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Join this channel to get access to perks: Want to learn more about Periscope Film and get access to exclusive swag? Join us on Patreon. Visit Visit our website “The Democracy of Baseball,” is a 1951 educational film celebrating the American League’s 50th and the National League’s 75th anniversaries. It was sponsored by Spaulding, maker of athletic equipment, and can be considered an advertisement for that company. Some of the game's famous players and their accomplishments are reviewed and the origins of the sport are discussed. Presented by the American and National Leagues of Professional Baseball Clubs in cooperation with AG Spalding Bros., Inc. Directed and narrated by Lew Fonseca. Produced by Chicago Film Studios. (1:17) Pitcher throws the ball to the batter. Shots of the crowd cheering as the batter runs to first base. Includes clips of a Dodgers vs. Yankees game (3:07) Segments of players from various teams, including the San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers, among others (3:38) A grandpa explains the joys of baseball to his grandsons as they watch the game from the crowd (4:06) The grandpa and his grandsons open a book about the history of baseball, with a photo of the earliest baseball attire from the U.S. colonial days. The players of the colonial era play an early form of baseball (4:42) Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, NY explains the rules of baseball to a crowd of young boys. They play a game (5:23) The young William Cummings plays billiards and realizes the ball can curve if cued off center. This can also be adapted to baseball. The first curveball is thrown intentionally on the baseball field by Cummings (6:26) A pitcher on a professional field practices curveball pitching (6:34) The grandpa and grandsons on the couch, as the grandsons ask more questions (7:00) Quick shots of early players Christy Mathewson, John McGraw, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, and Ty Cobb (7:18) Players Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Tris Speaker (8:02) Cy Young (8:11) Carl Hubbell (8:18) Lou Gehrig (8:33) Gabby Harness (8:37) Jimmy Fox (8:42) Mel Ott (8:49) Rogers Hornsby (8:56) Dizzy Dean (9:04) Lefty Grove (9:37) Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams (9:55) On July 2, 1941, DiMaggio smashed Willie Keeler’s record of safe hits and consecutive games. He reached a record of 56 (10:29) Stan Musial (10:39) Connie Mack and Clark Griffith, famous managers of baseball (11:25) Mack answers from his desk about what it takes to make the big leagues (12:56) A scout looking for players watches a game. A high school game takes place. College games and sandlots managed by professional baseball teams also become recruiting grounds (14:00) Lights for a stadium are used for the first time in 1930, opening the game to those who couldn’t watch the game during the day (14:38) In 1951, the National League celebrated its 75th anniversary, and the American League and the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues both celebrated 50 years (15:15) Men of the U.S. Navy play baseball (15:44) The annual All-Star Game, an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National League (NL) (16:10) The World Series, the biggest annual event for baseball (16:39) The grandpa concludes his story about baseball (16:58) Text about the film’s goal to further the development of young baseball players and provide better knowledge of the game We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.“ This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
