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If you are a baseball fan, you've got to appreciate Ken Burns documentary on baseball. From the writing, to the filming, narration, pictures, video, research, and everything else that make up this series, this is a five star production that was made possible by the film and digital age.
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This series was so interesting and so well done that I bought sets for two friend and three of my children.
Not only did it cover baseball it covered Americana.
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I liked the book so well that I would like to purchase two more. One for my brother and son.
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Only the sport of baseball could lend itself (via its long, rich heritage) to a Ken Burns-style documentary. Of course, Burns nails it once again.
Though not as emotionally touching as his Civil War or World War II documentaries, Baseball captures the essence of America's pastime. From Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth, and Ty Cobb to Willie, Mickey, and the Duke, to Yaz, Pete Rose, Mick Schmidt, and everyone in between, Burns recounts all the rousing stories that old fans will recite from memory and younger fans will be fascinated by. Guest commentators wax poetically about the game, old veterans tell their stories, and Burn's traditional mix of period music, solo piano, and aching violin provide an emotional punch, whether positive or negative.
However, what really sets this film apart from others is Burn's willingness to "pull no punches" in terms of describing the often-flawed sport of baseball. Whether it be the rowdyism that plagued the game in its early existence, the "Black Sox" scandal of 1919, or baseball's outright racism until the late 1940s, Burns explains those issues without letting too much personal bias creep in.
Overall, this is a wonderful documentary for baseball fans who truly value the rich history of the sport. When watching, you will fell as if you actually exist in whatever decade Burns happens to be describing. This is the ultimate "biography" of our national pastime.
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This volume contains a lot that is very good. Its structure is a bit forced (nine innings, or periods, of baseball history). The 9th inning, as others have noted, covers a large time frame compared with earlier "innings." I'm not sure that the decade is the best way of organizing baseball history, either. Still and all, that's more a matter of taste than anything else.
The book's authors candidly observe that they will focus on eastern teams, e.g., Boston Red Sox and Brooklyn Dodgers, "because we felt their stories especially rich in the human drama that accompanies the history of every team." However, I agree with a reviewer (who bears the name of one of Detroit's best first basemen ever) who laments that this really does slight the deep baseball history that covers much more territory than New York to Boston. Again, though, certainly not a fatal flaw by any stretch in this book.
This book is seen as complementary to the documentary series on PBS, designed to elaborate certain issues in ways not possible in the TV medium. Some of the special features in both the documentary and book are the recollections of Buck O'Neil; interviews with historians, writers, managers, and players. Finally, essays by a number of "guests" represent an interesting twist. Roger Angell has a wonderful Introduction, "Hard Lines," in which he juxtaposes the apparent ease of playing baseball with the harsh realities of players often fighting just to stay in the big leagues or losing the joy for the game (note the brief discussion on Carl Yastrzemski). He observes that: "Once we understand how really hard it is, we become citizens of baseball, admiring its laws and just paths, even when the luck of the day hasn't gone our way." Other guest commentators include George Will, Bill James, and Doris Kearns Goodwin.
But the book is about baseball, so the nine innings are themselves the heart of this book. The early years, up until 1900, feature a strange game to us today, with very different rules--as well as the origins of racial segregation in the game (the issue of race is one of the main themes of the book). The second inning discusses the game as "Something like a war," when players played and fought hard. And so on. No need to provide a full chronology. Some special segments: the role of Babe Ruth, in the Fourth Inning, helping baseball dig out from under the disaster of the Chicago Black Sox, who threw a World Series. The Sixth Inning features the end of segregation in baseball, with Jackie Robinson's big league debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
A final quotation from Buck O'Neil illustrates how the game can be addictive--to players (and even to fans), when he says: "There is nothing in life like getting your body to do all the things it has to do on the baseball field."
All in all, an ambitious work, trying to capture the spirit of baseball, its sins, and its contributions. While I do have some questions about this volume, as already noted, it ends up not quite being a home run, but it surely is extra bases.
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