MLB Network Presents: Icons Lost to debut on Saturday, Dec. 26, at 8 p.m.
Personal stories on the six legends from Johnny Bench, Joe Torre, Willie Horton, Tim McCarver, Bobby Richardson and Bob Costas featured throughout
Dec. 16, 2020 - MLB Network will honor the six baseball legends who passed away in 2020 – Lou Brock, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Al Kaline, Joe Morgan and Tom Seaver – in Icons Lost, the newest installment of the MLB Network Presents documentary series, premiering Saturday, Dec. 26, at 8 p.m. ET. Icons Lost will provide an in-depth look at how these National Baseball Hall of Famers left an indelible mark on baseball history through exclusive new interviews with Hall of Famers Johnny Bench and Joe Torre, All-Stars Willie Horton, Tim McCarver and Bobby Richardson and 2018 Ford C. Frick Award winner Bob Costas.
It has been 48 years since the Hall of Fame lost six inductees in one year and in 2020, all six icons passed away in just over six months. Archival footage from classic World Series and All-Star Games, rarely seen interviews with the legends as young players and clips from their Hall of Fame speeches will be interspersed throughout the program. Icons Lost will cover their transcendent careers, signature moments and the everlasting bond each of them had with the cities they played in and baseball fans around the world.
In this clip from Icons Lost, Bench says of Kaline, “Al was the most gentlest of people, classiest of guys. We bonded right away. There was just something and it was the calmness in his voice, the smile when we would talk and the laughter we would have, and the number of times we told each other, [‘I love you’].”
The film will feature personal stories, including Richardson recalling when Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle called pitches for Ford from center field. As a rookie in 1967, Bench details how Brock would bait him on the basepaths, only for Brock to easily swipe the base. As his catcher in the 1965 All-Star Game, Torre describes his uncomfortable encounter when he tried to speak to the intimidating Gibson on the mound. Bench remembers the 1970 All-Star Game, when Seaver shook him off and then called him to the mound and directly laid out the game plan. Looking back on 2020, Torre says in Icons Lost, "To lose such a big chunk of the backbone of Cooperstown, all of a sudden the number of living Hall of Famers has diminished by a significant number, it's tough."
Launched in 2015, the MLB Network Presents series has produced programs covering many subjects across baseball, including one on the Hall of Fame career of Ken Griffey Jr. called Junior, which debuted this past June. The Emmy-nominated The Story of Billy Bean as well as Bench, Eck: A Story of Saving, Only in Hollywood, Mr. Padre, Billy, The Swingin' A's, Mike Trout: Millville to MVP and The Bird have all been produced by MLB Network Presents.