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KEN BURNS DOCUMENTARY SERIES INFO: BASEBALL
Faith In His Blood . Org Supports Ken Burns & PBS!
For more than three decades, Ken Burns and his colleagues at Florentine Films—directors, writers, producers, editors, and cinematographers—have produced some of the most critically acclaimed and most watched documentaries on public television.
Faith In His Blood . Org thanks
"Ken Burns, Staff, & PBS" for their outstanding programs!
"Ken Burns, Staff, & PBS" for their outstanding programs!
9 Episodes To "Baseball"
Baseball is a nine-part series that examines nearly 200 years of American history through the prism of our national pastime. Americans have played baseball in one form or another since the early 19th century, while they conquered a continent, warred with one another and with enemies abroad, struggled over labor and civil rights and the meaning of freedom. At the game’s heart lie mythic contradictions: it is a pastoral game that was actually born in crowded cities, an exhilarating democratic sport that tolerates cheating – and has excluded as many as it has included, a profoundly conservative game that has sometimes managed to be years ahead of its time.
The series celebrates the achievements of dozens of memorable Americans who, through baseball, became national icons – including Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Sandy Koufax, Satchel Paige, Joe DiMaggio, Christy Mathewson, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Hank Greenberg, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Jackie Robinson – and follows the fortunes of two of the most beloved teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox. Still, the series is much more than an accounting of games won and lost, teams rising and falling, rookies arriving and veterans saying farewell. The series celebrates the extraordinary stars of the Negro Leagues, the pioneers who paved the way for integration of the national pastime, and ultimately, America at large. The story of baseball is therefore fundamentally the story of race in America. But it is also the story of the transformation of millions of immigrants from everywhere into new generations of Americans; of the rise and fall of great American cities; of fathers and sons and of mothers and daughters; and of our insatiable need for heroes. It is an integral and compelling manifestation of the American experience itself.
The series celebrates the achievements of dozens of memorable Americans who, through baseball, became national icons – including Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Sandy Koufax, Satchel Paige, Joe DiMaggio, Christy Mathewson, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Hank Greenberg, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Jackie Robinson – and follows the fortunes of two of the most beloved teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox. Still, the series is much more than an accounting of games won and lost, teams rising and falling, rookies arriving and veterans saying farewell. The series celebrates the extraordinary stars of the Negro Leagues, the pioneers who paved the way for integration of the national pastime, and ultimately, America at large. The story of baseball is therefore fundamentally the story of race in America. But it is also the story of the transformation of millions of immigrants from everywhere into new generations of Americans; of the rise and fall of great American cities; of fathers and sons and of mothers and daughters; and of our insatiable need for heroes. It is an integral and compelling manifestation of the American experience itself.
SERIES INFO
Baseball is a 1994 American television documentary miniseries created by Ken Burns about the game of baseball. First broadcast on PBS, this was Burns' ninth documentary and won the 1995 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series.
Baseball is similar to Burns' previous documentaries such as The Civil War, in the use of archived pictures and film footage mixed with interviews for visual presentation. Actors provide voice over reciting written work (letters, speeches, etc.) over pictures and video. The episodes are interspersed with the music of the times taken from previous Burns series, original played music, or recordings ranging from Louis Armstrong to Elvis Presley. The series was narrated by John Chancellor, the former anchor of the NBC Nightly News from 1970 to 1982.
The documentary is divided into nine parts, each referred to as an "inning", following the division of a baseball game. Each "inning" reviews a particular era in time, mentioning notable moments in the world and in America itself, and begins with a brief prologue that acts as an insight to the game during that era. The prologue ends with the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" just as a real baseball game would begin, being performed usually by a brass band, with a couple of exceptions: The 1920s, where the rendition is played by a piano of the era, and the 1960s, where the rendition is the version played by Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. In some "inning" episodes, a period version of the baseball anthem "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is used. Roughly halfway through each "inning", a title card appears, reading "Bottom of" the inning, dividing the episode in two parts in a manner also recalling the game; in the seventh "inning", the "Bottom" is immediately preceded by the "seventh-inning stretch", in which several of the guests sing renditions of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."
Major themes explored throughout the documentary are those of race, business, labor relations, and the relationship between baseball and society. The series had an audience of 45 million viewers, which makes it the most watched program in Public Television history.
Baseball is similar to Burns' previous documentaries such as The Civil War, in the use of archived pictures and film footage mixed with interviews for visual presentation. Actors provide voice over reciting written work (letters, speeches, etc.) over pictures and video. The episodes are interspersed with the music of the times taken from previous Burns series, original played music, or recordings ranging from Louis Armstrong to Elvis Presley. The series was narrated by John Chancellor, the former anchor of the NBC Nightly News from 1970 to 1982.
The documentary is divided into nine parts, each referred to as an "inning", following the division of a baseball game. Each "inning" reviews a particular era in time, mentioning notable moments in the world and in America itself, and begins with a brief prologue that acts as an insight to the game during that era. The prologue ends with the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" just as a real baseball game would begin, being performed usually by a brass band, with a couple of exceptions: The 1920s, where the rendition is played by a piano of the era, and the 1960s, where the rendition is the version played by Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. In some "inning" episodes, a period version of the baseball anthem "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is used. Roughly halfway through each "inning", a title card appears, reading "Bottom of" the inning, dividing the episode in two parts in a manner also recalling the game; in the seventh "inning", the "Bottom" is immediately preceded by the "seventh-inning stretch", in which several of the guests sing renditions of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."
Major themes explored throughout the documentary are those of race, business, labor relations, and the relationship between baseball and society. The series had an audience of 45 million viewers, which makes it the most watched program in Public Television history.
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1) 1st Inning - Our Game
2) 2nd Inning - Something Like A War 3) 3rd Inning - The Faith of Fifty Million People 4) 4th Inning - A National Heirloom 5) 5th Inning - Shadow Ball |
6) 6th Inning - The National Pastime
7) 7th Inning - The Capital of Baseball 8) 8th Inning - A Whole New Ballgame 9) 9th Inning - Home |
1) Episode One: "1st Inning - Our Game" This inning serves as an introduction to the game and the series, and covers baseball's origins and the game as it evolved prior to the 20th century.
2) Episode Two: "2nd Inning - Something Like A War" This inning covers approximately 1900 to 1910, and includes the formation of the American League and its integration with the National League, culminating in the establishment of the World Series, as well as the emergence of the game's first great star, Christy Mathewson, which helps to clean up baseball's image as a rowdy, brawling game. Ty Cobb is discussed in depth (the title of this inning comes from one of his many quotes). Many of the quotes used in this inning and of the other early innings are taken from Lawrence S. Ritter's The Glory of Their Times.
3) Episode Three: "3rd Inning - The Faith of Fifty Million People" This inning covers approximately 1910 to 1920, and follows baseball as it goes through its greatest era of popularity yet. It heavily focuses on the Black Sox Scandal, taking its title from a line in the novel The Great Gatsby. The line refers to how easy it was for gamblers to tamper with the faith that people put in the game's fairness.
4) Episode Four: "4th Inning - A National Heirloom" This inning covers approximately 1920 to 1930, and focuses on baseball's recovery from the Black Sox Scandal, giving much of the credit to the increase in power hitting throughout the game, led by its savior Babe Ruth. The title comes from what sports writers called Ruth. During an interview given to MLB Network during the series' re-airing in 2009, Burns stated that he originally wanted to title the 4th Inning, "That Big Son-of-a-Bitch", a name given to Ruth by many in the game during that era.
5) Episode Five: "5th Inning - Shadow Ball" This inning covers approximately 1930 to 1940. While Burns has not shied away from discussing the plight of African-Americans up to this point, a great deal of this inning covers the Negro Leagues, and the great players and organizers who were excluded from the Major Leagues. Also the episode deals with organized Baseball's response to the Great Depression, as well as the sad decline of its most iconic star, Babe Ruth, and also the emergence of new heroes, like Bob Feller, Hank Greenberg, and Joe DiMaggio. It also briefly discusses the 1934 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals, also known as "The Gashouse Gang."
6) Episode Six: "6th Inning - The National Pastime" This inning covers approximately 1940 to 1950. The emphasis here is on baseball finally becoming what it had always purported to be: A national game. As African-Americans are finally permitted for good into Major League Baseball, led by Jackie Robinson. This inning also looks at how the game was influenced as a result of World War II and how the game became, more than ever, a symbol of America itself.
7) Episode Seven: "7th Inning - The Capital of Baseball" This inning covers approximately 1950 to 1960. Burns emphasizes the greatness of the three teams based in New York (the New York Yankees, the New York Giants, and Brooklyn Dodgers). This inning also covers one of baseball's golden eras and how America's own changes, such as leaving the crowded cites and heading west to more open suburbs, causes baseball, in some cases, to painfully follow.
8) Episode Eight: "8th Inning - A Whole New Ballgame" This inning covers approximately 1960 to 1970. As the nation underwent turbulent changes, baseball was not immune, as Babe Ruth's beloved record of 60 home runs in a season is threatened by a sullen and complicated player, Roger Maris, and for the first time in decades, pitchers, led by stars Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson, dominate the game. The loss of home run power and betrayal to the game's past, combined with the meteoric rise of football, cause many to turn their back on baseball. Expansion and labor are major topics in this inning.
9) Episode Nine: "9th Inning - Home" The final inning covers approximately 1970 to 1993. While baseball survived the 1960s, the changes were not over, and in some ways its most bitter conflicts were just beginning. Major topics include the formation of the players' union, the owners' collusion, free agency, and drug, as well as gambling scandals. However, the game manages to win back the hearts of many with such moments as the excitement of the 1975 World Series and the return of the New York Yankees to dominance. The documentary ends with an ironic boast that baseball (and indirectly the World Series) had survived wars, depressions, pandemics, and numbers of scandals and thus could never be stopped. The 1994 World Series, the series to be played the year the film first aired on PBS, was cancelled due to a players' strike. This marked the first time since 1904 that the World Series was not played. It also focuses on the first non-American team to win the World Series, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the first win by a black manager, Cito Gaston.
Released in 1994 • Nine Parts / Run-time: 1,110 Minuets (18 Hours, 30 Minutes)
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