Baseball: Eighth Inning 'A Whole New Ballgame' (1994)
**** (out of 4)
The next to last entry in Ken Burns' terrific series takes a look at the years between 1960 and 1969. Topics covered in this entry include Ebbets Field being torn down, Mazeroski's home run to win the World Series, Casey Stengal being fired from the Yankees (and later hired by the Mets), Ty Cobb's death, Mantle and Maris chase Babe Ruth, the New York Mets enter the game, the Civil Rights movement, Branch Rickey dies, Houston gets the Harris County Dome and fake grass and the 1969 Miracle Mets. We also take a look at players including Bob Gibson, Pete Rose, Choo Choo Coleman, Stan Musial and Sandy Koufax. This is yet another great look at the sport and like the previous couple entries, this one here gets to benefit from a lot of video footage being available so some of the most memorable moments of the decade are thankfully available to see. This is probably the least interesting episode in the series but it's funny because one of the topics was that the sport was losing so much popularity during the decade. This leads to an interesting debate about the growing popularity of football and the impact this had on the sport. Some of the "reasons" given about baseball being so much better are the same ones given today, a time when football is bigger than ever. Fans of the sport are going to enjoy hearing all the stories and seeing the video. Those new to the sport will have a great time learning about it as there's no question this is a great way to get an education on the subject.
**** (out of 4)
The next to last entry in Ken Burns' terrific series takes a look at the years between 1960 and 1969. Topics covered in this entry include Ebbets Field being torn down, Mazeroski's home run to win the World Series, Casey Stengal being fired from the Yankees (and later hired by the Mets), Ty Cobb's death, Mantle and Maris chase Babe Ruth, the New York Mets enter the game, the Civil Rights movement, Branch Rickey dies, Houston gets the Harris County Dome and fake grass and the 1969 Miracle Mets. We also take a look at players including Bob Gibson, Pete Rose, Choo Choo Coleman, Stan Musial and Sandy Koufax. This is yet another great look at the sport and like the previous couple entries, this one here gets to benefit from a lot of video footage being available so some of the most memorable moments of the decade are thankfully available to see. This is probably the least interesting episode in the series but it's funny because one of the topics was that the sport was losing so much popularity during the decade. This leads to an interesting debate about the growing popularity of football and the impact this had on the sport. Some of the "reasons" given about baseball being so much better are the same ones given today, a time when football is bigger than ever. Fans of the sport are going to enjoy hearing all the stories and seeing the video. Those new to the sport will have a great time learning about it as there's no question this is a great way to get an education on the subject.