America’s favorite past time is officially back! Last week the nation kicked off the season of barbeques and ball games with the 2011 opening day of Major League Baseball. While many parts of the country faced less than ideal opening day weather conditions, the games were played and die-hard fans filled the ballparks. This was the 111th common season of Major League Baseball involving the American and National League.
During his show’s run, Ed Sullivan often had great baseball players from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s on his show, including Willie Mays, Joe Dimaggio and Jackie Robinson. With The Ed Sullivan Show being an American tradition itself, it was only right that it play host to America’s favorite past time.
One of our favorite baseball moments on Sullivan comes from a show that aired right around the opening day of the 1958 MLB season. On this episode, Ed Sullivan hosted a number of New York Yankees stars who sang the iconic baseball song “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” The legendary players included Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle & Bill Skowron. Following the song, Yogi Berra gave his best wishes to Brooklyn Dodgers player Roy Campanella who had recently been injured in a horrible car crash. Here is a clip of that classic baseball moments on Ed Sullivan: