Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns

1994/2010. 1,140 minutes. Rated TV PG.

Baseball matters, despite what its detractors might think. Like jazz, it really is one of the best things to come out of America. This is in contrast, arguably with football, which George Will, political columnist and baseball writer claims combines the two worst elements of American life: committee meetings and violence. There’s a justice to the game. If you’re in the lineup, you will have a turn at bat. There’s no not passing the ball to the “nerdy” kid even though he is wide open. Everyone has a chance to score and help the team. No other sport I can think of offers as many opportunities for a dramatic comeback. There’s no running down the clock. It rewards individual skills and teamwork and can accommodate nearly every body shape: from the stocky catcher, to the lanky pitcher, to the undersized, fleet-footed lead-off hitter.

the Babe Baseball, 1994

the Babe –Baseball  (1994)

That the game matters seems to be the central message of Ken Burns’ (The Civil War, Jazz, Frank Lloyd Wright) documentary mini-series. The history of the sport is covered in nine episodes or “innings” from the sports 19th Century origins to the early 1990s, with a follow-up Tenth Inning covering the more recent history of the game.

Among many other interviewees, we see such sports writers and commentators as the aforementioned Will, Roger Angell, Bob Costas, Daniel Okrent and the always entertaining George Plympton, along with some of the game’s greatest players, including Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle. The narration in this series is provided by the late broadcast journalist John Chancellor, whose voice is just right for the subject, neither breezy nor overly stenatorian.

Burns employs his typical technique of voice acting (from some pretty big names) and zooming and panning on still photographs to make history come alive, but because baseball is largely a 20th Century game he could also use archival footage. We see Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron hit homeruns, we see Pete Rose running the bases.

The series is all about hero worship, however, and Rose is certainly no hero. His gambling controversy is covered along with the games other darker moments, including the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, and the Color Line which barred blacks from baseball until 1947.

Jackie Robinson -Baseball, 1994

Jackie Robinson –Baseball (1994)

All of the episodes are interesting, but to me the late innings are the most stimulating; the period after the integration of baseball. Like the country, the game became more complicated, controversial, competitive and colorful. It’s also easier to see a connection to current times. This especially is what inspired me to teach a course entitled “From Jackie Robinson to Ichiro: The History of Major League Baseball from the End of World War Two to the Present.” In that course, Baseball was the primary text.

Particularly effective in the late innings is the contemporary music of the period Burns uses to enhance certain moments and achievements. For example, Sandy Koufax pitches a perfect game to the tune of “Green Onions” by Booker T. and the MGs, and Carl Yastrzemski carries the Red Sox to the 1967 American League Pennant to the tune of “Summer in the City” by The Lovin’ Spoonful. The music helps the pacing (which drags in some places), but to those who find the series and the sport slow, I say: have patience.

The original nine innings end on an ironically upbeat note, considering the original PBS broadcast coincided with the 1994/95 player’s strike in which there was no World Series for the first time in 90 years. The Tenth Inning covers the strike, the steroid scandal, and the emergence of Japanese players (among other things) and is definitely worthy of a watch.

If Burns can’t convince you baseball matters, nobody can.

Jeremiah Dutch is an English Instructor at Yokohama City University and long-time Red Sox fan. While not a librarian like most of the TBBC crew, Jeremiah had part time librarianship duties in the graded reader library at  He currently resides in Japan.

Author: Beth G.

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