10 Innings, 10 Drafts (one Inning Drafted & played at a time)
1st Inning – “Our Game” (1885-1899)
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WORLD SERIES CHAMPION jbohrman's "Jockos Pops and a Ginger"
Play Ball ! How Baseball began and evolved in America in the1800's. Spread Across America through the Civil War- a Yankee soldier outfielder was once captured while chasing down a fly ball. Everyone in America seemed to catch Baseball Fever and it really became OUR Game. From high society clubs teams in New York plyaing in expensive taiolred uniforms, to local mill and factory teams in almost every town in America playing in homesown ones. Great ball players hit the American landscape to become heroes the likes of Pete Browning, Hugh Duffy, Joe Kelley, Billy Hamilton, Ed Delahanty, King Kelly, Hughie Jennings, Jesse Burkett, Sam Thompson and Tip O'Neil.
2nd Inning – “Something Like A War” (1900-1909)
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WORLD SERIES CHAMPION schwarze's "Field of Dreams"
This inning includes the formation of the American League and its integration with the National League, culminating in the establishment of the World Series, as well as the emergence of the game's first great star, Christy Mathewson, which helps to clean up baseball's image as a rowdy, brawling game. Ty Cobb is discussed in depth (the title of this inning comes from one of his many quotes).
3rd Inning – “The Faith of Fifty Million People” (1910-1919)
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WORLD SERIES CHAMPION dcmatcheck's "Good hitting; Krapp pitching"
This inning covers approximately 1910 to 1920, and follows baseball as it goes through its greatest era of popularity yet. It heavily focuses on the Black Sox Scandal, taking its title from a line in the novel The Great Gatsby. The line refers to how easy it was for gamblers to tamper with the faith that people put in the game's fairness.
4th Inning – “A National Heirloom” (1920-1929)
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WORLD SERIES CHAMPION schwarze's "Dazzy, Curly, Muddy & Fresco"
This inning covers approximately 1920 to 1929, and focuses on baseball's recovery from the Black Sox Scandal, giving much of the credit to the increase in power hitting throughout the game, led by its savior Babe Ruth. The title comes from what sports writers called Ruth.
Ken Burns 5th Inning * - “The National Pastime” (1930-1944)
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WORLD SERIES CHAMPION ybjsports "Philadelphia 9"
This modified inning from the original series covers the Negro Leagues and the great players who were excluded from playing in the Major Leagues. Organized Baseball gave Americans hope & distraction during Great Depression, as well as the sad decline of its most iconic star, Babe Ruth & emergence of new heroes like Feller, Greenberg, DiMaggio & Ted Williams, many of whose careers were put on hold to serve in WWII.
6th Inning – “The Capitol of Baseball” (1945-1959)
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WORLD SERIES CHAMPION rchisolm's "Trainwreck"
This modified inning from the original series will cover 1945 to 1959. Emphasis on baseball finally becoming what it had always purported to be: A national game. African-Americans are finally permitted for good into Major League Baseball, led by Jackie Robinson. This inning also looks at how the game was influenced as a result of World War II and how the game became, more than ever, a symbol of America itself. Burns emphasizes the greatness of the three teams based in New York (the New York Yankees, the New York Giants, and Brooklyn Dodgers). This inning also covers one of baseball's golden eras and how America's own changes, such as leaving the crowded cites for suburbia and teams moving to the west coast.
7th Inning – “A Whole New Ballgame” (1960-1969)
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WORLD SERIES CHAMPION jbohrman's "Buncha Damn Hippies"
This inning covers approximately 1961 - 1969. As the nation underwent turbulent changes, baseball was not immune, as Babe Ruth's beloved record of 60 home runs in a season is threatened by a sullen and complicated player, Roger Maris, and for the first time in decades, pitchers, led by stars Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson, dominate the game. The loss of home run power and betrayal to the game's past, combined with the meteoric rise of football, cause many to turn their back on baseball. Expansion and labor are major topics in this inning.
8th Inning – “Free Agency & the Designated Hitter” (1970-1979)
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WORLD SERIES CHAMPION jbmagnan's "Disco Demolition"
This inning covers approximately 1970 to 1979. While baseball survived the 1960s, the changes were not over, and in some ways its most bitter conflicts were just beginning. Major topics include the incarnation of the Designated hitter in 1973, formation of the players' union, the owners' collusion, free agency, and drug, as well as gambling scandals. However, the game manages to win back the hearts of many with such moments as the excitement of the 1975 World Series and the return of the New York Yankees to dominance.
9th Inning – “Home” (1980-1993)
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The original documentary ends with an ironic boast that baseball (and indirectly the World Series) had survived wars, depressions, pandemics, and numbers of scandals and thus could never be stopped. Ironically, the 1994 World Series, the series to be played the year the film first aired on PBS, was cancelled due to a players' strike. This marked the first time since 1904 that the World Series was not played.
10th Inning- “Extra Innings” (1994 - present)
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Ken Burns added a 10th Inning that first aired in September 2010. Though some Baseball fans were turned off to the game after the strike of 1994, and others in the wake of the rampant abuse of steroids and other PED’s that and ensuing drug testing crackdown- much like the Black Sox scandal, the love of the game keeps most loyal fans as Baseball survives and thrives to come out the other side almost as simple and perfect a game as it was 150 years ago…
5/12/2016 8:26 PM (edited)