ABC 1981 World Series introduct Los Angeles Dodgers New York Yankees Joe DiMaggio.mpg

No game action here...but this game 1 introduction, with Joe DiMaggio throwing the ceremonial first pitch, and Fonzie and Happy Days at the beginning...threw myself back to the days when I was a kid...and when it was a game.

• Category

  Sports

[drshagstein]

Great stuff! The year of "Fernandomania" & the strike. Boy, how the American sports landscape has changed since '81. TV ratings for the World Series were always huge back then ( The 1981 WS netted an average rating of 30.0 overall for all 6 games), and baseball & football were still on equal footing in terms of national popularity. I love baseball with all my heart, but I doubt the sport will ever recapture the cachet it once had, especially with kids.

[Brooklyn Babe]

Pearl Bailey singing the anthem was worth the watch. Good stuff :-)

[EricAKATheBelgianGuy]

I think it was '86.

[zaius316]

What year did they make official that the DH would be used in AL parks during the World Series, and the pitcher hit in NL parks? Based on the lineup intros, I assume that Guidry and Reuss hit for themselves in this game.

[Matt Don]

I was at this game! I was 17 years old,a senior in High School and my Dad came home from work that day and surprised me that a good friend of his gave him two tickets to this game. We sat in the middle deck just beyond the right field foul pole, where Bob Watson's first inning three run homer landed just in front of us. I still vividly remember the first play of the game, as Greg Nettles made a diving stab of a liner and threw out Davey Lopes at first base. Greatest memory with my Dad!

[75yellowraven]

Forgot that Dave Stewart started w the Dodgers. Another great player the Dodgers gave away....

[David R]

The demographics of baseball have changed. Back then, most of the players were American-born. Also there were many more black American players than there are now.

Also, Bob Shepherd sounded old then, yet he lasted another 30 years. Incredible.

[stephen w]

the graphics used are fantastic. I was always amazed how advanced american TV looked during the 1980s , they were light years ahead of any other country .

[Ken Henderson]

Notice how P.O'ed Reggie looked when he was introduced as a "non-starter"?

[WuYorkYankees]

Hooray on no Joe Buck. God it's pathedic we've had to listen to him and McCarver for every big Yankee game the last 15 years.

[10Dec1971]

My dad was a die hard Yankee fan. He wasn't a happy camper with the result of this series. The first time I saw him cry was when Thurman died in 1979.

Dawn

[RA Barnes]

This lineup call was like the "who's who" of baseball! Those were the days: the TRUE Yankee Stadium, no steroids, no Joe Buck stinking up the airwaves, no A-Fraud, no Fox News...yes, those were the days!!!!