Baseball

For afficianados of the game there will be many glaring omissions but for the general reader this book is all you need to get a handle on the history of the game, casting aside the Doubleday myth (Spalding's invention) and treating yourself to the early New York Knickerbockers who wrote the rules of the game, which have essentially stayed the same ever since. Ward has an eye for detail, noting that Cartwright took the game to Hawaii, from where it eventually spread to Asia.

Ward spends a great deal of time on the divisions in baseball, not just that between the American and National leagues, but black ball and white ball. He gives an engaging discription of the Negro leagues and the eventual integration of the game with the immortal Jackie Robinson joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. He also notes many of the other negro greats who weren't so fortunate to be called up to the big leagues.

He also gives a good look at the free agency disputes of the 70's, which opened the doors to the astronomical salaries players get today. There is also a requiem on Mr. Baseball, Pete Rose, and the gambling that has plagued the game throughout its history. The most notorious example being the Chicago "Black Sox." Despite these lapses, the game has not only managed to survive but flourish into quite possibly the world's greatest game.


A DVD All Baseball Fans Should Own   October 30, 2003
 5 out of 7 found this review helpful

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.