Baseball (1994)
A documentary on the history of the sport with major topics including Afro-American players, player/team owner relations and the resilience of the game.
Cast: Daniel Okrent, George F. Will, John Chancellor, Gerald Early, Doris Kearns Goodwin, John Thorn, Roger Angell, Buck O'Neil, Studs Terkel, Bob Costas, Ossie Davis, George Plimpton, Paul Roebling, Eli Wallach, Thomas Boswell, Adam Arkin, Stephen Jay Gould, Donald Hall
Home
America and the world are seeing more changes than at any time in history. And so is baseball.
A Whole New Ballgame
The 1960s are a turbulent decade for America. There are race riots, anti-war protests, hippies, Woodstock. It is also a turbulent decade for baseball, as one by one its "sacred" institutions fall.
The Capital of Baseball
Americans are on the move. Moving to the suburbs. Moving across the country. They are, it seems, restless. Of course, if you're a baseball fan in New York, you don't want to move. You're in baseball heaven.
The National Pastime
In Europe, in the Pacific, on the homefront, both African-Americans and whites fight to make the world safe for democracy. When the world ends, Major League Baseball becomes, in fact, what it has always claimed to be: the national pastime.
Shadow Ball
In the period 1930-40, the Depression had a major impact on the game of baseball. Many teams were nearing bankruptcy with attendance dwindling and fan interest at its lowest ebb.
A National Heirloom
The 1920s begin with America trying to recover from World War I and baseball trying to recover from the scandal of the 1919 World Series.
The Faith of Fifty Million People
Before and after World War I, a steady stream of immigrants lands on the shores of America. They want instantly to become American. To pursue the American dream. To play the American game.
Something Like a War
In 1894, a sportwriter named Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson takes over a struggling minor league - the Western League - and turns it into a financial success.
Our Game
In New York City, in the 1840s, people need a diversion from the "railroad pace" at which they work and live. They find it in a game of questionable origins.