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     March 2019
Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, AZ - the "Grey Eagle", Hall of Famer Tris Speaker, advocates "a nice, level swing" to Cleveland players (L to R) Luke Easter, Jim Hegan, Larry Doby, Ray Boone and Al Rosen at Indians' Spring Training, 1950.

 
       
Dear Rare Sportsfilms Subscriber,
 
       It won't be long until Opening Day!   It's the time of year when all optimistic fans can say, "We actually could win a playoff spot" and "Hey, anything can happen - remember, it's a long way to October".

       Be sure to read our story about the opening day second baseman for the Braves in the club's final season in Boston.

       We hope to be seeing many of you this week in Chicago at the Rosemont Convention Center for the upcoming spring Sports Spectacular set for March 15-17.

       Of course, check out our first three new nostalgic sports DVDs of 2019!   Read all about them below and note our discount package.
 
Doak Ewing
President
Rare Sportsfilms, Inc.



sixtyfouryankees
46 Minutes COLOR


Three Yankee films on one DVD! The last of the Mantle era ballclubs to win a pennant is shown in spring training and in Yankee Stadium. 100% of the narration is by the players themselves! Beautiful Kodachrome shots of the players showing their skills and talking about playing their positions, the Stadium, the monuments in CF, their teammate "The Mick" and their ballclub.

fiftytwoandthreegiants
1 Hour, 5 Minutes
Black & White
 
These two films show 19 games, including the first NFL game ever played in Dallas, the "Mud Bowl" at the Polo Grounds in '53 and a flashback to the 1951 "Ice Game" vs the Browns in Yankee Stadium. Narrated by Marty Glickman. 
 
 sixtyonesanfranplus
56 Minutes
Black & White
plus
Week 8
   
Five 49'er games, then all seven NFL games from week 8 of the '61 season!

 arnett
ineverknowwho

I Never Know Who May Be Calling
 By Doak Ewing

       
       That was again the case on the last day of February when I picked up the phone to take an order from the son of a remarkable athlete.   Patrick Reed started by saying, "I heard about your new color DVD on the 1951 Milwaukee Brewers from the Boston Braves Historical Association newsletter, and since my Dad is on it, it's a must for me."   I countered, "Then you must be the son of Billy Reed."   We talked for maybe a half hour during which I found out some amazing things about his father Billy, who was the opening day second baseman for the Boston Braves during their last season in Boston.

       After his fine year with the AAA Champion Brewers (.311 with 30 doubles), Billy had earned the second base job in spring training.   Reed led off the bottom of the first inning with a base hit - the first base hit of the 1952 Major League season - and went 2 for 4 in his first game vs Brooklyn.  With rookie Eddie Mathews, he shared the field that day with six other eventual Hall of Famers.
        
Billy Reed
As his son Patrick, formerly a CFO in commercial banking in Houston, Texas told me more about his father, I soon came to realize that long before that, young Billy was quite an amazing athlete!
 
       His football debut was dramatic.   A Shawano high school (Mideastern Wisconsin) freshman in the fall of 1937, he entered a scoreless tie in the 4th quarter and promptly threw the winning touchdown pass to his brother John.   That play beat a team coached by still another older brother, Al.   Reed went on to become all-conference the next three years.   In basketball he was a star on Shawano's (Wisconsin) state championship team and two years later as a junior, helped win another state title.

In Reed's freshman year the school Latin teacher, who was also a tennis buff, watched the youngster play tennis on the town's only court - two concrete slabs behind the school - and saw some promise.   So the teacher talked the school into fielding a tennis team the next year.   Reed won the Wisconsin state singles championship and led his mates to the state team title.   He did it again as a junior and again as a senior, never losing a singles match and beating all other high school tennis players in the state in those three years - even though tennis was only his third favorite sport!  The reigning world king of men's tennis at Wimbledon was Bobby Riggs, and a match was set for the young star to play Riggs in an exhibition.   Riggs won, but Reed, as a high school senior, made him work for the victory.

       Reed also won four varsity letters in track and a total of 15 letters, not counting baseball (which turned out to be his best sport).   The school didn't have a baseball team, so Billy played during the summers with the city team and a nearby town Legion team.

        After high school, Reed accepted a football scholarship to Notre Dame in the fall of 1941.   But like so many others, his college career was cut short by WWII.

        After the war, Billy embarked on his professional sports career.   He played with the Oshkosh All-Stars in the old NBL which later evolved into the NBA.   Reed played the 1946-47 season professionally against such stars as Red Holtzman, Arnie Risen, Bob Davies, and George Mikan!
       
       In 1946, Billy signed his first baseball contract and began his career with the Green Bay Blue Jays in the Wisconsin State League. Reed was a career .312 hitter, mostly in the minors.   The first baseman on that team was a name that would later become legendary in Milwaukee Braves history - future Braves broadcaster Earl Gillespie!   Earl hit .279 that season and Billy hit .363, moving up the next year to Evansville (class B, III League).   By 1950, Billy was in triple-A and a member of the old Milwaukee Brewers, still batting over .300.   The 1951 Brewers color DVD chronicles the championship year of '51, when the Brewers won the Little World Series and with the now Brewer broadcaster Earl Gillespie narrating the official team highlight film!   After starting the 1952 season in Boston, the 29-year old rookie's age was becoming a liability, and despite his .250 average to Jack Dittmer's .193, he was a victim of Boston's youth-oriented re-building program.  S ent down to the '52 Brewers, Billy again participated in the Little World Series as the Brewers' top second baseman.

