Baseball (TV series)

Did You Know?

• The first episode more than doubled PBS's average primetime ratings with a Nielsen rating of 5.1 and an audience share of 7%.
• Burns said Baseball is the only one of his documentaries to which he was ever interested in doing a sequel.
• The companion book uses the title 'A National Heirloom' for the fourth inning.

Format

The series is structured like a baseball game, split into nine parts called innings, each covering a specific era. Each inning opens with a short prologue that sets the scene and concludes with a performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner," mimicking the start of a real game. Most versions use a brass band, but the 1920s inning features a piano, and the 1960s inning uses Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock rendition. Around the middle of each inning, a title card reading "Bottom of" appears, dividing the episode in two.

During the seventh inning, this is preceded by a seventh-inning stretch where contributors sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Within these halves, smaller segments are marked by title cards that highlight key players, important games, or the origins of brands like Louisville Slugger. The visual style relies on archived photos and film footage combined with interviews, a method also used in Burns' earlier work like The Civil War. Actors read aloud letters and speeches over these images.

The soundtrack mixes music from Burns' previous series, original performances, and recordings from artists such as Louis Armstrong and Elvis Presley.

The Nine Innings

The series opens with "Our Game," which sets the stage by tracing baseball's early history and the rise of professional leagues before the 20th century. It also profiles early stars Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner, who helped improve the game's rough reputation, and delves into Ty Cobb. Many quotes come from Lawrence S. Ritter's book The Glory of Their Times. Burns once noted he wanted to call this episode "That Big Son-of-a-Bitch," a nickname for Ruth.

The Tenth Inning

It was officially confirmed in an MLB Network interview and later to the NBC LA web site during the winter Television Critics Association media tour on January 8. David Hinckley of New York Daily News wrote, "Ken Burns hits another one out of the park."

2020 reairing

In a video message, Ken Burns said he asked PBS to stream the film in the absence of many favorite sports, stating, "Stay healthy and let's look after each other. Play ball."