The Pennsylvania Game
Baseball greats, oil & Kentucky’s claim
Season 9 Episode 3 | 28m 44sVideo has Closed Captions
Do you know these PA baseball greats? Play the Pennsylvania Game.
Do you know these PA baseball greats? Play the Pennsylvania Game. This program is from WPSU’s archives: Information impacting answers may have changed since its original airing. Promotional offers are no longer valid.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
The Pennsylvania Game is a local public television program presented by WPSU
The Pennsylvania Game
Baseball greats, oil & Kentucky’s claim
Season 9 Episode 3 | 28m 44sVideo has Closed Captions
Do you know these PA baseball greats? Play the Pennsylvania Game. This program is from WPSU’s archives: Information impacting answers may have changed since its original airing. Promotional offers are no longer valid.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch The Pennsylvania Game
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Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipAnd the young lady, what is your name?
LOUISE: Louise.
Louise.
Where are you from, Louise?
LOUISE: Bellefonte.
Bellefonte.
Bellefonte.
French for beautiful fountain.
Isn't that beautiful?
And it is, it's gorgeous.
The big spring comes right out of the ground.
A whole town named after a leak in the planet.
[chuckles] [theme music] ANNOUNCER: The Pennsylvania Game is made possible in part by [wordless singing] ANNOUNCER 2: Uni-Mart convenience stores, making your life easier every day of the year.
ANNOUNCER: Now, let's get the game started.
Here's the host of The Pennsylvania Game, Scott Bruce.
[applause] Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, panelists.
Thank you.
Thank you, my lovely studio audience and the people who are joining us at home.
And if you are playing along with The Pennsylvania Game at home, please don't fold, spindle or mutilate.
[chuckles] Boo.
That's what we're looking for.
Let's find our panelists.
Let's meet them today who.
Do we have?
Neal Zoren.
Neal Zoren is a television and radio columnist for The Delaware County Daily Times.
He writes about all phases of art and entertainment, and he's interviewed such legends as Bette Davis, Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne.
Welcome, Neal Zoren.
[cheers and applause] Hello.
Also joining us today is Marie Johns McCall.
A news anchor for I-Watch News 13 on Blue Ridge Cable in Lehighton, Pennsylvania.
She's also active in musical theater and dance, having appeared on stage in more than 45 productions.
But most importantly, she is the mother of 16-month-old triplet daughters.
[cheers and applause] Marie Johns McCall.
[applause] And there he is now.
Jesse James.
He's no outlaw.
In fact, he is the law.
[chuckles] He's a lifelong resident of Kane, and has been the town's mayor for 31 years.
They just can't seem to get anyone else for the job.
[chuckles] He's also a self-employed retailer in the lawn and garden business and a golf cart sales and service.
Please say hello to Mayor Jesse James.
[cheers and applause] We're going to start the game with a fun one.
Let's bring the first question up.
[music playing] ANNOUNCER: Kentucky, like Pennsylvania, calls itself a Commonwealth.
Of the following however, Kentucky can lay claim to only one, Pennsylvania has the bragging rights to the other three.
Can Kentucky claim, A, greater number of counties, B, the birthplace of Daniel Boone, C, the oldest whiskey distillery, or, D, the invention of the Kentucky rifle?
SCOTT BRUCE: Hmm, panelists, the most number of counties, the birthplace of Daniel Boone, the oldest whiskey distillery or the invention of the Kentucky rifle.
Which one of these actually happened in Kentucky, not Pennsylvania?
Neal, let's go to you first.
I gave them whiskey.
SCOTT BRUCE: You gave them whiskey.
I gave them whiskey.
I figured that Pennsylvania was a Quaker State, it was probably a little bit dry.
They needed to drink down in Kentucky, so-- SCOTT BRUCE: You know, that is wonderful logic.
There you go.
SCOTT BRUCE: In fact, you know what?
You got a Pennsylvania Lottery card just for that.
That was a good answer.
NEAL ZOREN: Yeah, great.
