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 enlarge | Author: Kenneth Burns
Publisher: Random House Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $22.50
Buy Used: $0.79
You Save: $21.71 (96%)
New (4) Used (22) from $0.79
Avg. Customer Rating:  111 reviews
Sales Rank: 922268
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
Media: Audio Cassette
Edition: Abridged
Number Of Items: 4
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 067943514X
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3570973
EAN: 9780679435143
ASIN: 067943514X
Publication Date: September 6, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
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| Customer Reviews:
 The best time capsule covering any sport history on video March 14, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This series takes you from the beginning of Baseball to the 1990s. Most of it is covered by decade with the 9th inning covering the 1970s up to 1995 (about the time when the series aired on PBS).
Has rare photos and film covering every event of the sport. Has extensive footage of the Negro League, Babe Ruth, and covers every star in the sport at their times. Has some mention of times about the minor league teams as well.
I'm surprised being from Seattle and recalling what Baseball politics turned into this town around the 70s that the Pilots moving from Seattle to Milwaukee (to become the Brewers) wasn't covered as well as the legal battle to get the Mariners into the Kingdome. Was this dropped on purpose? That was an unusual move to do since a lot of the other legal wrangling with the owners, players, courts, the government, and the players union wasn't missed. Perhaps maybe it was dropped due to space on the last DVD.
It's definately a piece of video history to have.
One of Ken Burns' Best February 11, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I truly enjoyed this series and I like to watch it every year before the season starts.
I think a lot of people miss the point about Ken Burns. This man realizes that race is the issue that stands at the heart of America's soul... it is the issue the shapes so much of our lives in ways we may not even realize. I understand if many may not want to hear this perspective, but if you shake Ken Burns, race is what comes out. In my studies of American history, it is the issue that comes up again and again.
I do wish there are some things he could have done differently with "Baseball." Some of his pictures did not match with their respective narratives. Civil War historian Shelby Foote seemed really out of place in this series but he had great stories and besides... why can't he be a baseball fan? And as a native of DC, I wish he could have included more on the Washington Senators' story- a film clip of "Damn Yankees," and the story of how the Senators were bought by Bob Short in 1968 and the story of their final game on September 30, 1971, which ended as a forfeit because fans stormed the field in protest. I would have loved to have seen something on the '83 World Series with the Orioles. But I think Burns did a pretty decent job with the material he had. Every story could not be told and he did a great job covering the important ones. Perhaps my favorite moment of this series is where writer Gerald Early talks about when he played the game as a kid and he and his friends did everything they saw done in the professional game, and on their own, they would sing the National Anthem. What a heartwarming story!
I'm really glad for the work of Ken Burns and his understanding of the issues that get to the heart of our society.
PS- Ken Burns sometimes uses the wrong pic or video clip with a given subject. But even with that, I still do mot umderstand why, during Episode 8, "A Whole New Ballgame: 1960-69," during the Roger Maris segment, he showed Maris hitting a home run and the next thing you see is a homer going into THE WRIGLEY FIELD BLEACHERS! And the video looks obviously modern, just toned to black and white to look like old footage from the summer of '61. Is that all he could come up with?
???
 aggressively stupid December 16, 2006
4 out of 33 found this review helpful
I started watching this after Fever Pitch, which made me love baseball. This "documentary" made me hate baseball. Basically the show plays out like a monologue by Garrison Keillor, set to still photographs. The history of baseball is not presented factually and dispassionately; instead the viewer gets it crammed down his brain that baseball is a great and noble game played by great and noble men. This would be like watching a history of World War I and finding that it is narrated by a syrupy-voiced, American-as-the-apple-pie-you're-just-about-to-vomit narrator who starts, in Prairie-Home-Companion-esque manner, drumming it into you that the American soldiers, they were real fine fellers, but Johnny Boche... he was a bad sort. Maybe Jimmy Stewart could be resuscitated just long enough to provide the American-till-you-puke aw shucks voice-overs and tell us that The American soldiers in the field were as right and true as the weather vane on top of the old barn back home in the yellow corn fields. The yellow corn fields near the old swimmin' holler, where MaryJane McKlusky took off her red dress with the small white polkadots and danced around naked awhile to the soft sound of the whistle from the faraway train out of Coop's Junction.
Entertaining look at the national past time, Still brings out the baseball fan in me October 28, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
After his sucess with "the Civil War", Ken burns sought to make another masterpiece, another epic series, which was captured here in the film Baseball. This was a very long series, 18 hours total. What can I say, it doen't miss much. Starting at the beginning until 1992, just prior to the player's strike of 1994. An awesome look at old player, ballparks, and the development of the League in general. It was long to watch, and I know the Segregation issue was tough in baseball, but dang they spent a long time driving that point home stretching it over about 3 tapes. I wish one episode would have concentrated on it more, history, timeline,players and teams, but I guess that's difficult with the series being set up by decades. I would like to have seen it not skip over 1970-1993, it skipped over many of the scandals (pittsburg pirates 80's drug scandal, Pete rose was a blurp,) and unfortunately the series was before the whole strike fiasco and now some good years since. One big complaint, why is Shelby Foote in this series at all....he's the civil war buff that annoyed me the first time round. Anyhow, an entertaining series, just long, but a good job overall.
Made me a Baseball fan July 4, 2006
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I didn't go into this liking baseball but I couldn't help but appreciate the game and its place in US history when finished. I have used lots of clips from the series in class and students have enjoyed it and asked for more. I had to study more baseball history details afterwards because it really sparked my interest. Great Film!!!! Ken burns at his best.
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