Dodgers legend Don Newcombe joins Ford & Boseman to discu 4

Brooklyn Dodgers legend and Rookie of the Year, MVP and Cy Young Award winner Don Newcombe joins actors Harrison Ford and Chadwick Boseman on Studio 42 with Bob Costas this weekend on MLB Network to discuss his former teammate Jackie Robinson and the Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures presentation of 42, a Legendary Pictures Production.

Taped at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last week, Newcombe comments on Robinson both on and off the baseball diamond, while Boseman, who portrays Robinson, and Ford, who plays Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, talk about what drew them to the film and how they prepared to play such larger-than-life characters. Boseman details his Spring Training-like practices and Ford describes studying Rickeys mannerisms by watching his appearance on an episode of the game show Whats My Line? in 1959.

Studio 42 with Bob Costas will air this Saturday, April 13 at 4:00 p.m. ET and on Sunday, April 14 at 10:00 p.m. ET. The film 42 is in theaters nationwide this Friday, April 12.

Highlights from this episode of Studio 42 with Bob Costas include:

Newcombe on Robinson:

He was not the greatest baseball player to ever play baseball, but he became a legend in baseball with his talent. He had the greatest reflexes of any human being Ive ever seen on a baseball field. He could do things that Ive never seen anybody else do yet in all of those years. Willie Mays and all of them couldnt do what Jackie could do on a baseball field. In a rundown, he had nine baseball players one day chasing him down the third base line trying to catch him and they never did catch him. Nine!

Newcombe on Robinsons legacy:

Jackie said, Were bitter now, but were going to change one letter in the word bitter. Were going to change the I to E and things are going to get better. We have to make it work though. We have to make it work, and we did make it work. We made history. We made baseball what it is today in a very big way, but we still havent reached the point where we need to be.

Boseman on why the movie was made:

When [Legendary Pictures CEO] Thomas Tull talks about why he wanted to do the film, he says that he was doing an event with some kids with Ken Griffey, Jr. and they brought up Jackie Robinson, and they didnt know who he was. Ken Griffey turns to him and says, You know, we have to do something about that.

Boseman on the importance of playing Jackie Robinson:

That set in for me that I am responsible for portraying all of the characteristics and qualities and principles that the man lived under. I also knew that there were a lot of people who viewed him as a hero, that know him very well, and would be let down if I didnt live up to those expectations.

Boseman on how he prepared to imitate Robinsons style of play:

I was provided his Hall of Fame footage by Major League Baseball and I was given coaches. We basically had a Spring Training from the middle of January to May, in which I came, went to practice five days a week in the morning and we also had conditioning sessions later in the day I was like a professional player, treated like that.

Ford on Branch Rickey:

He was a dramatic character. He had a real sense of drama and baseball is drama. He had a style and that was one of the joys of playing him. Hes a larger-than-life character.

Ford on researching Rickeys mannerisms:

One of the most telling things I saw was an old kinescope of him appearing on Whats My Line? ...Just after the show was over, he walked from the place where he sat as a mystery guest and greeted the panelists on his way off stage, and from that I got the essence of the man, the courtliness, the gentility, the way he moved. You know, a pictures worth a thousand words and a lot of those pictures helped inform me.

Newcombe on Bosemans and Fords portrayals in the film:

Im so proud to see this young man [Boseman] perform the way he did, emulating my great idol named Jackie Robinson, my teammate, my ex-roommate, my golfing buddy When I first saw Harrison, I said, What is Branch Rickey doing up on that screen? He looks so much like him and he performed like him and I said, My God, what do they do in the movie business, they make it almost real. Im proud of the both of them.

MLB Network is the ultimate television destination for baseball fans, featuring the Emmy Award-winning MLB Tonight, live games, including Postseason telecasts, original programming, highlights, and insights and analysis from the best in the business, including Bob Costas, Peter Gammons, Jim Kaat, Al Leiter and Harold Reynolds. MLB Network debuted on January 1, 2009 as the largest launch in cable television history and is currently distributed in 71 million homes throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. For more information and to find MLB Network in your area, go to www.MLBNetwork.com.

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