Rating: 
Summary: Adding depth and detail to the PBS documentary "Baseball"
Review: "Baseball: An Illustrated History" is the companion volume to Ken Burns' PBS documentary. The narrative, written by Geoffrey C. Ward, is based on the documentary filmscript by Ward and Burns. What this means in practical terms is that everything you hear and a lot of what you see in the celebrated series is in this book, plus a lot more. Each chapter/inning ends with an essay, such as Bill James on "Stats," Doris Kearns Goodwin on being a "Fan," George F. Will on "Fifties Baseball" and Gerald Early on "Baseball and African American Life." There is also an interview with Buck O'Neil, who emerged from "Baseball" as the game's greatest living good will ambassador. What you will appreciate the most are the little touches: when talking about the dominance of the Yankees in the 1950's we get a full page of choice quotes presenting "The Wisdom of Casey Stengel...and Yogi Berra." There are ads featuring Babe Ruth, pictures of old tobacco cards, the complete "Casey at the Bat," and dozens of other little gems sprinkled throughout the book. As opening day approaches each year my annual rite of spring is to watch "Baseball," and I always take out this companion volume and leaf through it as I watch a century of baseball history. This volume can stand on its own, which might be the single best testament to how good of a baseball book it happens to be.
Rating: 
Summary: The Flaws Stick Out Too Much
Review: "Baseball" had the misfortune to come out at a time when I wanted nothing to do with baseball, the 1994 strike and the cancellation of the World Series. It took me a couple years to finally get around to watching the series, and I can not believe how Ken Burns botched a golden opportunity to tell the story properly.To be sure, there are many commendable segments. But there are also too many sore thumbs that stick out too much. Let's start with the political bias that permeates this series, just in terms of the talking heads (Gould, Goodwin, Terkel) and then we are subjected to reams of stuff about Mario Cuomo's forgettable minor league career. It just so happens that there are two members of Congress, both U.S. Senators, with stronger connections to the game than Mario Cuomo. One is Jim Bunning, a Hall of Fame pitcher who won 100 games in both leagues and threw a perfect game, the other is Connie Mack, grandson of one of the all time great managers. But both of them alas, happen to be conservative Republicans, which perhaps accounts for why they were deemed less significant than Mario Cuomo. Finally, there is Burns's obsession with depicting players in the best light in their labor struggles all the way up to the present. This is valid in the early days, but to see this go on into the greed-obsessed 80s is where Burns loses me completely. He devotes several minutes to the owners collusion scandal of 1986 to show how terrible the owners are, yet he devotes not one second to the players strikes of 1972, 1981 and 1985 which were far more significant events and raised questions about whether players have abused their privilege of free agency. And another thing to Burns, regarding his obsession with Bill Lee. If you want to make a folk hero out of a talking head, don't bother with one who thinks its noble to wear a hat emblazoned with a CCCP banner.
Rating:
Summary: Adding depth and detail to the PBS documentary "Baseball"
Review: "Baseball: An Illustrated History" is the companion volume to Ken Burns' PBS documentary. The narrative, written by Geoffrey C. Ward, is based on the documentary filmscript by Ward and Burns. What this means in practical terms is that everything you hear and a lot of what you see in the celebrated series is in this book, plus a lot more. Each chapter/inning ends with an essay, such as Bill James on "Stats," Doris Kearns Goodwin on being a "Fan," George F. Will on "Fifties Baseball" and Gerald Early on "Baseball and African American Life." There is also an interview with Buck O'Neil, who emerged from "Baseball" as the game's greatest living good will ambassador. What you will appreciate the most are the little touches: when talking about the dominance of the Yankees in the 1950's we get a full page of choice quotes presenting "The Wisdom of Casey Stengel...and Yogi Berra." There are ads featuring Babe Ruth, pictures of old tobacco cards, the complete "Casey at the Bat," and dozens of other little gems sprinkled throughout the book. As opening day approaches each year my annual rite of spring is to watch "Baseball," and I always take out this companion volume and leaf through it as I watch a century of baseball history. This volume can stand on its own, which might be the single best testament to how good of a baseball book it happens to be.
Rating:
Summary: Ken Burns does not realize his film is hypocritical.
Review: 'Baseball' is yet another mega-documentary by Ken Burns, a filmmaker who thinks he is cracking down on race relations in America. Although there are certain moments that are very powerful, most of the movie is like the game of baseball itself, boring. Burns covers some important moments in the history of the game, but he doesn't realize how hypocritical his movie is.
