Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns

Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns


Starring:Gregory Peck, Jason Robards, Joe DiMaggio, John Cusack, Bob Costas, Jackie Robinson, 'Double Duty' Radcliffe, Jesse Jackson, Paul Winfield, George Will, Philip Bosco, Mario Cuomo, Billy Herman, Willie Morris, Walter Johnson (III), Ed Harris, Shelby Foote, Clyde Sukeforth, Daniel Okrent, John Beradino
Director: Ken Burns
Studio: Pbs Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video
After the national success of his 11-hour epic, The Civil War--the highest-rated miniseries in public-television history--many wondered if Ken Burns could capture the same energy and passion with smaller subjects. His reply, the 18-hour history of America's greatest sport, Baseball, not only quieted these worries, it also perhaps surpassed his prior achievement. Massive in scope (it covers more than 100 years), exhausting in detail, and filled with celebrities, journalists, politicians, historians, and the men who played the game, Burns's romantic love letter to the game achieves the impossible: even those who hate baseball can't help but become immersed in it. This is because Burns doesn't just detail the great players and the memorable plays and games; he also presents baseball as a cultural and social mirror, reflecting the beauty and hypocrisy of the nation that created it. Divided into nine innings, two hours each in length, the video examines complex social issues such as segregation, racial inequality (its section on Jackie Robinson, baseball's first African American player, should be required school viewing), labor battles between owners and players, politics, technology and gender conflicts, among others. Then, of course, there's fascinating footage and biographies on the players--troubled icons such as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, heroes such as Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, and tragic figures such as Pete Rose and Lou Gehrig--the men who, despite a rocky and often hypocritical history, constructed baseball's tradition and preserved its invincibility. --Dave McCoy
Book Description
4 cassettes / 4 hours
Read by Ken Burns

The companion AudioBook to Ken Burns's magnificent PBS Television Series

The authors of the acclaimed and history-making bestseller The Civil War now turn to another defining American phenomenon.  Their subject is Baseball.

During eight months of the year, it is played professionally every day; all year round, amateurs play it, watch it, and dream about it.  Baseball produces remarkable Americans: it seizes hold of ordinary people and shapes them into something we must regard with awe.

Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio . . . truly gifted human beings acting out universal fantasies that, for whatever reason, are most perfectly expressed on a baseball field.

All this and more rings through Ward and Burns's moving, crowded, fascinating history of the game - a history that goes beyond stolen bases, triple plays, and home runs to demonstrate how baseball has been influenced by, and has in turn influenced our national life: politics, race, labor, big business, advertising, and social custom.

The audio covers every milestone of the game: from the rules drawn up in 1845 by Alexander Cartwright to the founding of the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players in 1885, from the 1924 Negro World Series through Jack Roosevelt Robinson's major-league debut in 1947, and Nolan Ryan's seventh and last no-hitter in 1991.

Monumental, affecting, informative, and entertaining - Baseball is an audio that speaks to all Americans.
Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • The consummate set of videos about Baseball.
  • At $161.99, it's worth more than every penny!
 Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns
Starring: Gregory Peck , Jason Robards , Derek Jacobi , Joe DiMaggio , and John Cusack
Director: Ken Burns
Manufacturer: Pbs Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video
DocumentaryDocumentary | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
Bosco, PhilipBosco, Philip | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Cusack, JohnCusack, John | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Dean, LorenDean, Loren | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Jacobi, DerekJacobi, Derek | ( J ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Peck, GregoryPeck, Gregory | ( P ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Robards, JasonRobards, Jason | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Robinson, JackieRobinson, Jackie | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Ruth, BabeRuth, Babe | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Winfield, PaulWinfield, Paul | ( W ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Burns, KenBurns, Ken | ( B ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
DocumentaryDocumentary | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video
Used DVDsUsed DVDs | Stores | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns
All ParamountAll Paramount | Paramount Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
Boxed SetsBoxed Sets | Paramount Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
ClassicsClassics | Paramount Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
( B )( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
AllAll | PBS | Specialty Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:
  1. The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns
  2. Jazz - A Film By Ken Burns
  3. Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns
  4. Ken Burns - American Lives (Thomas Jefferson / Lewis & Clark / Frank Lloyd Wright / Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B Anthony / Mark Twain / Horatio's Drive / Unforgivable Blackness)
  5. Ken Burns Presents: The West

