Airs: September 28-29, 8pm (Check Local Listings)
Network: PBS
Featuring Directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
What’s It All About? Directors Ken Burns and Lynn Novick return to the story of America’s national pastime that they began telling in the 1994 film Baseball, catching us up with how the sport has changed in many respects — yet fundamentally remained the same — over the past 15 years or so. A lot has indeed happened since that film, but the challenge faced by Burns and Novick in this update was to chronicle in a new way events that are probably still fresh in most people’s minds, even casual baseball observers, given the recentness of the happenings. The advantage the first film had was the vast history of baseball from which it could draw — it’s easy to surprise us with little-known facts from 1905. But how to make the outcome of a World Series from just six years ago seem suspenseful? Burns and Novick often wisely let original broadcasts do the talking — we hear the call as the Boston Red Sox accomplish an epic postseason comeback to win their first World Series since 1918, for example — along with the fans and sportswriters who experienced the moments. Even though these remain compelling, at times the film feels like a straight rundown of chronological events in the game. But there are the nice Burns touches of exploring lesser-known aspects, such as how Latino and Asian players rose to prominence. And the film is bookended by the story of Barry Bonds (we continue to revisit his ongoing rise throughout the film), serving as a nice metaphor for the sport over the last 15 years, which seems to be a time when fans made some peace with baseball and its players, and realized the greater human depth beneath their onfield heroes. The Tenth Inning has that feel. Compared to the sometimes mythological, fairy tale treatment of the game as portrayed in Baseball, this latest film — while still celebrating magical moments like baseball’s role in helping America work past 9/11 — has a more down-to-earth quality (even the normally overly verbose Bob Costas and Keith Olbermann are fairly restrained here), which may reflect the realism that fans have adopted as they themselves have grown along with the sport they love.
The first episode is “Top of the Tenth.” In this episode, baseball faces its worst crisis in 70 years with a 1994 strike that cancels the World Series; baseball rebuilds with new stadiums; Latin American players make a mark on the game; the Yankees return to glory; and bulked-up sluggers Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa captivate the nation as they chase Roger Maris’ single-season home run record.
The film concludes with “Bottom of the Tenth.” As the 21st century begins, baseball is booming. In an era of home runs and power, a handful of pitchers manage to dominate; Ichiro Suzuki becomes MLB’s first Japanese position player, opening the door for other Asian players; as America reels from the 9/11 attacks, baseball provides solace; long-suffering Red Sox fans rejoice in their first World Series victory in 86 years; and even as the game is more popular than ever, revelations about steroids cast a shadow on many of the era’s greatest stars and their historic accomplishments.
