life. Hey, the fact that Doris Day gets top billing over the guy who plays Alexander should tell you all you need to know about the verisimilitude of the movie, but I recommend it for two reasons.
One, it's always kind of a hoot to see Reagan playing in a cheesy movie knowing what the future held for him, and...
Two, for you baseball history buffs out there, it does give a pretty fair dramatization of Game 7 of the 1926 World Series when the aging, hungover Alex, came in in relief with the bases loaded and Tony Lazzeri at bat, and, well, if you're a baseball history buff, you know what happened, and if you are not, watch the movie and find out. (Although I think the movie kind of whitewashes the "hungover" part.)
Also, you get to see some honest-to-God ballplayers in bit parts as well. Guys such as Gene Mauch, Peanuts Lowry, Bob Lemon, and Catfish Metkovitch.
It ain't high art, but it's fun nonetheless.
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