BASEBALL Videos (PBS)

[FutureRedsGM]

Anyone seen the PBS series BASEBALL? It's a 9 video series by Ken Burns with each disc representing an "inning" which is an era of baseball. I just joined Netflix in order to see these and recently finished disc one of this series which is 1840 - 1900. I will have to say that this is a must see for any baseball fan. Interviews with Bob Costas and Bily Crystal are great. Old grainy footage and historical fun facts make the videos interesting for both the casual and uneducated fans. I can't wait to start disc 2 tonight.

[Johnny Footstool]

I didn't realize NetFlix had "Baseball." That's reason enough for me to join NetFlix!

[westofyou]

Good Book too

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0679404597.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[FutureRedsGM]

I didn't realize NetFlix had "Baseball." That's reason enough for me to join NetFlix!

And your first two weeks are free, which may be enough time for you to watch the series.

[cumberlandreds]

My brother gave this to me not long after it was released. It is very good, as are most of Ken Burn's series. Just a caution though,it does have a Yankee,Brooklyn Dodger and Red Sox slant to it,IMO. I think more could have been done about midwest baseball than what was. But it is very much worth buying or renting.

[MrCinatit]

That series alone is a grand reason why Buck O'Neil should be in the HOF. In my opinion, the man made the series what it was, with memories going back to the days of Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Rube Walker.

[westofyou]

My brother gave this to me not long after it was released. It is very good, as are most of Ken Burn's series. Just a caution though,it does have a Yankee,Brooklyn Dodger and Red Sox slant to it,IMO. I think more could have been done about midwest baseball than what was. But it is very much worth buying or renting.

That and post war baseball to the 70's.

The fact is that the coast is the hub of MLB, always has been.

The Midwest had to form their own league to stick around in the 1800's and the game has always leaned on the big city brethren for all the stories... that's what having 8 daily papers can do for you before the advent of mass communication.

[Phhhl]

It's a great series. The Ken Burns Civil War series was awesome as well. I kind of cheaped out a year ago and rented each inning of "Baseball" for Hollywood video, where VHS rentals were a buck apiece. If you think those old films look grainy on DVD, you ain't seen nothing like these worn out video cassettes!

I enjoy the lengthy parts about key individuals most of all. Ruth, Cobb, Robinson... I think Ruth was an entire "inning".

Great viewing for the winter months, especially. I would recommend "When It Was a Game" Parts 1 and 2 as well.

[FutureRedsGM]

Great viewing for the winter months, especially. I would recommend "When It Was a Game" Parts 1 and 2 as well.

Netflix has those as well. They are further down in my queue.

[macro]

I taped all nine episodes of this off PBS back when it originally aired in the 90s. I dug those tapes up the other day, as I'm in the process of converting my worthwhile VHS stuff to DVD. I declined to convert this, though, because of the huge volume of footage. Instead, I found that the DVD set can be had online for around $100 or maybe a little more. I'm thinking that Saint Nicholas and I will have a talk about this sometime between now and December 25 of this year.

As others have already said, it's an awesome documentary. It takes time to watch it all, though -- nine episodes of two hours (is that right?).

[shredda2000]

I have the Blockbuster.com deal. And they have BASEBALL also (10 discs, 23 hours).

They also have the The Cincinnati Reds: 1975 World Series Collector's Edition

I will be adding these to my list right away!!!

[George Anderson]

It's a great series. The Ken Burns Civil War series was awesome as well. I kind of cheaped out a year ago and rented each inning of "Baseball" for Hollywood video, where VHS rentals were a buck apiece. If you think those old films look grainy on DVD, you ain't seen nothing like these worn out video cassettes!

I enjoy the lengthy parts about key individuals most of all. Ruth, Cobb, Robinson... I think Ruth was an entire "inning".

Great viewing for the winter months, especially. I would recommend "When It Was a Game" Parts 1 and 2 as well.

I really was dissapointed with Burns baseball documentary, he focused way to much on the east coast teams and made the documentary way to political.

"When It Was a Game" videos are outstanding, when I watch them it makes wish I grew up in the golden area of baseball

[Red in Chicago]

I really was dissapointed with Burns baseball documentary, he focused way to much on the east coast teams and made the documentary way to political.

Unfortunately, I agree with your comments. It could have been much better.

[vaticanplum]

I really was dissapointed with Burns baseball documentary, he focused way to much on the east coast teams and made the documentary way to political.

In all fairness, this documentary was of the whole history of professional baseball, and while baseball as a sport has always been popular throughout the country, professional baseball has been on the East Coast much longer than it's been out west. And I don't remember anything political at all, but that's just me.

I love this series. I have to purchase an extra box of tissues every time I watch it. Seriously, no matter where in the series I turn it on, I'm weeping in five minutes. The photographs alone are worth it, as is Buck O'Neil. The music is fabulous too.