ASIN: B000BITUDO
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Description

Ken Burns tops himself with this epic of American history, told in "nine innings," with a skilled narration by John Chancellor and the voices of Paul Newman, Jason Robards, Billy Crystal, and other stars. The series spans 150 years, starting with the myth-debunking tale of baseball's true beginnings -- when it was a game "one degree above mayhem." Then follow the growth of America's National Pastime through the decades of glory and record-setting achievements, as well as the scandals, the bigotry, and the big money. The series portrays the game as a mirror of America itself -- the passions, prejudices, and ambitions that have shape the country.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The consummate set of videos about Baseball........2007-05-17

Contained in these ten DVD are just about every historical moment in baseball.

Inning 1 Baseball from its inception in the 1840's to the 1900's This explores baseballs roots from Abner Doubleday to the beginnings of what we know as modern day baseball.

Inning 2 1900 to 1910. The beginning of the World Series. Great footage and photos of old parks and players.

Inning 3 1910 TO 1920. Covers Babe Ruth, the Black sox, Grover Cleveland Alexander and more. Footage of Fenway being built

Inning 4 1920 to 1930 Really the beginnings of the Yankee dynasty but the Cardinals rule the Natonal league with the famed gass house gang.

Inning 5 1930 to 1940. More footage of all the great stars of the day, Ruth, Di Maggio, Williams and more.

Inning 6 1940 to 1950. The effects of war on the American pastime. The splendid splinter goes to war, he comes back and picks up where he left off.

Inning 7 1950 to 1960. The Yankee dynasty continues. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, The shot heard around the world, Don Larsons perfect game. The Giants and Dodgers pick and leave.

Inning 8 1960 to 1970. The Los Angeles Angels are born, The Kansas City A's become the Oakland A's, The Royals and Mets are born. The Padres are born and move into a small stadium outside of San Diego. And then there was the Seattle Pilots. Those amazin Mets win the World series. Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax get agents but are unsuccessful in changing baseballs anti trust act and re sign with the Dodgers. Maris passes the Babe with an asterisk.

Inning 9 1970 to 1994. Curt Flood looses his war against baseball but the players eventually win. The players union gets stronger. The Reds come to power. The A's win a couple world series. Roberto Clemente's life cut short. Washing looses another team called the Senators.

The film also has some great commentary interspersed through out all of the DVD's. At the end of each DVD is a trivia game based on the decade that the DVD covered.


While the movie is based for the most part on New ork teams this is truly a must for all baseball fans. There is no other collection of materials that covers baseball like this one does in terms of breadth and depth.

5 out of 5 stars At $161.99, it's worth more than every penny!.......2007-03-02

I haven't been nuts about the sport of baseball for decades, but I treasure every minute of information on the ten discs included in this offering. With the commencement of a new season only a couple of months away, it remains to be seen whether I'll ever become a real student of the game, but the perception of historic continuity provided by this documentary is more acutely, keenly expressed than anywhere else in my exprience. The intellectual connections made here are poetic, while the emotional bond it re-energizes is spellbinding and ecstatic.
An ideal companion to THE CIVIL WAR and JAZZ, BASEBALL explores the same American mysteries from an entirely different, supremely satisfying direction and no matter how high the price, it feels just like stealing home.
Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • The consummate set of videos about Baseball.
  • Good, but not absolutely great
  • The best time capsule covering any sport history on video
  • One of Ken Burns' Best
  • aggressively stupid
 Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns
Starring: Gregory Peck , Jason Robards , Derek Jacobi , Joe DiMaggio , and John Cusack
Director: Ken Burns
Manufacturer: Pbs Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
DocumentaryDocumentary | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
HistoryHistory | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
7-9 Years7-9 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
10-12 Years10-12 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
Family FilmsFamily Films | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
Bosco, PhilipBosco, Philip | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Cusack, JohnCusack, John | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Dean, LorenDean, Loren | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Jacobi, DerekJacobi, Derek | ( J ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Peck, GregoryPeck, Gregory | ( P ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Robards, JasonRobards, Jason | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Robinson, JackieRobinson, Jackie | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Ruth, BabeRuth, Babe | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Winfield, PaulWinfield, Paul | ( W ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Burns, KenBurns, Ken | ( B ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
DocumentaryDocumentary | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video
SportsSports | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video
Used DVDsUsed DVDs | Stores | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns
( B )( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
AllAll | PBS | Specialty Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:
  1. The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns
  2. When It Was a Game - Triple Play Collection
  3. Jazz - A Film By Ken Burns
  4. Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns
  5. The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns

