Ken Burns - Baseball - 2010 Box Set

I've watched the first 9 innings numerous times and this series is by far my favorite sports documentary. If your a baseball fan and have never watched this it is an absolute must watch it will give you a whole new perspsective on the game especially if you are younger like me (25).

Just an FYI the 2010 box set comes with the 10th inning. I don't know why Amazon has them available as a "frequently bought together" combo order but I just wanted to give you guys the heads up just buy this box set and you'll get all 10 innings plus the bonus features which include 2.5 hours of deleted scenes and additional interviews. Check the PBS site for a picture of the box set and it clearly states it includes the 10th inning and the run time and disc count are identical to what's on here.

I think this was a good documentary that would be more accurately titled: "A New York Baseball Fan Attempts to Make a Comprehensive Documentary About Baseball." I fully appreciate the greatness and importance of New York baseball, but after awhile the bias became noticeable to the point of absurdity. Some stray observations:

-Practically every one of the regular talking heads was an avowed fan of one of the NY teams (Doris Kearns-Goodwin, Billy Crystal, Bob Costas, Steven Jay Gould, Roger Angell, Mario Cuomo, Robert Creamer). In other words, any time a personal emotional attachment was highlighted it was directed at either the Yankees, Dodgers or Giants. So far as I can tell not once in the whole series was someone allowed to gush about the Cubs or the Cardinals or the Indians or the White Sox or the Pirates or the Athletics. Very narrow minded.

-The Sixth Inning was particularly egregious. It didn't just focus mostly on the three New York teams- it focused exclusively on the three New York teams. I get that they were great, but did the 1950s really have no other good teams or great players? No mention of those Braves teams? No Go-Go Sox? No hint that baseball was played outside NY for an entire decade? Really?

-As others have mentioned, in discussing the 1960 World Series, the narrative is framed exclusively from the Yankee perspective. Burns apparently could not dig up a single Pirates fan to talk about how it was the greatest moment of his/her whole life. Instead, the replay of Mazeroski's home run is followed by the endless lamentations of the NY talking heads. Super annoying and not a little bit offensive.

-The same thing happens in the 10th inning. The 1996 Series is discussed game-by- game (a level of in depth treatment it hardly deserves on its own merits especially given that the `91 series, one of the greatest ever, is not even mentioned- but since it was the Yankees first series in 15 years, it must be super-important), and in the end depicted as a great triumph because the Yankees won. The 2001 series is given the same game-by-game treatment (though this time more deserving given the drama/heroics involved) and in the end depicted as a great tragedy because the Yankees lost. This bias is a persistent and very noticeable pattern.

-Speaking of which, after about 1920, the only World Series' given game-by-game treatments at all are those featuring NY teams. If memory serves only the 1967 Red Sox/Cardinals series and the 1975 Red Sox/Reds series got any sort of in-depth coverage without featuring a NY team.

I'll stop there. The history of baseball overflows with great players, great pennant races and great teams. I get that you can't feature everything and stuff has to be left out, but I really feel like Burns could have cut the panegyrics to the NY teams in half, they still would have dominated the show, but there would have been plenty of time to feature, you know, everyone else.

All that said, the treatment of Negro Leagues is excellent and the early innings are very very good. If you're a fan of baseball, this documentary is inescapable for better or worse. If you're a fan of NY baseball this documentary will make you explode with joy. Like I say, it's a history of baseball from an exclusively New York perspective.

First off, I'll go ahead and say it's my fault for buying this and the "10th Inning" DVD separately.

I heard about the new Ken Burn's documentary so I came to Amazon looking for it. I put it in my cart and saw the usual list of items frequently purchased together with it. That's when I saw the original documentary was being released on DVD.

I didn't see anywhere in the description of the Ken Burns' Baseball set that "10th Inning" was included. Imagine my surprise when I opened the shipment and saw in the lower right corner of the box that the set did indeed included "10th Inning" as well as additional footage.

I came back to Amazon to see if I'd missed it, but after reading the description I still don't see "10th Inning" mentioned. (At the time of this posting.)

However, if I look at the image, and click on it to enlarge, there it is. The notice that "10th Inning" is included in the set.

So my mistake for not noticing and checking out that little red blurb in the corner before buying both items. (After all, they ARE frequently purchased together. The Amazon algorithm can't be wrong. Apparently I'm not the only one making this mistake, but I'm here to try to help others from making it.)

This is posted primarily as a head's up to those who haven't purchased either documentary yet.

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