Baseball: A Ken Burns Film

Earlier this year I watched and reviewed my first Ken Burns film/docu-series, The Vietnam War: A Ken Burns series. Recently, I finally finished another epic 10-part docu-series from Burns with 1994’s Baseball: A Ken Burns Film (trailer). If you saw my entries here for other past baseball films, then you are likely aware of my passion for the sport. As a kid I adored baseball and during my elementary school years was huge into sports trading cards and playing pickup games with neighborhood kids and played a few years of little league baseball in my pre-teen years. I have owned Baseball for a couple years now, but hesitated to jump into it because each of the 11 discs in the set runs roughly two hours. That was about the length of The Vietnam War film also, and after breezing through that earlier this year I applied the same mind-set to cruising through Baseball which was to consume a disc every day or two. 22 hours later, here I am!

I should not have waited a couple years to pull this out of the backlog, because this is a ridiculously thorough and informative documentary on ‘America’s Past Time.’ Most discs cover a decade of the key moments and highlights of baseball. There are two exceptions with the first disc which covers the origins of baseball from the 1840s through the end of that century and the 9th disc focusing on the final 23 years covered in the original release of the film from 1970-92. Ken Burns released a two disc update, the 10th inning, which covers 1993-2009, and it should be included in the latest releases of Baseball at retail. I cracked up when Burns admits in a bonus feature interview the impetus he did the 10th inning update was the Red Sox finally ending the curse and winning their first World Series in 85 years.

The first disc was the most enlightening of the entire set. I only had a vague recollection of the roots of baseball, so to watch and learn how it grew from a local game and to hear how it gradually evolved to add rules we know of today made for a learning experience I was glued into throughout. Since there was no film technology in that time, the filmmakers made terrific use of countless photos and reference materials and recorded voice-overs from quoted sports writers and players of the time. The other decades eventually added vintage film footage and eventually footage from telecasts once those started up in the 50s. It is all nicely complemented with a laid back jazz score throughout most of the film. This all combines for a top-of-the-line production that still holds up nearly 25 years after its initial release

I love the diverse cast of interviewees for Baseball. Countless classic sports writers, broadcasters, players and coaches are interviewed for their takes on the history of the game. Billy Crystal stands out with his charismatic love for baseball, so much so that he apologizes at one point for going into great detail when recounting a specific memory. Bob Costas speaks with an exponential amount of affection for the game that it made every scene he popped up on instantly more impactful. Seeing this now in 2018 adds a new perspective because Baseball interviews some legends that are no longer with us like Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle.

Each disc focuses on a decade for approximately two hours and they could not have been paced better. Every few minutes Baseball spotlights a key moment or player from that decade. Usually a few historic World Series or playoff matchups also get broken down because of how memorable they were. A lot of the early decades had a huge emphasis on the rampant racism in the sport and focused on the ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ that kept blacks out of the MLB for over 50 years until 1947 with Jackie Robinson. Props to Burns for also making sure Negro League Baseball got its just due with regular scenes dedicated to its top stars and inferior lifestyle in the first half of the 20th century until they integrated with the MLB. There were at least a couple scenes a decade focusing on how ludicrous it was for Africans to be barred from MLB play and especially how long it went on for. Understandably, a ton of time is dedicated to Jackie Robinson’s breakthrough 1947 season and it emphatically gets across how big a deal this was for the game. It is a testament to why Jackie’s accomplishments and the unimaginable hate he endure made his number the only number that is retired across every MLB team.

For the first half of this set I was glued in whether I was reliving some of the more common known historic events and players of the game like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig to discovering new legends and moments of the sport I had little to no memories of. Even the players and events I knew of I more often than not learned new dynamics of like the ‘Black Sox’ scandal of 1919 and the controversial Reserve Clause that barred free agency well into the 1970s. As in baseball, I tip my cap to the endless amount of research Burns’ team put in compiling this.

Starting around with the decades covering the 40s and 50s, is where Baseball started to capitalize on interviewing past players, coaches and implementing clips of old broadcasts. It only got better as the decades went on and television broadcasts got better and better. A good early encapsulation of this is the classic footage from the 1961 home run race between Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. The power that footage had reliving that home run race went exponentially greater for the 1998 home run race between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. I was 15 when that happened and I vividly recall the excitement and positive publicity the Sosa/McGwire chase brought to the sport, and seeing it spotlighted again brought back goosebumps. I would be remiss also for having a lot of those similar vibes when they showed clips of Cal Ripken breaking Lou Gehrig’s ‘Iron Man’ consecutive games played record. It is one thing to relive these moments, but another when you have some of the top peers and critics of the game supplementing that moment with their commentary on its impact on the game.

For as many classic moments the old film footage and broadcasts highlights helped accentuate pivotal scenes in Baseball, there are also numerous times they equally accentuated all the negative marks on the game that should not be forgotten. Aside from the aforementioned barring of black ball players, there is also the Pete Rose gambling controversy, owners colluding to put a stop to free agency for a few years in the 80s, the ’94 strike and a big focus on the rampant PED/steroid use in baseball that led to MLB’s long-overdue drug testing starting in early 2002. I touched on the awesome memories of the home run chase, well Baseball brought back the disgust I had with it from being a crushed 11 year-old finding out there would be no World Series that year and the yucki-ness of countless players getting busted for PEDs leading me to mostly stop watching baseball for several years each time. All these moments get ample time on why they tarnished the game. As much as I love baseball, I am glad Burns’ team made sure to highlight all the key moments, good and bad that circled around the game.

The easy complaint I could make is that not enough time was given to player X or moment Y. With the breadth of history in baseball, I will give Burns’ team the benefit of the doubt for not being able to dedicate time for everything. The only standout thing to me was that MLB career strikeout leader, Nolan Ryan had a minimal presence here with him only being quickly glossed over in a couple of montages and no real spotlight on his career. I imagine there are also other players who got inadvertent short shrift that escaped me, but again, I understand at some point in this ambitious docu-series cuts had to be made. This is partially resolved on both 10th inning discs where there is an extra hour of interviews that were left on the cutting room floor that did not make the final cut. That nitpick aside, this is an unbelievably well-put together collection of baseball history. As you can tell by now, I took great pleasure indulging in every ounce of baseball history I could throughout it. It is a monster of a watch at approximately 22 hours in length, but I cannot help but give top recommendations to Baseball: A Ken Burns Film to any casual or ardent baseball fan.

Past TV/Web Series Blogs

2013-14 TV Season Recap
2014-15 TV Season Recap
2015-16 TV Season Recap
2016-17 TV Season Recap
2017-18 TV Season Recap
Adventures of Briscoe County Jr: The Complete Series
Angry Videogame Nerd Volumes 7-9
Mortal Kombat: Legacy - Season 1
OJ: Made in America: 30 for 30
RedvsBlue - Seasons 1-13
Roseanne – Seasons 1-9
Seinfeld Final Season
Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle
Superheroes: Pioneers of Television
The Vietnam War: A Ken Burns series
X-Men – The Animated Series: Volumes 4-5