ASIN: 0780630459
Release Date: 2000-10-17

Amazon.com essential video

After the national success of his 11-hour epic, The Civil War--the highest-rated miniseries in public-television history--many wondered if Ken Burns could capture the same energy and passion with smaller subjects. His reply, the 18-hour history of America's greatest sport, Baseball, not only quieted these worries, it also perhaps surpassed his prior achievement. Massive in scope (it covers more than 100 years), exhausting in detail, and filled with celebrities, journalists, politicians, historians, and the men who played the game, Burns's romantic love letter to the game achieves the impossible: even those who hate baseball can't help but become immersed in it. This is because Burns doesn't just detail the great players and the memorable plays and games; he also presents baseball as a cultural and social mirror, reflecting the beauty and hypocrisy of the nation that created it. Divided into nine innings, two hours each in length, the video examines complex social issues such as segregation, racial inequality (its section on Jackie Robinson, baseball's first African American player, should be required school viewing), labor battles between owners and players, politics, technology and gender conflicts, among others. Then, of course, there's fascinating footage and biographies on the players--troubled icons such as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, heroes such as Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, and tragic figures such as Pete Rose and Lou Gehrig--the men who, despite a rocky and often hypocritical history, constructed baseball's tradition and preserved its invincibility. --Dave McCoy

Description

Ken Burns tops himself with this epic of American history, told in "nine innings," with a skilled narration by John Chancellor and the voices of Paul Newman, Jason Robards, Billy Crystal, and other stars. The series spans 150 years, starting with the myth-debunking tale of baseball's true beginnings -- when it was a game "one degree above mayhem." Then follow the growth of America's National Pastime through the decades of glory and record-setting achievements, as well as the scandals, the bigotry, and the big money. The series portrays the game as a mirror of America itself -- the passions, prejudices, and ambitions that have shape the country.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The consummate set of videos about Baseball........2007-05-17

Contained in these ten DVD are just about every historical moment in baseball.

Inning 1 Baseball from its inception in the 1840's to the 1900's This explores baseballs roots from Abner Doubleday to the beginnings of what we know as modern day baseball.

Inning 2 1900 to 1910. The beginning of the World Series. Great footage and photos of old parks and players.

Inning 3 1910 TO 1920. Covers Babe Ruth, the Black sox, Grover Cleveland Alexander and more. Footage of Fenway being built

Inning 4 1920 to 1930 Really the beginnings of the Yankee dynasty but the Cardinals rule the Natonal league with the famed gass house gang.

Inning 5 1930 to 1940. More footage of all the great stars of the day, Ruth, Di Maggio, Williams and more.

Inning 6 1940 to 1950. The effects of war on the American pastime. The splendid splinter goes to war, he comes back and picks up where he left off.

Inning 7 1950 to 1960. The Yankee dynasty continues. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, The shot heard around the world, Don Larsons perfect game. The Giants and Dodgers pick and leave.

Inning 8 1960 to 1970. The Los Angeles Angels are born, The Kansas City A's become the Oakland A's, The Royals and Mets are born. The Padres are born and move into a small stadium outside of San Diego. And then there was the Seattle Pilots. Those amazin Mets win the World series. Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax get agents but are unsuccessful in changing baseballs anti trust act and re sign with the Dodgers. Maris passes the Babe with an asterisk.

Inning 9 1970 to 1994. Curt Flood looses his war against baseball but the players eventually win. The players union gets stronger. The Reds come to power. The A's win a couple world series. Roberto Clemente's life cut short. Washing looses another team called the Senators.

The film also has some great commentary interspersed through out all of the DVD's. At the end of each DVD is a trivia game based on the decade that the DVD covered.


While the movie is based for the most part on New ork teams this is truly a must for all baseball fans. There is no other collection of materials that covers baseball like this one does in terms of breadth and depth.