For example, he exposed many of the racial prejudices that have existed in the game since it began, but he does not spend that much time on black ballplayers. Yes, he does cover the Negro League extensively, but that was still not enough.
First of all, he hardly covers the carrer of Henry Aaron. Aaron has to be one of the most underrated athletes of all time. His 755 home runs is arguably the greatest record in sports by a single player. Burns barely touches on his carrer and focuses mostly on the two seasons when he was chasing Ruth's record. Burns spends almost entire videotapes covering the carrers of Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, and Joe DeMaggio. Yes those players were great and are very influential, but plenty of black players were just as great and influential.
He does the same thing with Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Lou Brock, and a number of other black superstars. He doesn't give them justice, he just does not spend enough time on them.
Certain moments of the film are worth watching, but other parts of just plain bad. Here are some low points. Burns feels the need to play different versions 'The Star-Spangled Banner' and 'Take me out to the ballgame' about 50,000 times throughout this film. He doesn't realize just how annoying those songs get after a while. He treats those two songs like they are sacred songs from some religious text. The most embarrasing moment is the section titled 'The 7th Inning Stretch'. Here a group of semi-famous people try to sing 'Take me out to the ballgame', and they are screwing it up. It is a bad and unnecessary part. Burns also feels the need to show the same photographs and film clips over and over again. I don't know how many times they showed the same photograph of Curt Flood or the same vidoeclip of Ted Williams skipping the bases, but I was ready to shoot the T.V. For crying out loud, man, but find some clips or photographs nobody has seen.
Rating: 
Summary: Very biased and inaccurate portrayal of a great game
Review: (...) I wouldn't exactly call this "unethical," but misleading is definitely true. He does in fact try to portray Jackie Robinson as some Messiah, and he definitely takes advantage of the race factor in selling his product, and it really gets annoying. And Babe Ruth's point toward center field indeed was disproven by the video (which Burns conveniently fails to mention) that clearly showed he was pointing towards the opposition's dugout. It's a well done documentary in terms of making you feel good about baseball. But it's not accurate. Reminds me of the Apollo 13 movie. Well done, entertaining. But very inaccurate (like the carbon dioxide buildup - they made it sound like they had 5 minutes to make their contraption work, when in fact, they had 18 hours). Ken Burns is playing with emotions, rather than accuracy. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Like reading a great novel...
Review: ...it'll take you a little while...18 hours or so...but "Baseball" is a dense, rich experience that evokes a similar sensation. It's the same feeling you get when finishing the last line of a good long book...a sense of satisfaction with a hint of sadness. Baseball has always lent itself to stories and myths, more so than any other sport, and this document offers a ton of 'em. The "talking heads" invited to speak are so rabidly enthusiastic, you can't help but to get carried away. The history of the U.S. is nicely covered as well, revealing the special symbiosis between our country and baseball for the first half of the twentieth century.
This film is endlessly fascinating.
If you're a baseball fan and still haven't seen this, your life is not complete yet. It really isn't.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Story, But Too Narrow in Focus
Review: A great history of baseball. The one flaw: watching only the film, you would think that only New York and Boston had baseball teams.
Rating:
Summary: Top notch sketch of baseball history.
Review: A thorough yet readable account of baseball history compiled in the typical Ken Burns style.
Rating:
Summary: Blockbuster
Review: A tour de force of a book to accompany the PBS video series. This book is one of the best to examine the history of baseball and its impact on America and the American people. Highlights include the coverage of Jackie Robinson and the Negro Legues, particularly the interviews with Buck O'Neil (who should be in Baseball's Hall of Fame). The only disappointment was that it was a bit short on information about Mickey Mantle. Still, this is a major work that belongs on the coffee table of baseball lovers everywhere.
Rating:
Summary: An evocative book that touches the true soul of the game.
Review: Anyone who ever played or watched the game cannot fail to be moved by the rich tapestry of baseball legend that comes to live in the text and especially the illustrations of this book. The essay by Doris Kearn reminiscing about the Brooklyn Dodgers, and tying that into the love for her family is haunting and very beautiful, while Thomas Boswell's reflections on his mother's love for the Washington Senators is moving as well as dryly hilarious. In its essence each player discussed in detail comes to life in poignant detail. A must for anyone who cares deeply for the game.
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