When I was a kid, I was obsessed with baseball. Part of this obsession involved constant reading of the baseball record books. In these readings, one name would jump out at me repeatedly: Willie Mays.

I loved the name and in reading about him, it seemed there was nothing he could not do on the baseball field. I then read his autobiography, Say Hey: The Autobiography Of Willie Mays, and I was in awe of the man. Willie became my favorite old-time player and his only championship team, the 1954 New York Giants, became my favorite old-time team. I insisted on having that Giants team be my team when my high school friends and I played a season of Pursue The Pennant using classic teams. That’s how much I loved this team that I never even had a chance to see play.

As a child of the 1980s, I grew up idolizing Willie Mays, but I never had the pleasure of seeing him in action outside of the occasional highlight reel. These inevitably included a clip of Mays’ signature play, his over-the-shoulder sprinting catch of a Vic Wertz drive to the deepest part of the old Polo Grounds some 450 feet from home plate in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. This catch, considered by many to be the greatest catch in baseball’s long and glorious history, is truly amazing to watch and is understandably the greatest highlight in Mays’ career. “The Catch” as it will forever be remembered is such a famous play in baseball lore that it even has its own Wikipedia page.

I’ve always wanted to see more of Mays and more of this legendary 1954 team, but could not do so until now. I have loved what A&E Home Video has done with its complete World Series DVD sets like the ones for 1975 Cincinnati Reds, 1986 New York Mets, and the 2005 Chicago White Sox, so I was really looking forward to seeing what they would do with this release since complete game films of an entire World Series from that era are apparently unavailable. What A&E has done is release a vintage highlight film on a single disc interestingly titled New York Giants: Vintage World Series Films. The title is a little misleading because it may have you think there is more than one film, but it is not. This is just one 36-minute film.

But it is a vintage film and that certainly adds something to its allure. They do not make films like this anymore. It certainly has the feel of something you would have seen in 1954. The film starts off by introducing the stars of the participating teams, the Giants and the Cleveland Indians, who had won an American League record 111 games against just 43 defeats and entered the Series as prohibitive favorites. After the introductions, we move on to highlights of the games, with play-by-play done by legendary Hall of Fame announcer Jack Brickhouse. These are nice highlights to be sure, but it is not the same as watching a complete game. Still, this is great stuff to see. So many players I have read about, but have never seen. For that alone, this was worth watching.

The Indians, led by an amazing pitching staff including Bob Lemon, Early Wynn and Bob Feller, were a dominant team in 1954, but regular season triumphs do not always lead to postseason success. The Giants dominated this series, winning in a four-game sweep while outscoring the Indians 21-9. Despite the lopsided outcome, this series had its share of highlights, led of course by the Mays catch in Game 1. Game 1 also featured a dramatic game-ending three-run home run off the bat of Dusty Rhodes, who had a great season in 1954 but was never able to play more than 111 games in a single season in his seven-year career. The rest of the film is filled with rather typical baseball highlights, and while they are not necessarily spectacular, they are fun to watch because this is simply not something you get to see everyday. I’m very glad that A&E and Major League Baseball have teamed up to release these highlights.

It’s interesting to note that this film was directed by Lew Fonseca, a former baseball player who won the 1929 American League batting title while playing for the Indians.

Video
It looks just as you would expect it would, average at best. Considering the source material is 52 years old, this is not bad. The highlights are generally a little on the fuzzy side, with a lot of dirt and scratches present on the print, but they are more than watchable. I’ll take these highlights any way I can get them.

Audio
The audio is interestingly presented in Dolby 2.0 Stereo which is a little odd because it surely was not recorded in stereo. It’s really just a mono track pushed through two speakers. It sounds fine. Dialogue is clear and that is all that really matters.

Extra Features
There are no extra features on this disc which is something of a disappointment considering the film runs just over 35 minutes. I would have loved to have seen some interviews with some of the living players from this series. Their recollections would have been priceless. Oh well.

Packaging
Similar to the other A&E baseball releases, this disc comes in a clear keep-case. On the inside of the case, there is a listing under the title Vintage World Series Films of all the Series participants from 1943-2004. Why 2005 is not included is beyond me. I would have preferred to have seen this space used to give player stats from this Series in a manner similar to what the complete World Series releases have had, but really, this is a minor complaint.

Parting Words
With a list price of $19.99 I’m hard pressed to call this release a bargain like the complete Series sets are, but even though this disc is short on content, the content is a blast to watch. Heck, just to have the Mays catch on DVD makes this a must-own disc for me, so I say if you can get it at a discounted price, go for it.