4 out of 5 stars Good, but not absolutely great.......2007-04-24

I hate to say it, mainly because I don't want to come off as racist, but this documentary spends a little too much time on the Negro Leagues. For a league no longer in existence, I think Burns could have spent as much time as he did on the other forgotten leagues. By the middle innings you are left wondering if this is a documentary about the Negro Leagues or about Baseball. He spends less time on the All American Girls Baseball League then it actually existed. This was America's first attempt at creating a women's professional sports league and it is treated in passing. In the end you find that seven of the innings are about professional baseball, specifically the Majors. One of the innings, not all together but in pieces across other innings, is devoted entirely to the Negro Leagues. And one inning, again not together but in pieces, is devoted to all the other leagues that came about (including the Federal League, the American Association, and the All American Girls Baseball League).

5 out of 5 stars The best time capsule covering any sport history on video.......2007-03-14

This series takes you from the beginning of Baseball to the 1990s. Most of it is covered by decade with the 9th inning covering the 1970s up to 1995 (about the time when the series aired on PBS).

Has rare photos and film covering every event of the sport. Has extensive footage of the Negro League, Babe Ruth, and covers every star in the sport at their times. Has some mention of times about the minor league teams as well.

I'm surprised being from Seattle and recalling what Baseball politics turned into this town around the 70s that the Pilots moving from Seattle to Milwaukee (to become the Brewers) wasn't covered as well as the legal battle to get the Mariners into the Kingdome. Was this dropped on purpose? That was an unusual move to do since a lot of the other legal wrangling with the owners, players, courts, the government, and the players union wasn't missed. Perhaps maybe it was dropped due to space on the last DVD.

It's definately a piece of video history to have.

4 out of 5 stars One of Ken Burns' Best.......2007-02-11

I truly enjoyed this series and I like to watch it every year before the season starts.

I think a lot of people miss the point about Ken Burns. This man realizes that race is the issue that stands at the heart of America's soul... it is the issue the shapes so much of our lives in ways we may not even realize. I understand if many may not want to hear this perspective, but if you shake Ken Burns, race is what comes out. In my studies of American history, it is the issue that comes up again and again.

I do wish there are some things he could have done differently with "Baseball." Some of his pictures did not match with their respective narratives. Civil War historian Shelby Foote seemed really out of place in this series but he had great stories and besides... why can't he be a baseball fan? And as a native of DC, I wish he could have included more on the Washington Senators' story- a film clip of "Damn Yankees," and the story of how the Senators were bought by Bob Short in 1968 and the story of their final game on September 30, 1971, which ended as a forfeit because fans stormed the field in protest. I would have loved to have seen something on the '83 World Series with the Orioles. But I think Burns did a pretty decent job with the material he had. Every story could not be told and he did a great job covering the important ones. Perhaps my favorite moment of this series is where writer Gerald Early talks about when he played the game as a kid and he and his friends did everything they saw done in the professional game, and on their own, they would sing the National Anthem. What a heartwarming story!

I'm really glad for the work of Ken Burns and his understanding of the issues that get to the heart of our society.

PS- Ken Burns sometimes uses the wrong pic or video clip with a given subject. But even with that, I still do mot umderstand why, during Episode 8, "A Whole New Ballgame: 1960-69," during the Roger Maris segment, he showed Maris hitting a home run and the next thing you see is a homer going into THE WRIGLEY FIELD BLEACHERS! And the video looks obviously modern, just toned to black and white to look like old footage from the summer of '61. Is that all he could come up with?

???