For everyone in the Cincinnati area: the library has these (for freeee!!!) The brooklyn library did too. I'm sure many libraries do.

[George Anderson]

In all fairness, this documentary was of the whole history of professional baseball, and while baseball as a sport has always been popular throughout the country, professional baseball has been on the East Coast much longer than it's been out west. And I don't remember anything political at all, but that's just me.

I love this series. I have to purchase an extra box of tissues every time I watch it. Seriously, no matter where in the series I turn it on, I'm weeping in five minutes. The photographs alone are worth it, as is Buck O'Neil. The music is fabulous too.

For everyone in the Cincinnati area: the library has these (for freeee!!!) The brooklyn library did too. I'm sure many libraries do.

Its been a while since I watched it but I remember even during the 1960's, 1970's segments he focused on the east coast teams when alot of the successful teams during that era were in the midwest and west coast . If I recall he spent very little time talking about the Big Red Machine.Unfortunately to alot of elitists like Burns the midwest is simply fly over country and anything that happens here is simply not important as it is on the east coast. I mean i dont hate the film because parts of it were interesting, but I just chalk the whole documentary up as being made by someone with a left wing agenda.

[vaticanplum]

Its been a while since I watched it but I remember even during the 1960's, 1970's segments he focused on the east coast teams when alot of the successful teams during that era were in the midwest and west coast . If I recall he spent very little time talking about the Big Red Machine.Unfortunately to alot of elitists like Burns the midwest is simply fly over country and anything that happens here is simply not important as it is on the east coast. I mean i dont hate the film because parts of it were interesting, but I just chalk the whole documentary up as being made by someone with a left wing agenda.

I thought the Big Red Machine section was great. There's quite a lengthy segment on the 75 World Series in particular, with many writers etc. talking about how it was the greatest of all time. It was actually the first I'd seen of any of that footage.

[cincinnati chili]

I really was dissapointed with Burns baseball documentary, he focused way to much on the east coast teams and made the documentary way to political.



A lot of people had this reaction, which I think was exacerbated by the fact that it came out just before the big baseball labor shutdown in 1994/1995.

I thought the Ken Burns series was nearly perfect for its format.

Like it or not, the labor relations underbelly has permeated the game since the the turn of the century. So you have to focus on Curt Flood and Marvin Miller. Also, the segregation of the game defined the first half century. So you have to focus on Jackie Robinson and race. Sure, those issues are political, but if you leave them out of an 18-hour documentary, you end up with fluff.

[George Anderson]

A lot of people had this reaction, which I think was exacerbated by the fact that it came out just before the big baseball labor shutdown in 1994/1995.

I thought the Ken Burns series was nearly perfect for its format.

Like it or not, the labor relations underbelly has permeated the game since the the turn of the century. So you have to focus on Curt Flood and Marvin Miller. Also, the segregation of the game defined the first half century. So you have to focus on Jackie Robinson and race. Sure, those issues are political, but if you leave them out of an 18-hour documentary, you end up with fluff.

I agree those issues should be covered (labor and race), but he just seemed to harp on them non stop.

[TexasRed]

Very good documentary. My wife bought it for me when it first came out on VHS. My only regret is that I don't have it on DVD.... It would sound even better in 5.1 Dolby digital.

[Yachtzee]

In all fairness, this documentary was of the whole history of professional baseball, and while baseball as a sport has always been popular throughout the country, professional baseball has been on the East Coast much longer than it's been out west. And I don't remember anything political at all, but that's just me.

I love this series. I have to purchase an extra box of tissues every time I watch it. Seriously, no matter where in the series I turn it on, I'm weeping in five minutes. The photographs alone are worth it, as is Buck O'Neil. The music is fabulous too.

For everyone in the Cincinnati area: the library has these (for freeee!!!) The brooklyn library did too. I'm sure many libraries do.

Actually, baseball has had a pretty vibrant history in the Midwest too. I think the first openly professional baseball team came from a city in the Midwest. ;) Also, the Chicago White Stockings (Mark I, now Cubs) were a major force in the early days of the National League. The East Coast focus didnt' get to me until they started getting overly weepy about the Brooklyn Dodgers and NY Giants leaving town. It's not that I'm not interested in listening to how the loss of their teams to California affected the fans. It's just that even at the point that Ken Burns had made "Baseball," this ground had been covered ad nauseum.

I think it would have been far more interesting, when discussing the topic of team migration during the 1950 and 60s, to tell us the story of those other teams that moved that have been given short shrift in the past. Why not examine the moves of the A's, Browns, Braves and Senators and how it affected the fans in those cities? Why did the A's move instead of the Phillies? Why Braves and not Red Sox? How was Chicago able to hold on to both the Cubs and the White Sox? It just seemed like there were some missed opportunities to take an in depth look at areas beyond the 5 boroughs on this issue.