        When the Braves moved from Boston to Milwaukee in 1953, the AAA club was moved to Toledo, Ohio and re-named the Toledo Sox.   Billy helped the club win another pennant, batting .290.   Reed had been attending college in the off-season, and after graduating from St. Norbert's (De Pere, Wisconsin) he hung up his spikes and became a business executive with the American Can Company.  His athletic career now in the rear-view mirror and with a 1-year old daughter and son Patrick now six, Billy still enjoyed attending games at County Stadium during the glory days of the Braves in Milwaukee.

       "Because of his connections, Dad could always get tickets to Braves games," Patrick explained. "I remember a visit to County Stadium in the mid-1950's - I must've been about seven years old - and Dad took me into the Braves clubhouse before a game.   I remember meeting second baseman Felix Mantilla and I still have the bat he gave me that day.  Another time - this was in 1961 when Philadelphia was still enduring that record-setting losing streak - the Phillies were in Milwaukee for a Sunday doubleheader.   Dad had been a teammate with Phils manager Gene Mauch during their days with the Brewers.   So before the first game and after greeting Dad, Gene invited me into the clubhouse.  ' Just stick by me Pat, as I go about my business,' he said. I'll always remember what he said during a meeting with the coaches before the game.   One of them spoke up, 'Gene have you decided on who's pitching the first game yet?', and Gene replied, 'What difference does it make - nobody has won a game for us in almost a month!'   Incidentally, the Phils lost the first game of the day but split the doubleheader, ending the longest losing streak in modern major league history at 23 straight games!"
 
       Patrick finished by saying, "Dad passed in 2005. I remember someone once asking him, 'Billy, with all of your athletic versatility, why didn't you ever try golf?'   Dad answered, 'I always thought hitting a ball that wasn't even moving wouldn't be much of a challenge!'"

 

tradeshowsched

RARE SPORTSFILMS - 2018 TRADE SHOW SCHEDULE

The trade shows that Rare Sportsfilms participates in throughout the year are excellent venues at which to meet other collectors with similar interests and visit in person with Rare Sportsfilms!   We are always offering specials at our booth where you can also ask to see any DVD you may be interested in!  Normally we'll have an inventory of 50-200 different DVDs available at any show.
 
Here's our Show Schedule for the remainder of 2018:
 
March 15-17  - Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois.  " The Chicago Sports Spectacular " (Spring Sports Collectibles Show).

March 24 - Chicagoland Auto Racing Memorabilia Show, Will County Fairgrounds, Peotone, Illinois, 10AM-3PM in the Atrium Building.  www.ChicagolandRacersReunion.com  or on facebook www.facebook.com/ChicagolandRacersReunion
 
March 29-31 Strongsville, Ohio Holiday Inn Route 82 & I-71. Ohio Sports Collector Convention.
 
May 25 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway "day before the race Indy memorabilia show" officially known as the Indy Memorabilia Motorsport Experience (IMME).   Located inside the track at the south chalet in the plaza behind the pagoda. 8AM-5PM Sat. only!
 
July31-August 4 - National Sports Collector's Convention , at the Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois.   This is the BIG one - the greatest sports collector's convention in the world!   Also click here for more information about the show.

November 22-24 - Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois.   "The Chicago Sports Spectacular" (Fall Sports Collectibles Show).

Click the links or call Doak Ewing at 630-527-8890 for more information about any of these shows.


If you would like to know more about other vintage baseball or pro football films now available on high-quality DVD, call us at  630-527-8890  or visit our website at
www.raresportsfilms.com. 
 

nscc17
limitedoffer
 
 
Special LIMITED-TIME OFFER 
for our three new DVDs:

$AVE almost $20.00!
 
Get all three of our new DVDs
( 1964 Yankees and both NFL football
-  a total of 7 restored films on three DVDs  )
for only $81.95 PPD!

 (Illinois residents must add
$6.35 state sales tax)
 

OR:
10 for only $225.00 PPD!

Get our three new DVDs and
any seven of our other DVDs
for only $225.00 PPD !

(Illinois residents must add
$17.40 state sales tax)

 
(Select from the list on our website here)
 
 
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Naperville, IL 60540
 

Order by Phone
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If you would like to know more about other vintage
sports films now available on high-quality DVD ...

... call us at 1-630-527-8890
or visit our website
 

Rare Sportsfilms News
1126 Tennyson Lane
Naperville, IL 60540
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of baseball, football, basketball, golf and auto racing DVDs and more! 


Rare Sportsfilms
630-527-8890 
doakewing@raresportsfilms.com

© Rare Sportsfilms, Inc., 2019
 
Rare Sportsfilms, Inc. | 630-527-8890 | www.raresportsfilms.com