1 out of 5 stars aggressively stupid.......2006-12-16

I started watching this after Fever Pitch, which made me love baseball. This "documentary" made me hate baseball. Basically the show plays out like a monologue by Garrison Keillor, set to still photographs. The history of baseball is not presented factually and dispassionately; instead the viewer gets it crammed down his brain that baseball is a great and noble game played by great and noble men. This would be like watching a history of World War I and finding that it is narrated by a syrupy-voiced, American-as-the-apple-pie-you're-just-about-to-vomit narrator who starts, in Prairie-Home-Companion-esque manner, drumming it into you that the American soldiers, they were real fine fellers, but Johnny Boche... he was a bad sort. Maybe Jimmy Stewart could be resuscitated just long enough to provide the American-till-you-puke aw shucks voice-overs and tell us that The American soldiers in the field were as right and true as the weather vane on top of the old barn back home in the yellow corn fields. The yellow corn fields near the old swimmin' holler, where MaryJane McKlusky took off her red dress with the small white polkadots and danced around naked awhile to the soft sound of the whistle from the faraway train out of Coop's Junction.
Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • The consummate set of videos about Baseball.
  • Good, but not absolutely great
  • The best time capsule covering any sport history on video
  • One of Ken Burns' Best
  • aggressively stupid
 Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns
Starring: Gregory Peck , Jason Robards , Derek Jacobi , Joe DiMaggio , and John Cusack
Director: Ken Burns
Manufacturer: PBS Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video
DocumentaryDocumentary | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
Bosco, PhilipBosco, Philip | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Cusack, JohnCusack, John | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Dean, LorenDean, Loren | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Jacobi, DerekJacobi, Derek | ( J ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Peck, GregoryPeck, Gregory | ( P ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Robards, JasonRobards, Jason | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Robinson, JackieRobinson, Jackie | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Ruth, BabeRuth, Babe | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Winfield, PaulWinfield, Paul | ( W ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Burns, KenBurns, Ken | ( B ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
DocumentaryDocumentary | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video
SportsSports | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video
Used DVDsUsed DVDs | Stores | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns
All ParamountAll Paramount | Paramount Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
Boxed SetsBoxed Sets | Paramount Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
ClassicsClassics | Paramount Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
( B )( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
AllAll | PBS | Specialty Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:
  1. The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns
  2. When It Was a Game - Triple Play Collection
  3. Jazz - A Film By Ken Burns
  4. Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns
  5. The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns

ASIN: B0002KPI28
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Amazon.com essential video

After the national success of his 11-hour epic, The Civil War--the highest-rated miniseries in public-television history--many wondered if Ken Burns could capture the same energy and passion with smaller subjects. His reply, the 18-hour history of America's greatest sport, Baseball, not only quieted these worries, it also perhaps surpassed his prior achievement. Massive in scope (it covers more than 100 years), exhausting in detail, and filled with celebrities, journalists, politicians, historians, and the men who played the game, Burns's romantic love letter to the game achieves the impossible: even those who hate baseball can't help but become immersed in it. This is because Burns doesn't just detail the great players and the memorable plays and games; he also presents baseball as a cultural and social mirror, reflecting the beauty and hypocrisy of the nation that created it. Divided into nine innings, two hours each in length, the video examines complex social issues such as segregation, racial inequality (its section on Jackie Robinson, baseball's first African American player, should be required school viewing), labor battles between owners and players, politics, technology and gender conflicts, among others. Then, of course, there's fascinating footage and biographies on the players--troubled icons such as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, heroes such as Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, and tragic figures such as Pete Rose and Lou Gehrig--the men who, despite a rocky and often hypocritical history, constructed baseball's tradition and preserved its invincibility. --Dave McCoy

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The consummate set of videos about Baseball........2007-05-17

Contained in these ten DVD are just about every historical moment in baseball.

Inning 1 Baseball from its inception in the 1840's to the 1900's This explores baseballs roots from Abner Doubleday to the beginnings of what we know as modern day baseball.

Inning 2 1900 to 1910. The beginning of the World Series. Great footage and photos of old parks and players.

Inning 3 1910 TO 1920. Covers Babe Ruth, the Black sox, Grover Cleveland Alexander and more. Footage of Fenway being built

Inning 4 1920 to 1930 Really the beginnings of the Yankee dynasty but the Cardinals rule the Natonal league with the famed gass house gang.

Inning 5 1930 to 1940. More footage of all the great stars of the day, Ruth, Di Maggio, Williams and more.

Inning 6 1940 to 1950. The effects of war on the American pastime. The splendid splinter goes to war, he comes back and picks up where he left off.

Inning 7 1950 to 1960. The Yankee dynasty continues. Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, The shot heard around the world, Don Larsons perfect game. The Giants and Dodgers pick and leave.