[chuckles] Thank you.
Marie, let's go to you.
I also gave them whiskey.
I figured the same type of thing.
It's so hot down there, they need to go inside, drink a little bit and cool off.
So all our panelists think they have to go to Kentucky to get a little beverage.
Let's go to Jesse James.
What do you think, Jesse?
[exhales] A. SCOTT BRUCE: A?
You're going with A, the greater number of counties?
Yes.
OK, so we've got a couple of drinkers and somebody who counts counties.
[chuckles] Let's find out the real answer.
ANNOUNCER: The answer is A.
[applause] Kentucky has 120 counties two Pennsylvania's 67.
Whiskey has been distilled in Pennsylvania since 1753, long before it was made in Kentucky.
Michter's Distillery in Schaefferstown, Lebanon County, was the first operating distillery in the United States.
Although it came to be called the Kentucky rifle, the famous spiral grooved long barreled rifle of early America was first made in Lancaster and was originally called the Pennsylvania rifle.
The rifles weren't decorated until after the American Revolution when ornate carvings were added.
By about 1840, brass and silver made the rifles quite handsome.
A craftsman could make one rifle in about 8 to 12 weeks, which he then sold for $8 to $12.
Today, a Pennsylvania rifle in mint condition goes for $50,000 to $75,000.
And Daniel Boone was born near Baumstown, Berks County, in 1734.
He took a Pennsylvania rifle with him to Kentucky.
Boone found the lightweight deadly accurate rifle well suited to survival in the wilderness.
The Pennsylvania rifle, manufactured in Pennsylvania, actually helped us win the revolutionary War because the British were using muskets and the Pennsylvania rifle was much more accurate.
It could fire up to 300 yards with accurate.
[gunfire] There goes one now.
[chuckles] That was the rapid fire Pennsylvania rifle.
[gunfire] Not the single shot job.
[gunfire] And here's another interesting note, Daniel Boone never in his life once wore a coonskin hat.
Isn't that interesting?
[chuckles] See, you learn something every day here on the game.
Let's go to a new question.
[music playing] ANNOUNCER: In 1976, a team of researchers from Penn State invented a life saving device that's widely recognized today.
What was it?
A, car airbag, B, lifelong rechargeable pacemaker, C, remote control, or, D, child safety seat?
SCOTT BRUCE: Hmm, 1976, a team of researchers from Penn State invented a life saving device widely recognized today.
Airbag, what do we think?
We're going to go to Marie first on this one.
Marie, are we all punched in?
Yes, we are.
I said the pacemaker.
SCOTT BRUCE: The pacemaker?
[chime] Just a guess.
[chuckles] SCOTT BRUCE: That's what we like on The Pennsylvania Game, good educated guesses.
It sounded good.
I like it.
Jesse, how about you?
I felt it was that too.
SCOTT BRUCE: Also a pacemaker?
Yes.
SCOTT BRUCE: We've got pacemakers running wild.
[chuckles] Well, I think of the remote control as a life threatening device because I want to kill people who use them too frequently.
[chuckles] So I went with the pacemaker because you have that silo that's a biomechanical lab out here behind the Nittany Lion Inn, and I figured that must be where they did it.
SCOTT BRUCE: What do we have?
Three B's?
Everybody wrote the same answer.
Whether they're right or wrong, they all get a lottery ticket.
Pass them down, I love it when we all get the same answer.
Let's find the real answer.
ANNOUNCER: The answer is B.
[applause] A Penn State team of surgeons and engineers headed by Dr. Tyers and Robert Brownlee perfected the modern pacemaker.
The device, which uses electric pulses transmitted by a mercury zinc battery to stimulate a heartbeat, lasts at least 20 years and needs to be recharged only once every three years.
A telemetric monitoring system allows patients to recharge the pacemakers at home.
The device, only a half inch thick and about the size of a double lipstick case, is implanted half an inch below the skin on the patient's shoulder.
Penn State's pacemaker has been marketed internationally.
