[.ca] Baseball: An Illustrated History (ISBN 0679765417)

View it as entertainment, not as history:
Ken Burns is becoming well-known as much for what he leaves out of his documentaries as for what he tells you and how he tells it. One sees it somewhat in the Civil War documentary (unless of course you are a Lost Cause devotee, in which case you view that series as horribly biased and riddled with errors), and it is definitely (and troublingly) evident in his Jazz documentary, where 40 years of jazz is virtually glossed over in favor of an almost obsessive fixation on Louis Armstrong. In the case of "Baseball," Burns again leaves out huge chunks of the story, although the end result is nonetheless entertaining. In the case of "Baseball," the unrelenting focus is on New York City, Babe Ruth & Jackie Robinson, and to be fair, there is no way you could discuss the subject of baseball without devoting a great deal of time to these subjects. However, the title of the documentary is "Baseball," not "The New York City, Babe Ruth, and Jackie Robinson Story," and it is possible to watch this documentary at times and come to believe that nothing else was happening out side of New York most of the time. I recall reading a Sports Illustrated article a few years ago that discussed the Philadelphia Athletics from 1929-1931, and made the case that that team was better than the famed "Murderer's Row" Yankees of 1926-1928, and possibly the best team in baseball history. The article's author crunched the numbers, compared the stats, and made a pretty compelling case. He then asked why so little attention has been paid to the A's over the years, and posited that because most of the nation's important papers and sportswriters were based in New York City; by default the majority of the great sportswriting was devoted to the Yankees, while relatively backwater Philadelphia languished in obscurity. It seems to be the same situation with Burns. While other incredibly dominant teams such as (in the early years) the Chicago Cubs, the A's, the Pittsburgh Pirates & the Detroit Tigers are given passing mention, they are quickly shoved on the back burner in favor of the Boston Red Sox & New York Giants. Then the Yankees & the Dodgers begin to coalesce, and it is all New York, all the time. One gets no feeling for how dominant the 1929-1931 A's (or the St. Louis Cardinals of the mid-1930's) were, because Burns continually focuses on Babe Ruth & the Negro Leagues. When Burns gets to the 1950's he can be excused, because really it was a New York-dominated decade like no other. However, the other decades did in fact see a more competitive balance, and one would not get this impression from the documentary. It would have been nice if Burns hadn't crammed the last quarter century of his story into one "inning." Are you telling me that the stories since 1970 aren't as compelling as the early years of baseball. I don't believe that Burns would have had to devote that much more time to the post-1970 era to make it feel less cursory and rushed. This is a somewhat annoying tendency of his that was more griveously evident when he made "Jazz." Also, I get a little tired of the "poetry of baseball" school of thought. It isn't as though I am some knuckle-dragging troglodyte who gets all his news from sports radio; I am just as likely to go to the opera as to the ballpark. This baseball as metaphor for how the cosmos works gets on my nerves after a while (although I consider Roger Angell's comment "there's more Met than Yankee in all of us" to be priceless beyond description). It's not that baseball doesn't imbue our life with a little extra something special, it's just that some of these talking heads tend to get a little overwrought. I enjoyed watching the documentary the first time, and I have watched it probably half a dozen times since over the years. By comparison, I have watched "The Civil War" about 15 times, I would guess. I was so disappointed with "Jazz" that I managed only a second viewing. In any case, "Baseball" is very entertaining, and that is what largely accounts for my 4-star rating I would only caution those who don't know their baseball history that this documentary omits a great deal of what is a very good story.

Not quite viewing....more like an experience:
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.

Great documentary but what's the deal?:
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

Could have been incredible.:
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.

Costas at his best:
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.