Inning 8 1960 to 1970. The Los Angeles Angels are born, The Kansas City A's become the Oakland A's, The Royals and Mets are born. The Padres are born and move into a small stadium outside of San Diego. And then there was the Seattle Pilots. Those amazin Mets win the World series. Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax get agents but are unsuccessful in changing baseballs anti trust act and re sign with the Dodgers. Maris passes the Babe with an asterisk.

Inning 9 1970 to 1994. Curt Flood looses his war against baseball but the players eventually win. The players union gets stronger. The Reds come to power. The A's win a couple world series. Roberto Clemente's life cut short. Washing looses another team called the Senators.

The film also has some great commentary interspersed through out all of the DVD's. At the end of each DVD is a trivia game based on the decade that the DVD covered.


While the movie is based for the most part on New ork teams this is truly a must for all baseball fans. There is no other collection of materials that covers baseball like this one does in terms of breadth and depth.

4 out of 5 stars Good, but not absolutely great.......2007-04-24

I hate to say it, mainly because I don't want to come off as racist, but this documentary spends a little too much time on the Negro Leagues. For a league no longer in existence, I think Burns could have spent as much time as he did on the other forgotten leagues. By the middle innings you are left wondering if this is a documentary about the Negro Leagues or about Baseball. He spends less time on the All American Girls Baseball League then it actually existed. This was America's first attempt at creating a women's professional sports league and it is treated in passing. In the end you find that seven of the innings are about professional baseball, specifically the Majors. One of the innings, not all together but in pieces across other innings, is devoted entirely to the Negro Leagues. And one inning, again not together but in pieces, is devoted to all the other leagues that came about (including the Federal League, the American Association, and the All American Girls Baseball League).

5 out of 5 stars The best time capsule covering any sport history on video.......2007-03-14

This series takes you from the beginning of Baseball to the 1990s. Most of it is covered by decade with the 9th inning covering the 1970s up to 1995 (about the time when the series aired on PBS).

Has rare photos and film covering every event of the sport. Has extensive footage of the Negro League, Babe Ruth, and covers every star in the sport at their times. Has some mention of times about the minor league teams as well.

I'm surprised being from Seattle and recalling what Baseball politics turned into this town around the 70s that the Pilots moving from Seattle to Milwaukee (to become the Brewers) wasn't covered as well as the legal battle to get the Mariners into the Kingdome. Was this dropped on purpose? That was an unusual move to do since a lot of the other legal wrangling with the owners, players, courts, the government, and the players union wasn't missed. Perhaps maybe it was dropped due to space on the last DVD.

It's definately a piece of video history to have.

4 out of 5 stars One of Ken Burns' Best.......2007-02-11

I truly enjoyed this series and I like to watch it every year before the season starts.

I think a lot of people miss the point about Ken Burns. This man realizes that race is the issue that stands at the heart of America's soul... it is the issue the shapes so much of our lives in ways we may not even realize. I understand if many may not want to hear this perspective, but if you shake Ken Burns, race is what comes out. In my studies of American history, it is the issue that comes up again and again.

I do wish there are some things he could have done differently with "Baseball." Some of his pictures did not match with their respective narratives. Civil War historian Shelby Foote seemed really out of place in this series but he had great stories and besides... why can't he be a baseball fan? And as a native of DC, I wish he could have included more on the Washington Senators' story- a film clip of "Damn Yankees," and the story of how the Senators were bought by Bob Short in 1968 and the story of their final game on September 30, 1971, which ended as a forfeit because fans stormed the field in protest. I would have loved to have seen something on the '83 World Series with the Orioles. But I think Burns did a pretty decent job with the material he had. Every story could not be told and he did a great job covering the important ones. Perhaps my favorite moment of this series is where writer Gerald Early talks about when he played the game as a kid and he and his friends did everything they saw done in the professional game, and on their own, they would sing the National Anthem. What a heartwarming story!

I'm really glad for the work of Ken Burns and his understanding of the issues that get to the heart of our society.

PS- Ken Burns sometimes uses the wrong pic or video clip with a given subject. But even with that, I still do mot umderstand why, during Episode 8, "A Whole New Ballgame: 1960-69," during the Roger Maris segment, he showed Maris hitting a home run and the next thing you see is a homer going into THE WRIGLEY FIELD BLEACHERS! And the video looks obviously modern, just toned to black and white to look like old footage from the summer of '61. Is that all he could come up with?