NEAL ZOREN: Wow.
Nine Pennsylvanians were used to test the pacemaker when it first came out.
Including three teenagers and an 84-year-old woman-- [zapping] --and one game show host.
[chuckles] I think we ought to meet our contestants and talk to them a little bit.
Neal, how are you?
I'm fine.
I'm always fine.
You've had a-- this is fascinating to me.
Now, we mentioned all these people that you've interviewed.
You also interviewed Shelley Long-- Right.
--from Cheers fame.
And we have something to talk about there.
Oh, my God, that's an old story.
She asked me if I was-- she wanted to know about a line in a movie she did.
A movie that was-- her character came from Pittsburgh.
I'll get myself straight here.
SCOTT BRUCE: We're not going anywhere.
The character came from Pittsburgh, and the end of the movie said-- she asked Ryan O'Neal-- he asked her, what would you think would have happened if you didn't marry me?
And she said, I would have stayed in Pittsburgh and been happy.
and then she says, nah, no one stays in Pittsburgh and is happy.
[chuckles] And she wanted to know how that line would go in Pittsburgh and I said, I don't know.
And she said, why?
You're a Pennsylvania, aren't you?
And I said, well, you're thinking of Fred Waring.
I've lived there my whole life, but being that I'm a Philadelphian, I never think of myself as a Pennsylvanian.
Yeah, I can appreciate it.
I think of myself as somebody who-- there's the rest-- me and the rest of the State.
Well, you're in the Pennsylvania Game now, so you better think Pennsylvania now.
NEAL ZOREN: I know, today.
Marie, three, triplets, you have-- and I have children.
[chuckles] Triplets, you must never sleep.
Well, my husband and I never sleep.
[chuckles] When one of us sleeps, the other is awake-- [baby crying] --and vie versa.
SCOTT BRUCE: There goes one now.
And that's one of them back there.
Notice they're way back by the door so they can make a quick escape if they need to.
[chuckles] That's Madison, by the way.
Could we have timed this any better?
[chuckles] I don't think so.
NEAL ZOREN: Oh, I love it.
Well, thank you for giving us that synopsis of your personal life.
[chuckles] OK. And Jesse, we're going to you Jesse.
I understand you and your wife also have a business called Shirley temples-- Shirley's Temple Skating Rink.
Yes.
SCOTT BRUCE: Oh, there's got to be a story here.
Well, it's the Temple Theater originally, and we bought it and converted it into a roller rink.
SCOTT BRUCE: Uh-huh.
And it was called the Temple Theater, and so, my wife's name is Shirley.
And she said, what are we going to name this place?
And I said, you don't know?
[chuckles] So it's Shirley Temple Roller Rink and then she has a store next door, Shirley Temple Shop.
SCOTT BRUCE: Uh.
And I'm not supposed to tap on here.
No, but that's OK. Maybe we can come up and get some good ship lollipop.
[chuckles] JESSE JAMES: OK. That'd be fun.
That's great.
[booing] All right, enough of this.
Let's go back to our next question.
[music playing] ANNOUNCER: Founded in 1959, the Valley Forge Signal Seekers Club has 300 members and is the third largest of its kind in the nation.
Are the signal seekers A, ham radio enthusiasts, B, investigators of UFO and paranormal activities, C, carrier pigeon owners, or, D, model plane flyers?
SCOTT BRUCE: Hmm, ham radio enthusiasts, investigators of UFO, carrier pigeons or model plane flyers?
[chime] Jesse we're going to come down to you first on this one.
They told me I'd forget what I marked.
I think it was C. [chuckles] SCOTT BRUCE: You think it was C?
You're going to-- your guessing carrier pigeons at this point in time.
No, no.
I know that.
SCOTT BRUCE: It is a C. I know that.
SCOTT BRUCE: It is a C. Oh, you're sure, carrier pigeons is the right answer?
Yes.
OK, Jesse is positive.
Let's find out.
I'm a little more modern.
