A Pitcher, A President and a Home Movie

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on A Pitcher, A President and a Home Movie In November 2013 the Pennsylvania State Archives was contacted by Mrs. Judith Savastio regarding a home movie that her father filmed. She had questions about preserving the film and was interested in finding a repository for its permanent care. Mrs. Savastio’s father, Major League Baseball pitcher James “Jimmie” DeShong (1909-1993), shot the film on his new 8mm home movie...
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Philadelphia’s Mr. Baseball and His Amazing Athletics

Posted by on Nov 27, 2013 in | Comments Off on Philadelphia’s Mr. Baseball and His Amazing Athletics Connie Mack always seemed to be dressed in black. His three­-piece business suit, complete with necktie, detach­able collar and derby, gave him the appearance of a Philadel­phia funeral director rather than baseball manager. But for the ten years he had guided the hometown Athletics, Mack took his job very seriously. To be sure, on this sunny Sep­tember morning in 1911, the game of baseball had...
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Pride of the Philadelphia Phillies: An Interview with Mike Schmidt

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pride of the Philadelphia Phillies: An Interview with Mike Schmidt Baseball is, essentially, a game of history. In no other sport can athletes measure their performance with such precision against those who have come before. Every aspect of the game is recorded, from most base hits to lowest earned run average. As time passes, players’ evaluations and rankings increasingly come to rest on the statistics they compiled during their careers. While nearly...
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