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Darryl Tahirali

Darryl Tahirali

Remembering Etta James and Johnny Otis

The week of January 16, which began with the observation of the birthday of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., brought news of the deaths of R&B singer Etta James and R&B bandleader Johnny Otis, both inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It is sadly appropriate first that the deaths of James and Otis should occur in the same week—it was Otis who discovered James—and that both should die during the week that marks the commemoration of the slain African-American civil rights leader.

 

Moneyball: Hall of Fame Caliber Moviemaking

Having proved to be a hit with moviegoers, Moneyball, the baseball story that might feature an underdog but otherwise avoids most sports-film cliché, is picking up steam as we move into the heart of awards season: This fast-paced, engrossing movie has garnered four Golden Globe nominations, typically a bellwether for the World Series of filmdom recognition, the Academy Awards. Indeed, Moneyball is a Hall of Fame-worthy baseball flick.

If I had a Vote in the 2012 Baseball Hall of Fame Election

The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) has voted on which player or players will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012, and the results of that vote will be announced on January 9. Boy, I wish I'd had a ballot!

Each BBWAA voting member can cast a vote for up to ten players, a ballot provision that might prove to be very useful given the logjam of worthy candidates already on the ballot and those who will be added to the ballot in the next few years. Although I don't think there are ten worthy candidates on this year's slate, I would have voted for eight of them given the chance.

First, I'll dispense with the players who are on the ballot for the first time this year. Of the 13 new candidates, only former Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams merits any serious consideration. Of the remaining 12, the Angels' right fielder Tim Salmon emerges as the strongest choice, although he remains a solid player, beset by injuries, one of the many good enough to play major league baseball as a career but not an elite player.

Hall of Fame Baseball Movies

All right, so the Baseball Hall of Fame has not inducted any movies yet, but that doesn't mean that baseball fans who love movies—feel free to reverse that if you are so inclined—don't have their favorite baseball movies. I know I do. And here they are—my Starting Nine, baseball's Hall of Fame-quality movies.

 

More so than any other sport, baseball lends itself to the dramatic devices that make a feature film effective. For one thing, the fundamental conflict in baseball—the pitcher-hitter confrontation—makes for an ideal one-on-one confrontation. Moreover, the individual focus on a player translates to dramatic character study like a double-play transfer toss at second base. For another, the very pace of the game (and, yes, non-baseball fans might liken that pace of the game to Oscar Wilde's description of a Wagner opera: "Hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror") allows for the kind of climactic moments ripe for slow-motion shots and stings of thrilling music swelling on the soundtrack, with sufficient time for reaction shots from the bench and the bleachers (think: The Natural). Finally, the claim that baseball was the "national pastime" persisted throughout the 20th century, allowing Hollywood to begin mythologizing the game early on.