Briggs Stadium 8mm Color Home Movies from 1956

Today I discovered the single greatest YouTube baseball clip imaginable.  It’s a home movie shot on August 4, 1956 by a family from New York visiting Briggs Stadium.  It was filmed by Alphonse M. Capurso, Jack Capurso, and Eric Monacelli and edited by Daniel J. Capurso.  The clip is dedicated to Alphonse (the Grandfather) who died last year.   The film now resides in Cooperstown at the archives of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

What the family created is the single best documentation of a 1950s game day at Briggs Stadium I’ve ever seen.  It includes street scenes, exterior shots of the stadium, pre-game grounds crew rituals, player warm-ups, and a storybook baseball game between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers in which Mickey Mantle and Al Kaline each hit two home runs.  The Tigers beat the Bronx Bombers, 5-4, as Kaline went 3 for 4 with two homers, a double, two runs, and five RBI.  The complete box score can be viewed by clicking here.

This is beyond “Field of Dreams” because it really happened.  Thank you, Capursos.  Click on the image below to auto-launch one of the finest home movies you’ll ever watch.  Make sure your speakers are on because the accompanying music will bring tears to your eyes.

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2 replies on “Briggs Stadium 8mm Color Home Movies from 1956

  • Jack Capurso

    Delighted you enjoyed my Dad’s short movie. Nephew Danny Capurso did all of the work, all I did was handle the camera
    a few times and enjoy the game. All the others are gone
    now. I miss them.

    Jack Capurso in Ashburn, Va

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