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09/11/2009 12:47 PM ET
Tom Manning and "The Kid From Cleveland" Remembered
Special Guests Tommy Cook and Ted Patterson
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"Two Baseball Kids From Cleveland," produced by October Productions, takes place at the Baseball Heritage Museum on Saturday, September 12, 2009 from 10 AM to 4 PM. The event celebrates the life and career of legendary baseball broadcaster and Clevelander Tom Manning who passed away in September, 1969 and looks back at the motion picture "The Kid From Cleveland" and the 60th anniversary of its premier in Cleveland in September, 1949. The day will include historic audio and video presentations and discussion. There will be refreshments, a raffle and a display of memorabilia related to Manning and the film. Admission is $10 per person with kids less than 16 years old admitted free. The Baseball Heritage Museum is in the Colonial Marketplace, 530 Euclid Avenue, in the Historic Gateway Neighborhood of downtown Cleveland.
Taking part in the event are special guests Tommy Cook and Ted Patterson. Cook played Dan Hudson in the film. He will reflect on the making of the film and his long career in movies, television and radio. Patterson is an authority on the history of sports broadcasting. He will reflect on Manning's career and his interview with Manning in 1967. The celebration will also include the premier of a new video from October Productions titled "Your Announcer, Tom Manning, and 'The Kid'" looking at the connection between Manning and the film.
Tom Manning was born in Cleveland on September 11, 1899. Manning played semi-pro baseball with the national champion Telling's team in 1917 and managed Bauer Meat to championships in 1923, 1924 and 1925. He became the first radio voice of the Cleveland Indians in 1928 and broadcast the World Series from 1929 to 1938. He broadcast the first eight All-Star Games starting in 1933 and the initial Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Cooperstown, New York in 1939. He teamed with Jimmy Dudley on Indians' radio broadcasts in 1956 and remained the "Dean of American Sportscasting" until his retirement on December 25, 1967.
"The Kid From Cleveland" was released by Republic Pictures in 1949 and premiered at the Stillman Theater on Euclid Avenue. It starred George Brent, Lynn Bari, Rusty Tamblyn as Johnny Barrows ("The Kid"), John Beradino, Tommy Cook, the 1949 Cleveland Indians, Bill Veeck, Hank Greenberg, and Tris Speaker. Hall of Famers in the film include Veeck, Greenberg, Speaker, Lou Boudreau, Bob Feller, Satchel Paige, Bob Lemon, Joe Gordon, Larry Doby and Early Wynn. Hall of Fame sportswriter Gordon Cobbledick appears in a non-speaking role and Hall of Famer Warren Spahn of the Boston Braves appears in archival footage. The film has been called an "abortion" and "a great movie."
Manning and the film are connected in the belief that baseball and good role models are a positive influence on young people. Manning concluded his 1939 Hall of Fame broadcast saying, "Give your boy a ball and a bat with which to play and your worries will be over that he might go a stray!"
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