Besides Pro Wrestling, one of my favorite things to do is to watch classic TV shows. The lawyer show Perry Mason, starring Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale and William Hopper is my all-time favorite.

Burr played the Lawyer Mason who used truth and a variety of legal tricks to clear clients he believed are innocent. Hale was his loyal Private Secretary Della Street, and Hopper played Mason’s go to Private Detective Paul Drake who always managed to come through with vital information to help clear the client. Opposing Mason was the District Attorney Hamiliton Burger played by William Talmage, and assisting him was Police Detective Lt Arthur Tragg played by veteran actor Ray Collins. When Ray took ill in season 4, the character Tragg was gradually replaced by Wesley Lau who played Lt Andy Anderson for seasons 5 though 8. In the ninth and final season Richard Anderson would play Lt Steve Drumm.

One well that the show went to for plots was Sports-related cases. There were fifteen in all that went form Horse Racing to Football. How I defined a sports related case was that the client or the backdrop had to do with sports. Sometimes a client comes from a sports background, or the business has to do with sports. But it never changed the basic format of the show – an innocent person is accused of murder, and they turn to Mason to protect and clear them.

Here are the episodes:

Case of the Jilted Jockey

#47 Season 3, Episode 2 Sport: Horse Racing

Hard luck Jockey Tic Barton is asked to throw a race by his two-timing wife and then is accused of murdering his wife’s lover.

Case of the Startled Stallion

#74, Season 3, Episode 5. Sport: Horse Racing

A young woman’s prized racehorse is seized by a rich man to pay off the estate bills. When she is accused of murder, Mason defends her.

Case of the Prudent Prosecutor

#83, Season 3, Episode 14. Sport: Figure Staking

DA Hamiliton Burger’s friend is accused of murdering the fast-talking promoter who is taking advantage of his son. a former Olympic figure skater.

Case of the Injured Innocent

#133, Season 5, Episode 10. Sport: Auto Racing

Swarmy race-car driver Vincent Danielli is murdered after trying to seduce the wife of his car owner. The owner is accused of the murder and Mason defends.

Case of the Left-Handed Liar

#134, Season 5, Episode 11. Sport: American Football

All-American Quarter-back Ward Nichols is accused of murdering his girlfriend’s uncle, a gym-owner.

Case of the Playboy Pugilist

#156, Season 6, Episode 3. Sport: Boxing

Aging boxing trainer Jimmy West thinks he has found a great talent in Davey Carroll, but they fall in with a fast-talking promoter who is murdered. West is accused of the crime.

Case of the Fickle Filly

#164, Season 6, Episode 11. Sport: Horse Racing

A young woman’s prized racehorse is sold to pay off estate bills. When she tries to get the horse back, her ex-boyfriend is murdered.

Case of the Ice-Cold Hands

#197, Season 7, Episode 16. Sport: Horse Racing

A young woman gambles on horse races to pay her brother’s bail. Mason defends her after she is accused of murder.

Case of the Bullied Bowler

#218, Season 8, Episode 7. Sport: Bowling

Two brothers tried to run their bowling alley but have run afoul of the richest woman in a small town. When the Heath Inspector she is using to close the bowling alley is murdered, one of the brothers is accused. He is defended by Paul’s pal Joe Kelly, played by Mike Conners.

Case of the Murderous Mermaid

#234, Season 8, Episode 23. Sport: Swimming

Would be starlet Reggie Lansfield has an agent who would do anything to get her name in lights. So he lands Reggie a job to substitute for former actress/swimmer Victoria Dawn in a midnight swim across the Catalina Channel. When it fails and Victoria turns up dead. Reggie is accused of the murder. Perry has to figure out the truth and clear Reggie.

Case of the Duplicate Case

#238, Season 8, Episode 27. Sport: Baseball

Former baseball pitcher Herbie Cornwall, now a hapless door-to-door salesman, is accused of murdering his conniving wife.

Case of the 12th Wildcat

#249, Season 9, Episode 8. Sport: American Football

A football team owner is accused of murdering her ex-football player husband, who was trying to sell the team without her permission. Several of the 1960’s Los Angeles Rams appeared in the episode.

Case of the Runaway Racer

#251, Season 9, Episode 10. Sport: Auto Racing

A race car driver is accused of murdering his partner of their racing team.

Case of the Golfer’s Gambit

#259, Season 9, Episode 18. Sport: Golf.

The Club Pro of DA Hamilton Burger’s Country Club is murdered. The assistant Pro is accused.

Case of the Misguided Model

#268, Season 9, Episode 27. Sport: Boxing

Ex-Boxer Duke Maronek thinks he killed his girlfriend’s blackmailer, but it is a set up by his girlfriend and agent. But he confesses to Perry who wants him to turn himself in. Instead Duke runs, it is up to Perry to sort out the truth and save Duke.

Horse Racing is the favorite sport with four episodes. Football, Auto Racing and Boxing came next with two each. Baseball, Bowling, Figure Staking, Swimming and Golf all had one each, for a total of fifteen.

Perry Mason ran from 1957 to 1966 with a total of 271 episodes. Today, it is considered as television classic, still showing on METV and several streaming outlets.