I went with ham radio because I figured it's lonely up there in Valley Forge.
They need to-- [chuckles] SCOTT BRUCE: Lonely people.
OK, we have a C and a A. Marie, how about you?
I also went with A, the ham radio enthusiasts.
I saw the picture of the people and they looked like the kind of people that like to listen to the radio waves coming through.
SCOTT BRUCE: Well, this is very appropriate because our scores spell out AAC.
[chuckles] And I think that's what they're going to say when they find out the right answer.
ANNOUNCER: The answer is D, radio controlled model plane flyers.
[applause] According to the Academy of Model Aeronautics, the Valley Forge Signal Seekers Club of Montgomery County is the third largest club of its kind in the nation.
With 300 members, many of whom are retired professionals, it's the largest of the State's 146 radio controlled model plane clubs.
Members fly their hand-crafted models reaching speeds of 120 miles per hour and altitudes of 3000 feet at the fun fly held twice yearly at Valley forge National Park.
Noise abatement rules at national parks restrict membership to smaller scale models of full size airplanes which range in size from 5 feet to 9 feet.
[engine whirring] OK.
It's time in the show to go to the big tote board.
Let's find out where our scorers stand.
I see that Neal and Marie each have a point.
Jessie in the lead with two, but it's a barn burner.
[cheers and applause] [music playing] Always close.
And that means it's time for our first clue in the Mystery Pennsylvanian.
Here we go, kids.
In 1940, he purchased a 60 acre experimental farm near Emmaus, Pennsylvania, which became the laboratory for his life's work.
1940, he purchased a 60 acre experimental farm near Emmaus, Pennsylvania, which became the laboratory for his life's work.
Everybody seems to have an idea on this one.
And that's always good to see.
OK. We come out of that and we go to a new question.
[music playing] ANNOUNCER: The Switchback Railroad in Eastern Pennsylvania began operating in 1827, transporting coal nine miles from Summit Hill to Watchung and then down to the banks of the Lehigh River.
What powered the train?
A, coal, B, steam, C, gravity, or, D, electricity?
SCOTT BRUCE: The Switchback Railroad in 1827, was it powered by coal, steam, gravity or electricity?
[chime] We're going to go to Neal first on this one.
I said, coal because that's what they were doing.
And also, if you've ever taken the Stroudsburg Railroad, you get those cinders in your eye.
So I figured it has to be coal.
I have taken that railroad, and coal is big up in that part of the State, so let's find out.
Marie, what do you think?
I said, C, gravity.
That's my neck of the woods and I know that's right.
SCOTT BRUCE: Oh, Marie.
[chuckles] Marie is on top of this.
We have some insider information, apparently.
How about you, Jesse?
Well, I did you C because it's push back.
SCOTT BRUCE: It's push back?
I see.
Switch back, push back.
You don't push a coal train.
SCOTT BRUCE: That's right.
[chuckles] That makes perfect sense to me.
I think we've got-- we've got a couple of C's out there.
Let's see who's got the right one.
ANNOUNCER: The answer is, C, gravity.
[applause] In 1827, a wagon trail was converted into a railroad as a means of transporting coal from Summit Hill to Watchung and then to the Lehigh River.
Josiah White and Erskine Hazard, the architects of the project, capitalized on the fact that the route was entirely downhill, so gravity powered the train.
Once empty, the cars were pulled from the Lehigh river back up to the mine on summit hill by mules.
In 1840, inclined planes were laid up the side of Mount Pisgah and Mount Jefferson, which when connected, formed a figure 8 and the famous switchback.
The only time gravity didn't power the cars was on the steep inclines up both mountains.
When Barney's or safety cars powered by steam and an engine house pushed the cars up.
From start to finish, it took one hour and 20 minutes to complete the 18 mile trip.
At the turn of the century, the switchback railroad was the second leading tourist attraction in America after Niagara Falls.
Now, it says here, they ceased operations in 1933 in the midst of the great depression.
