It is the first inning, you might say, and Carl Erskine does not have his best stuff. A camera crew has set up in his living room, and a filmmaker, Ted Green, gently tries to guide Erskine through a short speech. There has always been something inviting about Erskine, a welcoming look that draws you in warmly and melts away the decades. “He’s a 96-year-old guy,” Green says, “with 12-year-old eyes.”Soon the eyes are dancing and the memories come rushing back. Erskine keeps one beside the lamp on the end table, an out pitch he can always reach.

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Persons: Carl Erskine, Ted Green, Erskine, Erskine apologizes, “, ” Green, he’ll, ”, Betty Erskine Organizations: Brooklyn Dodger, Ebbets Field