Vida Blue

MLB Network Presents this documentary on the Oakland Athletics powerhouse teams of the 1970's, winners of 3 straight World Series titles from 1972-1974.

Reggie Jackson's prolific power made him one of baseball's best hitters. But it was his magnanimous personality that made him so controversial. "The Making of Mr. October" examines the Hall of Fame career of one baseball's greats, and dives into one special night in October 1977 when Reggie’s legacy was cemented.

We know a lot about how major league baseball was strictly segregated before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. But strangely, few of us know much about the decade-long, fierce, organized efforts to bring that about. Lester Rodney, sports editor and writer for New York’s Communist Party newspaper The Daily Worker, made it his crusade beginning in 1936. This riveting 10-minute film, much of it in Lester Rodney’s own words, tells about the man, his passion for baseball, why he fought for equal treatment of “Negro” ball players, and his perspective on the far reaching impact of baseball’s desegregation. Enjoy this eye-opening mini-documentary about Lester Rodney (1911-2009), the unsung hero who helped desegregate Major League Baseball, narrated by baseball legends Vida Blue and Marty Lurie.

James Earl Jones narrates this fascinating and moving documentary about the life of the assassinated black leader through various sources.

A successful and popular nightclub owner who believes financial independence is the path to equality and success, must act as a go-between for militant-minded brother and the white gang syndicate his brother has attacked and robbed. Their involvements lead to a breathless race course chase, the destruction of a dopepusher and a violent waterfront climax.