But up until that time, it was a case of-- the only case, probably, of it being good for business to go downhill.
[chuckles] I love these people, they're right on cue.
[chuckles] OK, get me out of here.
Give me a new question.
ANNOUNCER: A 120-year-old Pennsylvania company became a national hero in 1996.
When the CARE Foundation awarded it its first ever Corporate International Humanitarian Award.
Was the company, A, HJ Heinz, B, W. Atlee Burpee, C, Alcoa, or, D, Westinghouse?
SCOTT BRUCE: Four well known Pennsylvania companies.
I guess the key here is 120-year-old Pennsylvania company.
Let's see what people think about that.
Marie, where are you going?
I went with A.
[chuckles] SCOTT BRUCE: A?
HJ Heinz.
I went with HJ Heinz.
I don't know, where they the people that made ketchup?
[chuckles] SCOTT BRUCE: Yes.
And that's been around for 125 years, hasn't it?
SCOTT BRUCE: In fact, their ketchup takes 120 years to get out of the bottle.
To come out.
[chuckles] Jesse, where are you going?
I went with A because I know all four companies, but Heinz seems to be the one that would be that concerned about care.
So you think Heinz would be more involved.
OK. Well, let's see what you think, Neal.
I didn't know how altruistic they were, I just thought they were richer.
So I also went with HJ Heinz.
SCOTT BRUCE: So we have three Heinz.
Ding.
Ding.
Ding.
Ding.
Ding.
What does that mean?
Lottery tickets for everybody.
[chuckles] This is a good thing, we're giving them lottery tickets because wait until you see the right answer.
[chuckles] ANNOUNCER: The answer is B. W. Atlee Burpee and Company located in Warminster Pennsylvania.
Founded in 1876, Burpee is a giant in the field of gardening and seed development.
For 40 years, Burpee has sent vegetable seeds to people in starving nations.
In 1995, Burpee, best known for its big boy tomato and iceberg lettuce, sent the largest care package in history, 22 tons of vegetable seeds worth $3 million to starving families in Rwanda.
Burpee first assisted CARE in the 1960s when David Burpee asked customers to consider a donation to CARE.
The commitment deepened under Burpee's President and CEO, George Ball Jr, who donated millions of dollars worth of seeds to nations in South America, Africa, India, Asia, and the former Soviet Union.
Well, after learning that, let's go to the scoreboard and see what scores have sprouted.
[chuckles] As we look across the thing, our panelists have learned to count.
1, 2 3.
[chuckles] [applause] Three points for Jesse.
[music playing] And that means it's time for a new clue in the Mystery Pennsylvanian.
Here it comes.
Because of his sensationalistic style, for much of his career he was sometimes referred to as a faddist, a hummus huckster, and even an apostle of dung.
[chuckles] Sensationalistic style, his career was sometimes referred to as a faddist, a hummus huckster, and even an apostle of dung.
In 1940, he purchased a 60 acre experimental farm near Emmaus, which became the laboratory for his life's work.
Everybody has their pens down fast on that one.
I think people might know.
Well, here's something they might not know, our next question.
ANNOUNCER: Colonel Edwin L. Drake drilled the nation's first oil well near Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859.
A Connecticut company sent Drake to determine whether oil could in fact be piped out of the ground.
Did Drake get the assignment because, A, he was a professor of geology, B, he had experienced drilling water wells, C, his military rank gave him needed prestige, or, D, he was an ex-railroad conductor and had a free pass.
[chuckles] SCOTT BRUCE: Only on The Pennsylvania Game can we get these questions.
Geology, drilling water, his military rank, or an ex railroad conductor with a free pass.
[chime] Jesse James, we're going to you for the first one.
I went with A because of geology.
SCOTT BRUCE: Geology, it makes perfect sense.
It would be logical.
Remember, this is The Pennsylvania Game.
Game, yes.
[chuckles] Neal, what do you think?
I went with B because I didn't think they had professors of geology in 1859.
And it would be useful to be able to dig.
Digging water wells.
