December 10, 2003

Rebels of Oakland.: The A's and the Raiders in the 1970s. Very entertaining HBO Sports documentary. It's premiering as we speak I post.

posted by staggernation to culture at 08:32 PM - 2 comments

Unfortunately I don't have HBO, so if anybody sees it maybe they can post some feedback about it. The story I remember, which may be somewhat apocryphal, is the one about Charley Finley being ordered by the commisioner (Bowie Kuhn at the time?) to hire a general manager, which he didn't want to do. So he ends up hiring the kid batboy Stanley Burrell aka MC Hammer. Allegedly Hammer told Finley, "Hey I know this young pitcher who's pretty good" so Finley signed him for a pittance. The guy turned out to be Hammer's older brother, and he sucked.

posted by vito90 at 09:33 AM on December 11, 2003

Yes, MC Hammer is one of the interviewees. I don't think the signing of his brother is mentioned in the doc, but there are lots of great Finley anecdotes. Including the mustache-bonus thing, which reminded me of the present-day Mustaches for Kids program.

posted by staggernation at 10:45 AM on December 11, 2003

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