???

1 out of 5 stars aggressively stupid.......2006-12-16

I started watching this after Fever Pitch, which made me love baseball. This "documentary" made me hate baseball. Basically the show plays out like a monologue by Garrison Keillor, set to still photographs. The history of baseball is not presented factually and dispassionately; instead the viewer gets it crammed down his brain that baseball is a great and noble game played by great and noble men. This would be like watching a history of World War I and finding that it is narrated by a syrupy-voiced, American-as-the-apple-pie-you're-just-about-to-vomit narrator who starts, in Prairie-Home-Companion-esque manner, drumming it into you that the American soldiers, they were real fine fellers, but Johnny Boche... he was a bad sort. Maybe Jimmy Stewart could be resuscitated just long enough to provide the American-till-you-puke aw shucks voice-overs and tell us that The American soldiers in the field were as right and true as the weather vane on top of the old barn back home in the yellow corn fields. The yellow corn fields near the old swimmin' holler, where MaryJane McKlusky took off her red dress with the small white polkadots and danced around naked awhile to the soft sound of the whistle from the faraway train out of Coop's Junction.
Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns: Extra Inning (Making of & Interview)
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    		Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns: Extra Inning (Making of & Interview)

    ProductGroup: DVD
    Binding: DVD

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    GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
    ASIN: B000NKNSUQ

    Product Description

    This bonus DVD includes a "Making of" feature and an interview with Charlie Rose. Yogi Berra, Bob Gibson, and Bob Costas are also featured.
    Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns: Inning 7 (The Capital of Baseball, 1950 ~ 1960)
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      		Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns: Inning 7 (The Capital of Baseball, 1950 ~ 1960)

      ProductGroup: DVD
      Binding: DVD

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      GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
      ASIN: B000NKPGRY

      Product Description

      This is part 7 of the Baseball documentary series by Ken Burns. It chronicles the game from 1950 to 1960. Color and Black & White. 159 minutes.
      Baseball (A Film By Ken Burns) - Inning 4: A National Heriloom, 1920 ~ 1930
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        		Baseball (A Film By Ken Burns) - Inning 4: A National Heriloom, 1920 ~ 1930

        ProductGroup: DVD
        Binding: DVD

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        GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
        ASIN: B000OC0XDS

        Product Description

        This is the fourth installment in Ken Burns' PBS series titled: Baseball. This DVD covers the significant events that took place between 1920 and 1930 in the game of baseball.
        Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns: Inning 5 (Shadow Ball, 1930 ~ 1940)
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          		Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns: Inning 5 (Shadow Ball, 1930 ~ 1940)

          ProductGroup: DVD
          Binding: DVD

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          GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
          ASIN: B000NKRLYA

          Product Description

          This is part five in the Baseball series by Ken Burns. It chronicles the game from 1930 ~ 1940. Color and Black & White. 151 minutes.
          Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns: Inning 9 (Home, 1970 ~ 1994)
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            		Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns: Inning 9 (Home, 1970 ~ 1994)

            ProductGroup: DVD
            Binding: DVD

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            GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
            ASIN: B000NKKNCC

            Product Description

            This is the final DVD in the Baseball documentary series by Ken Burns. It chronicles the game from 1970 to 1994. Color and Black & White. 173 minutes.
            Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns: Inning 6 (The National Pastime, 1940 ~ 1950)
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              		Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns: Inning 6 (The National Pastime, 1940 ~ 1950)

              ProductGroup: DVD
              Binding: DVD

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              GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
              ASIN: B000NKKO6W

              Product Description

              This is part six in the Baseball series by Ken Burns. It chronicles the game from 1940 to 1950. Color and Black & White. 176 minutes.
              Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns: Inning 8 (A Whole New Ballgame, 1960 ~ 1970)
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                		Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns: Inning 8 (A Whole New Ballgame, 1960 ~ 1970)

                ProductGroup: DVD
                Binding: DVD

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                GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
                ASIN: B000NKKP52

                Product Description

                This is part 8 in the Baseball documentary series by Ken Burns. It chronicles the game from 1960 ~ 1970. Color and Black & White. 141 minutes.

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