THIS ORIGINAL FILM WAS CREATED BY ACCIDENT!

- By Moe Resner

I went to the Polo Grounds not realizing the historical significance of what I was about to see. Had I NOT brought my movie camera with me, the events I memorialized on film would have just been a memory, seen by me and the 11,000 other fans who were there, many who didn't even realize that this was the New York Giants' last day at the fabled ball park.

I saw no one else with a movie camera. I was free to walk on the field and met such greats as Mrs. John McGraw, manager Bill Rigney, and Bobby Thomson. Ceremonies included Hall of Fame pitchers Carl Hubbell and Rube Marquard, with Hans Lobert, Sal Maglie, Sid Gordon, Willy Mays, and many others. I even filmed part of the game, including the last home run hit by Pittsburgh.

After adding some of my own titles, I actually put the film away for over 50 years!

At the urging of some friends, I dusted it off, re-edited it, and inserted new titles. The production is now complete with music composed and performed by Perry Lee Barber, one of the few women umpiring in professional baseball. The introduction is by baseball's popular Ed Randall, WFAN Radio.

End of An Era features one-of-a-kind footage. Some consider it to be the greatest amateur baseball documentary ever made............And just because I happened to go to a ball game with my camera!

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MOE RESNER

is all baseball and thrilled to be part of New York Giants history.

In his teens he pitched for the legendary Westchester Greys in the Bronx, New York, using his 85 MPH fast ball as a change-up. A little guy, he also hit a multitude of singles and doubles for over 50 years. He broke into coaching in 1957 with the New York Giants, owned AA Dallas Eagles, thanks to former major league catcher and dear friend Nick Testa. On that championship team were guys like Nick, Willie McCovey, Ernie Broglio, and Joe Amalfitano.

From 1978 through 1984, Moe was a special assistant coach for the minor league teams of the Montreal Expos. Included on his watch were rookies Jerry Manuel and Terry Francona. He was also flown in on a one day assignment to Jamestown, New York, to help supervise a young catcher named Jeff Wilpon! In 1980, Moe actually won a batting contest against AA Memphis Chicks players, with Felipe Alou pitching. He keeps up many friendships, including guys like Alou, Tim Raines, and former Montreal VP-Manager, Jim Fanning.

Moe has spent 25 years as chief statistician for the semi-pro Pelham Mets Baseball Club, New York. He still works out with the players, never misses taking batting practice, and coaches first base. His manager, Joe Solimine, anchors at third base.

He continues to work as a comedian, especially for baseball functions, and writes his weekly, syndicated comedy column, Major League Baseball Scene.

ED RANDALL

is a prominent baseball personality and a well-respected member of the profession. Before hosting "Ed Randall's Talking Baseball" on WFAN in New York and on Sirius/XM Channel 175 and the long-running nationally-syndicated television of the same name and serving as a radio/TV host for MLB.COM.

Ed spent almost a decade of his journalism career as a Minor League play-by-play broadcaster on radio and TV. He is a survivor of prostate cancer and founder of Ed Randall's Bat for the Cure that promotes early detection so that others can be spared from this killer disease. Nationally acclaimed, Bat for the Cure has been recently included in the United States Congressional Record by New York State Congressman Anthony Weiner.

PERRY LEE BARBER

is so much more than a woman who umpires baseball. She's also an identical twin, musician, composer, former opening act for Bruce Springsteen, Jeopardy champion!, ex-debutante, trivia aficionado, Christy Mathewson devotee, New York Giants Fan, and author of dozens of magazine articles about sports officiating. Her catchy tune "Baseball" on which she also sings and plays guitar, provides a musical framework for this DVD, and has been played at major and minor league ballparks all over the country and as far away as Japan. Perry's decades of service to baseball are recognized by the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Her photo is prominently displayed in the Women in Baseball Exhibit along with her name on a plaque.

She is the first woman to have umpired a game played between two major league teams in the modern era, (Mets v. White Sox, March 1985), and is the only woman so far to have umpired major league exhibitions on both American and Japanese soil. She continues to umpire New York Mets and other Grapefruit League spring training games, and we are proud that our friend Perry is part of this production.

"The heart strings of even this old Brooklyn Dodgers fan were tugged at by Moe Resner's touching retrospective, "End of an Era". The last New York Giants game at the Polo Grounds, in its beautiful simplicity, this is a wonderful glimpse into New York baseball, the way it was, and the way it ought to be."

"Some say the good old days ended in 1961 when baseball expanded, or in 1969, when divisional play began, but I believe they ended in 1957 when the Giants and Dodgers jumped 3,000 miles away, and sparked a slew of changes.

I was lucky enough to see games in the Polo Grounds--the Mets played there for two years, but envy Moe Resner's experience of standing on the diamond and shooting intimate scenes from the last game the New York Giants played there. As someone who knows how tight security is, it is simply amazing that an amateur videographer could have undisturbed field access during what we now regard as an historical event. But he managed to do it.

He also gave us a rare gift by shooting in color during an era of black-and-white. His film is a real feat, a beautiful but bittersweet retelling of a sad story, the abandonment of a great city by the National League.

"As the last batboy for the New York Giants, at age 14, I was amazed and extremely pleased to find out, some 52 years later, that Moe Resner had been able to capture on film my last day on the job, September 29, 1957. My family and I greatly appreciate Moe's efforts in bringing this historic sports film to the public."

Sincerely,

Edward C. Logan, MBA

Lt. Col USAF, ret.

kindly acknowledged this film, with a picture of Moe Resner in his column.