A Snip here, a Snip there

So, in heartbreaking news, it appears that the WPIX clip of Mickey Mantle's 500th HR is just that, a clip:

He hit his 500th at Yankee Stadium on May 14th, 1967. Wednesday night, I showed some tape of the historic homer on the 11 p.m. news.

The back story: Several years back, an NBC technician came to my office. He said he used to work at Channel 11. He was working that day when the Mick hit his milestone homer. And the technician took a pair of scissors and physically cut off the chunk of tape (two-inch tape at the time) and shoved it into his locker. He wanted to know if I wanted the tape.

Wanted it? It was the mother lode -- the actual portion of the broadcast on WPIX that was long forgotten. It was 40 years ago, and that brief chunk of tape looks like the Middle Ages by comparison.

http://www.wnbc.com/sports/13808006/detail.html

And just like that, hope evaporates.


Hat tip goes to twib77, whoever this mystery man is, for bringing this to my attention.