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| "Rookie of the Year" | |
|---|---|
| Screen Directors Playhouse episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 10 |
| Directed by | John Ford |
| Written by | Frank Nugent From a story by W. R. Burnett |
| Featured music | no music credit |
| Cinematography by | Hal Mohr, A.S.C. |
| Production code | 010 |
| Original air date | December 7, 1955 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Rookie of the Year" is a 1955 half-hour baseball drama directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, and Patrick Wayne, all of whom Ford would direct in The Searchers the following year. This film was an installment of the television anthology series Screen Director's Playhouse .
A sportswriter (John Wayne) realizes that a talented young rookie (Patrick Wayne) is the son of a former Chicago White Sox player (Ward Bond), who was banned from playing Major League Baseball for life because of his participation in the 1919 World Series scandal, a.k.a. the Black Sox Scandal. All the characters in this story are fictional, but the character played by Ward Bond is strongly suggestive of the real Shoeless Joe Jackson.
Patrick Wayne would later play a similar role in a 1962 television drama, also directed by John Ford, called Flashing Spikes , starring James Stewart and featuring John Wayne in a lengthy surprise appearance for which he was billed as "Michael Morris."
Sportswriter Mike Cronin discovers rookie baseball player Lyn Goodhue is the son of former major leaguer, Buck Garrison, who was banished from baseball following his participation in the infamous Black Sox Scandal. He intends to reveal this in his newspaper column, but is threatened at gunpoint by Ruth Dahlberg who wants to kill the story. In a flashback, it is revealed that Cronin's investigation led him to a man named Larry Goodhue who lived with his son, Lyn, next door to Lyn's girlfriend, Ruth Dahlberg. Ruth takes Cronin to a local baseball field where Larry is coaching young boys. Cronin recognizes Larry as Buck Garrison, surprising Ruth. Unhappy with being recognized, Garrison tells Cronin he can't prevent him from running his story, and leaves dejected. Back in the present, Ruth tells Cronin that running the story will hurt Lyn, who has done nothing to deserve the it. Cronin decides not to run the story, and throws a baseball through the window of his newspaper office as he departs.
| | This article relating to a drama television series in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
George Herman "Babe" Ruth was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", he began his MLB career as a star left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, but achieved his greatest fame as a slugging outfielder for the New York Yankees. Ruth is regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture and is considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time. In 1936, Ruth was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its "first five" inaugural members.
Joseph Jefferson Jackson, nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early 20th century. Although his .356 career batting average is the fourth highest in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB), he is often remembered for his association with the Black Sox Scandal, in which members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox participated in a conspiracy to fix the World Series. As a result, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned Jackson from baseball after the 1920 season. During the World Series in question, Jackson had led both teams in several statistical categories and set a World Series record with 12 base hits. Jackson's role in the scandal, banishment from the game, and exclusion from the Baseball Hall of Fame have been fiercely debated.
John Martin Feeney, known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and was one of the first American directors to be recognized as an auteur. In a career of more than 50 years, he directed over 130 films between 1917 and 1970, and received six Academy Awards including a record four wins for Best Director for The Informer (1935), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), and The Quiet Man (1952).
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