Baseball

Rating:
Summary: A DVD All Baseball Fans Should Own
Review: Ken Burns did his usual outstanding job with this documentary. He tells the story of baseball, using a combination of still photos, videos, interviews and quotes quotes. The DVD includes a bonus disc, which includes several great interviews.

He hits all aspects of the game: The development of the game itself and the leagues, the labor history, the stars and great teams and personalities, the great moments in the history of the game, and so on. He also gives us a pretty good look at the old Negro leagues and we get to hear some of the great stories from those days before MLB was integrated.

The only bad thing I can say about this collection of dvds is that by the time it was over I was really sick of hearing different versions of "Take Me out to the Ballgame."

The great stories in this collection more than make up for that one drawback, however. He does more than just interview and quote the players, managers, umpires, owners and sports writers. He includes stories from fans. Doris Kearns Goodwin told about how she grew up rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers, then after they moved away, she found herself in Boston, becoming a Red Sox fan, just in time to have her heart broken again.

All fans of baseball should see this collection.

Rating:
Summary: The History of the Game in One Comprehensive Collection
Review: In keeping with the tradition of the Civil War Series, Ken Burns has meticulously researched the game of baseball and created a most enjoyable history on video. Each video in the set is divided into innings, with a top and bottom half. Burns begins his study back in the 1870s and continues through the present day. All of the classic moments are captured here; from the great Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Honus Wagner to modern day heroes such as Ken Griffey Jr., Tony Gwynn, and Cal Ripken, Jr. The Black Sox scandal of 1919 is told in great detail, and the great teams of the 30s and 40s are described as well. Perhaps the greatest World Series ever, the 1975 Red Sox-Reds classic, comes to life in this video, too. Burns devotes 1 tape to the great Babe Ruth and the impact he made on the game. Burns points out that Ruth hit more home runs in a season by himself than many TEAMS did collectively.

Using excellent still photos and real game footage, Burns brings the game of baseball to life as only he can. This excellent set is definitely worth the money. I highly recommend this series. Baseball fans everywhere will definitely enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Great documentary but what's the deal?
Review: Has anyone noticed that the times given for each "Inning" (i.e., disc) on the DVD is wildly inaccurate? Am I missing material or what? Almost every inning is under two hours according to my DVD player but the case usually indicates a time of 145 to 155 minutes or more. Are there hidden easter eggs on the disc or is PBS just wrong?
jr

Rating:
Summary: Stunning - changed the way I watch baseball
Review: I'd always been a pretty big baseball fan, but once I splurged and bought myself Burns' documentary on video I looked at the game in a completely different way, becoming much more of a fan of the history of the game, and, by extension, the GAME itself, rather than just an individual team or a few players.

To respond to some of the criticisms I've read: yes - the documentary does focus heavily on baseball in New York and Boston. But guess what? Until expansion, and the Dodgers and Giants up and heading to California, 5 of 16 major league teams played in those two cities. And those teams *always* won in the early years. And yes, Burns does overdo it with the 'talking heads.' Some are great (I especially like Robert Creamer, and, of course, who can resist Buck O'Neill....) But Mario Cuoumo? I'd have really appreciated more interviews with players and plain old fans, not folks with other agendas.

But I still give it five stars. I pull this out and watch an episode at least once a month, and I can't watch anymore without keeping a copy of the Baseball Encyclopedia near at hand. It's an absolutely stunning film.

Rating:
Summary: Costas at his best
Review: You don't have to love baseball like I do to enjoy this documentary about Americas pastime. Although I got a little tired of Ken Burns style (I think it's unnecesary to quote someone and THEN state the name of the person being quoted, a Ken Burns trademark) the material is just too great and too American to be disliked. The best part? I was mesmerized by Bob Costas' description of events that took place in the BoSox clubhouse during their 9th inning collapse in game six of the 1986 World Series. When he recollects his "What do I do if they tie it?" remark to his producer it is fascinating, thrilling, and in the end, very sad. Just more proof that baseball is "designed to break your heart". Trust me on this one.