Again, logical, again, possibly wrong.
Marie, what do you think?
I said B also.
Just because since oil had never been drilled before, maybe they thought, well, we could do it the same way we get the water.
SCOTT BRUCE: Hmm, once again, three perfectly logical answers, and of course, wrong.
ANNOUNCER: The answer is D. [applause] A former railroad conductor, Edwin, L Drake was allowed free transportation on the railroad lines.
Because he was unemployed and owned stock in the company, he seemed the perfect scout for oil.
And although the 38-year-old Drake had no military experience, the company simply called him Colonel to give him added prestige.
In 1859, he was sent by train to Titusville, but Drake knew nothing about drilling.
He hired Uncle Billy Smith, a blacksmith from Salina Pennsylvania to work with him.
They struck oil on August 27, 1859, at a depth of 70ft.
The oil industry was born.
The original derrick burned down long ago, but a replica now stands in its place at the Drake Oil Well Museum in Venango County near Titusville.
You graduating students out there might want to consider the usefulness of having your own rail pass when you're going job hunting.
[chuckles] JESSE JAMES: Yes.
Interestingly enough, the finest oil in the world is manufactured in Pennsylvania.
Among other things, it's used for oiling sewing machines, it is the best.
Let's have a new question.
[music playing] ANNOUNCER: Of the 216 baseball greats of the Baseball Hall of Fame, 16 of them are native Pennsylvanians.
In fact, two of the first five players inducted in 1936 were born in Pennsylvania.
Who were they?
A, Stan Musial and Stanley Coveleski, B, Connie Mack and Pie Traynor, C, Honus Wagner and Christy Mathewson, or, D, John Montgomery Ward and Hack Wilson.
SCOTT BRUCE: Two of the first five.
We had Musial and Coveleski, Mack and Traynor, Wagner and Mathewson, or Ward and Wilson.
We're going to go to Neal first.
And I'm a baseball fan and I think I picked the wrong one.
It's probably Connie Mack and Pie Traynor, but I guessed-- [chime] --no, that's what I guessed.
Because Connie Mack was such a-- SCOTT BRUCE: It's OK, we got the right one.
--was such an important figure though Honus Wagner and Christy Mathewson played sooner and would have been retired faster.
So I probably should have picked C, but I went with B. OK. Well, I'll tell you what, since you thought that, if it is C, another lottery card for you buddy.
[chuckles] [chime] Marie.
I picked D. And after he's sounding so smart over here, they all look like scientists to me.
[chuckles] None of them-- you see, if there had been three, triplets you're good at, it's two that you have trouble with.
MARIE JOHNS: Yeah, the two.
Yeah.
[chuckles] Jesse, what do you think?
I picked Connie Mack.
I felt it was-- I know he's Pennsylvania.
SCOTT BRUCE: OK.
So that's who you're pretty sure about then?
And I know Honus Wagner is too, that's the only problem.
SCOTT BRUCE: Oh, well, then we got problems.
Let's go and find out if any of these guys know what they're talking about.
ANNOUNCER: The answer is C. Honus Wagner, the greatest shortstop in baseball history, and Christy Mathewson, the greatest pitcher who ever lived, were two of the first players inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame.
Mathewson, of Factoryville, was also an accomplished chess player.
He once beat 12 opponents simultaneously in chess matches at the Pittsburgh Athletic Club.
SCOTT BRUCE: Yeah, time for three-- clue three, three clue, clue three on the Mystery Pennsylvanian.
A successful publisher, his first Magazine was 12 pages and sold for $0.10.
It has since become the highest circulation gardening magazine in the world.
A successful publisher, his first Magazine was 12 pages and sold for a dime and has since become the highest circulation gardening Magazine in the world.
In 1940, he purchased a 60 acre experimental farm near Emmaus, which became the laboratory for his life's work.
And because of his sensationalistic style, he was called a faddist, a hummus huckster, and an apostle of dung.
I just like saying that.
I don't know why.
