BASEBALL

Our Game The first inning tells the story of baseball's rise, in only one generation, from a gentleman's hobby to a national sport played and watched by millions. Viewers meet the first baseball magnate, Albert Goodwill Spalding; explore the game's first gambling scandal; see the first attempts by women to play the game in the 1860's; witness the first attempt by ball players to unionize; and learn how the first black professionals were hounded out of the game in the "Jim Crow" 1880's. Audiences also encounter the greatest 19th century players, Michael "King" Kelly, Cap Anson and Denton T. "Cy" Young.

BASEBALL

Something Like a War The second inning introduces some of the most extraordinary individuals ever to play the game: Ty Cobb, the volatile, brilliant outfielder who may have been the greatest ball player of all time, but who was "possessed by the furies"; Walter Johnson, the modest farm boy with a fast ball so intimidating batters sometimes left the batter's box after only two strikes; Christy Mathewson, a college-educated pitcher so virtuous he was worshipped by schoolchildren as "the Christian gentleman"; and John McGraw, the brawling, unstoppable manager of the New York Giants who "took kids out of the coal mines and the wheat fields and made them walk and talk and chatter and play ball with the look of eagles."

BASEBALL

The Faith of 50 Million People At the center of the third inning, The Black Sox scandal reveals how eight members of the Chicago White Sox, including the incomparable shoeless Joe Jackson, "played with the faith of 50 million people," as F. Scott Fitzgerald later wrote, by taking money from gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series.

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A National Heirloom Babe Ruth, the Baltimore saloon-keeper's son who became the best-known and best-loved athlete in American history, and who was described by sportswriter Jimmy Cannon as a "national heirloom," is the focus of the fourth inning. This inning details how Ruth's phenomenal performance thrilled the nation throughout the 1920s and rescued the game from the scandal that threatened to destroy it.

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Shadow Ball The fifth "inning" of Ken Burns's film BASEBALL looks at baseball's desperate attempts to survive the Great Depression and Babe Ruth's fading career, while a new generation of stars, including Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams, is on the rise. It also presents the parallel world of the Negro Leagues, which thrived in the shadow of the Major Leagues. The inning culminates with the greatest showdown in the history of the Negro Leagues: Satchel Paige, arguably the best pitcher ever, against Josh Gibson, "the black Babe Ruth," in the Negro League World Series.

BASEBALL

The National Pastime The sixth "inning" of Ken Burns's film BASEBALL leads off with the baseball season of 1941, one of the most exciting of all time. Joe DiMaggio hits in 56 straight games, the longest hitting streak in history. Ted Williams becomes the last man to hit .400. The Brooklyn Dodgers win their first pennant in 20 years. Then the war intervenes and baseball's best players become soldiers. On their return, the game - and the entire country--are changed forever: Branch Rickey integrates baseball on April 15, 1947, when Jackie Robinson takes the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Baseball finally becomes what it had always claimed to be: America's national pastime.

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The Capital of Baseball In the seventh "inning" of Ken Burns's film BASEBALL, rare newsreel film and interviews celebrate the glorious heyday of New York City baseball with some of its most memorable moments: the "shot heard round the world," Bobby Thomson's home run off Ralph Branca in 1951; Willie Mays' incredible catch in the 1954 World Series; and Don Larsen's perfect game. The highlight of the episode is 1955, when the Brooklyn Dodgers, sparked by Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella, finally win their first World Series, only to be moved by their owner to a new city 3,000 miles away: Los Angeles.

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A Whole New Ball Game The eighth inning, which takes place against the backdrop of the turbulent 1960s, opens with the improbable last-inning home run by the Pittsburgh Pirates' bill Mazeroski that wins the 1960 World Series and signals the beginning of the end of the Yankee dynasty. Roger Maris breaks Babe Ruth's record by hitting 61 home runs in the 1961 season. Sandy Koufax, the shy, untouchable pitcher, dominates most of the decade and then leaves the game at the height of his power because of the threat of crippling arthritis. Pete Rose begins his tumultuous career, and Carl Yastrzemski and the Boston Red Sox almost win the World Series, but are stopped cold by the ferociously determined Bob Gibson. For the first time, baseball is seriously threatened by football and towards the end of the decade, the game is radically transformed when players organize into a union.

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Home The ninth and final inning covers the most recent history of baseball and explores the future of the game. Game Six of the 1975 World Series -- thought by many to be the greatest game ever played -- miraculously reawakens the whole country's love for the game. But in the 1980's, the rising influence of television and the coming of free agency, with its enormous salaries and dislocations, threatens that affection. The episode ends with an impressionistic look at some of the astounding achievements on the field in the late 1980's and early 1990's, including Kirk Gibson's World Series home run; the first Canadian World Series; the extraordinary career of Nolan Ryan; and, finally, a consideration of the game's enduring appeal.

BASEBALL

Shadow Ball Baseball during the Great Depression; Babe Ruth’s fading career; Satchel Paige versus Josh Gibson in the greatest showdown in the history of the Negro Leagues. Part 5 of 9.

BASEBALL

The Capital of Baseball The heyday of New York City baseball; the “shot heard round the world”; Don Larsen’s perfect game; the Brooklyn Dodgers’ first World Series win and move to L.A. Part 7 of 9.

BASEBALL

The National Pastime Joe DiMaggio’s incredible hitting streak; baseball during World War II; Jackie Robinson’s debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Part 6 of 9.