Rating:
Summary: Great documentary but what's the deal?
Review: Has anyone noticed that the times given for each "Inning" (i.e., disc) on the DVD is wildly inaccurate? Am I missing material or what? Almost every inning is under two hours according to my DVD player but the case usually indicates a time of 145 to 155 minutes or more. Are there hidden easter eggs on the disc or is PBS just wrong?
jr

Rating:
Summary: Could have been incredible.
Review: What a waste. This could have been a great documentary about baseball. Instead it's about New York and Boston baseball. There are way too many examples to site, but here are a few:

The Detroit Tigers:
-Burns tears Cobb to pieces and only briefly mentions his hitting feats, he only concentrates on his off the field behavoir.
-There is a 2 minute clip of the great Hank Greenberg.
-Al Kaline, Charlie Gehringer, and Hal Newhouser don't seem to exist in Ken Burns' world.
-The 1968 team and Denny McLain get no mention, instead we see Bob Gibson striking out 17 Tigers in game 1 of the series. No mention that Detroit actually won the Series in 7 games.

The Cleveland Indians:
-A short clip of Bob Feller.
-Nothing about the great 1920 & 1948 Championship teams.
-Nothing about Herb Score.
-A pathetically small clip of Larry Doby, the first African American player in the AL.

The Chicago White Sox:
-Again, Luis Aparicio, Ray Shalk, and Luke Appling don't exist in Ken's world.

I could go on for hours. Basically, if you're a Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, or Cincinnati fan, don't waste your money. I'm surprised Mr. Burns didn't have hour long segments on Dick Brodowski and Duke Maas.

Rating:
Summary: Not quite viewing....more like an experience
Review: Words do not do justice to this set. Extensively covering the history of baseball - the Major League, the Negro League, women's baseball, baseball overseas.....if it's baseball, it's covered here. As a Pirates fan, I can honestly say that I'm not bothered by the heavy New York and Boston content, after all, those were the hotbeds of baseball in the early days. Great players and great ballparks are highlighted, and if you come away from this not a baseball fan, nothing will convert you to one. Experience this magnificent series, it's so much more than watching. This will grab you and allow you to understand why baseball isn't a pastime, it's a passion.

Rating:
Summary: Great Story, But Too Narrow in Focus
Review: A great history of baseball. The one flaw: watching only the film, you would think that only New York and Boston had baseball teams.

Rating:
Summary: Ken Burns does not realize his film is hypocritical.
Review: 'Baseball' is yet another mega-documentary by Ken Burns, a filmmaker who thinks he is cracking down on race relations in America. Although there are certain moments that are very powerful, most of the movie is like the game of baseball itself, boring. Burns covers some important moments in the history of the game, but he doesn't realize how hypocritical his movie is.
For example, he exposed many of the racial prejudices that have existed in the game since it began, but he does not spend that much time on black ballplayers. Yes, he does cover the Negro League extensively, but that was still not enough.
First of all, he hardly covers the carrer of Henry Aaron. Aaron has to be one of the most underrated athletes of all time. His 755 home runs is arguably the greatest record in sports by a single player. Burns barely touches on his carrer and focuses mostly on the two seasons when he was chasing Ruth's record. Burns spends almost entire videotapes covering the carrers of Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, and Joe DeMaggio. Yes those players were great and are very influential, but plenty of black players were just as great and influential.
He does the same thing with Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Lou Brock, and a number of other black superstars. He doesn't give them justice, he just does not spend enough time on them.
Certain moments of the film are worth watching, but other parts of just plain bad. Here are some low points. Burns feels the need to play different versions 'The Star-Spangled Banner' and 'Take me out to the ballgame' about 50,000 times throughout this film. He doesn't realize just how annoying those songs get after a while. He treats those two songs like they are sacred songs from some religious text. The most embarrasing moment is the section titled 'The 7th Inning Stretch'. Here a group of semi-famous people try to sing 'Take me out to the ballgame', and they are screwing it up. It is a bad and unnecessary part.

Burns also feels the need to show the same photographs and film clips over and over again. I don't know how many times they showed the same photograph of Curt Flood or the same vidoeclip of Ted Williams skipping the bases, but I was ready to shoot the T.V. For crying out loud, man, but find some clips or photographs nobody has seen.