[chuckles] Call me silly.
Everybody seems to be checked in.
By God, let's go down and find out who came up with answers.
Marie, we'll go to you first.
Let's see your board.
Rodale, Rodale, Rodale.
SCOTT BRUCE: Rodale, Rodale, Rodale.
This is a woman who is confident.
And being from the Lehigh Valley, I would have think that you should have got that right.
We'll find out if you're right or not.
Jesse, how about you?
Well, we lost our borough manager and he's down in the masses right now.
But I'll tell you what happened.
I put Lloyd Wright, and then I put No Contest because looking at you, I could see hers and I didn't know anyway.
[chuckles] SCOTT BRUCE: You didn't know.
Even with cheating, you didn't know.
I saw hers and I didn't-- don't even recognize the name.
SCOTT BRUCE: Now, that's how a man stays Mayor for that long.
[applause and cheers] He's honest.
An honest guy.
Neal, how about you?
What do you have?
Well, I have JR Rodale, JR Rodale, JR Rodale, whose death, by the way, is as interesting as his life.
You know, he died-- he espoused health, and he was talking about how you can live a long time following his precepts.
And he died of a heart attack on the Dick Cavett Show.
SCOTT BRUCE: Really?
Yeah.
SCOTT BRUCE: I did not-- wasn't that interesting?
Are you sure those initials are right?
J.K?
[chuckles] We will check.
We will check because now we're going to find out if these guys really do know their Rodale's.
[music playing] ANNOUNCER: JI Rodale was one of the pioneers of organic agriculture.
In 1940, Rodale purchased a 60 acre experimental organic farm near Emmaus, Pennsylvania, to confirm his ideas.
He was so impressed with his results that two years later, he started Organic Farming and Gardening Magazine.
Rodale Press was born.
The publication now called Organic Gardening, is the most widely read gardening Magazine in the world.
But Rodale's lack of formal agricultural training led many to dismiss his theories about composting, crop rotation and soil conservation.
He was regarded by some as an agricultural extremist, a crank, and even an apostle of dung.
It wasn't until late in his life that JI Rodale and organic gardening received favorable press.
In 1971, he was invited to appear on the Dick Cavett Show.
Tragically, he suffered a massive heart attack on stage and died.
His son Robert took over Rodale Press and expanded his father's vision by establishing the Rodale Research Center, now known as Rodale Institute.
JI Rodale, a famous Pennsylvanian.
Well, this is awfully interesting.
The only one of our panelists that didn't get it is the guy who looks exactly like him.
[chuckles] Jesse, you and Rodale could be brothers.
And we know that you came back on the show.
You've been on the show before and you came back on the show because you came so close last time to winning.
And this time you were doing so well, and then if you'd just known you're dung better.
[chuckles] Well, it's-- We'd have had it.
JESSE JAMES: That's life.
But it's time to check our scores.
Let's run down to the scoreboard, and it looks like we've got Jesse with 3, Neal with 5, Marie with 5 points, who's the champion.
[cheers and applause] She's today's of our gardening products from Walnut Acres.
You get this giant basket which I can't get over to you.
[chuckles] But you got to have all this and we have wonderful things in there, and we thank you very much for playing.
We certainly had a good time.
Please send in your questions from home, we'd love them.
If you do, you're going to receive a free copy-- a free year's subscription to the Pennsylvania Magazine.
In the meantime, if you're just tuning in, you've missed one heck of a real good time.
[chuckles] Thanks for joining us on The Pennsylvania Game.
[cheers and applause] ANNOUNCER: The Pennsylvania Game is made possible in part by-- [wordless singing] ANNOUNCER 2: Uni-Mart convenience stores, making your life easier every day of the year.
[theme music] Meals and lodging for contestants of The Pennsylvania Game provided by the Nittany Lion Inn, located on Penn State's University Park campus.
[applause]
Support for PBS provided by:
The Pennsylvania Game is a local public television program presented by WPSU













