"BASEBALL: THE TENTH INNING"
Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 2010, unrated
Best extra: "Back to the Ballpark," an interview with Ken Burns and co-producer/co-writer Lynn Novick
KEN BURNS IS only half-kidding when he says he made this sequel because his beloved Red Sox finally won the pennant. The bigger reason, as he eloquently points out, is our narrative is more than a list of presidencies punctuated by war. The issues we confront also are refracted through the prism that is baseball, and a lot has happened in the 16 years since his original series aired.
The strike of 1994. The taint of steroids. Baseball's darker chapters are part of the story. But so is the lesson the sport learned when Cal Ripken Jr. eclipsed Lou Gehrig as the game's iron man - to honor its players and celebrate its defining moments: Greg Maddux and Ichiro Suzuki; the '96 Yankees, and the way nine men playing a kids' game rallied us after 9/11. Other players - Barry Bonds - and other moments - the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run chase - are more complex.
Among those sharing their insights are MLB Commissioner Bud Selig; Donald Fehr, former head of the Players Association; broadcaster Bob Costas; historian Doris Kearns Goodwin; pitcher Pedro Martinez, and a host of writers - George Will, Mike Barnicle and Steve Wilstein, who was slammed for writing about McGwire's use of androstenedione. A story that Keith Olbermann recalls from the days after the terrorist attacks will move you to tears.
Just as they did for the original series, Burns and co-producer/co-writer Lynn Novick reached deep into the game's archives to illustrate their story, meaning the high-def quality on this two-disc set isn't always pristine. Still, it's more than good enough, and the interviews rival anything out there. Additional scenes and outtakes seem unnecessary in a documentary, but the Burns-Novick interview is very good.
If you're a fan of the game, a student of history or both, this one's a must.
— Craig Shapiro