Yankee Stadium: Baseball's Cathedral

There's non-baseball footage here, too. Boxing historian Bert Sugar talks about the famous Joe Louis and Max Schmeling fight that was also a symbolic showdown between Hitler's "master race" and democracy. Here too is the Shown as well is the first NFL football championship game to enter overtime, when the rules weren't even laid out. And yes, there's footage of the papal masses that were held here by Popes Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI in the "cathedral." None of these segments is especially long, though, and while some tough choices had to be made to cram more than 80 years of history into a two-hour video, that's still regrettable. There's also some duplication between what made the cut for the main documentary and what was included in the bonus features, where a little more calculation might have made for additional footage without the overlapping. Still, this video will bring chills to fans who've actually sat in the old stadium and watched history in the making. It's a collectible DVD in every sense of the word.

Video:
The production values are quite good, too. The picture (1.33:1 aspect ratio) looks fine stretched to fit a widescreen monitor, and you can see how clear and bright and detailed the picture is in the extended segment from the 2008 opening day and the talking heads interviews. As for the vintage footage, well, you know what you're getting, and you make mental allowances. None of it is so rough that it looks like damaged goods. Major League Baseball has done a good job with its archival materials.

Audio:
The audio is nothing special, though, a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo for most of the newer segments and voiceovers and a crackly Mono for the vintage stuff. But this is Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, folks.

Extras:
There's a nice bundle of extras on the second disc, though once again fans will wish the segments were more extensive. Not all of the Lou Gehrig farewell speech is included here, and some of the highlights are timed pretty closely to coincide with the moment of truth. What we get, in addition to Gehrig's "luckiest man" farewell speech, are:

Mickey Mantle's 1964 World Series Game 3 walk-off home run
Chris Chambliss' 1976 ALCS Game 5 walk-off home run
Don Mattingly's 1995 ALDS Game 2 home run
Hideki Matsui's first major league grand slam
Aaron Boone's 2003 ALCS Game 7 home run
Derek Jeter's 2001 ALDS dive into the seats to catch a ball

And in each of these clips, it's cut pretty close to the incident itself. Other segments are fleshed out a little more, like the infamous George Brett "pine tar incident," and the Yankees' somber return to their cathedral after burying their captain, Thurman Munson. Perhaps the longest segment is Jim Abbott's no-hitter, which features the entire bottom of the ninth.

But as good as these clips are, perhaps the best bonus feature is a tour of Yankee Stadium that was done as part of the "Cathedrals of the Game" series. We get the skinny on Monument Park, the famous decorative frieze, Steinbrenner's box, the clubhouse, the dugout--the whole package. It's a nice behind-the-scenes glimpse for fans who've never gotten the tour, and for those who've never even been to Yankee Stadium.

Bottom Line:
"Yankee Stadium: Baseball's Cathedral" is a solid, two-disc offering that captures the essence of the hallowed walls and everything inside them. It's both a fitting tribute, and an argument against tearing it down and replacing it with another. The only consolation is that the new stadium is designed to look like Yankee Stadium once did in 1923, but with all the modern amenities . . . and with that distinctive frieze re-incorporated.

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