# Baseball (1994)

> A nine-part PBS documentary tracing the history of American baseball through archival footage and the recollections of players, writers, and historians.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/17754

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 9
- Episode runtime: 103 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: documentary
- Network: PBS
- Cast: John Chancellor, Mickey Mantle, George Plimpton, Bob Costas, John Sayles, Hank Aaron, Gerald Early, Daniel Okrent
- TMDB rating: 9.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108700/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: none
- Tone: nostalgic, reflective, contemplative, warm, elegiac

## What critics say

Reviewers broadly admire the archival richness and expansive storytelling of this Ken Burns documentary, though some find its social framing uneven.

## Synopsis

Baseball is an American public television documentary miniseries created for PBS, presented as a nine-episode history of the national pastime. Narrated by John Chancellor, it moves through the game's eras using archival photographs, newsreel and film footage, and on-camera reflections from players, broadcasters, writers, and historians. Former players and commentators recall their own experiences of the sport, while historians offer cultural analysis. The series is less a single storyline than a sequence of chapters, each exploring how the game shaped and was shaped by American life, from its early days through segregation, the integration of the leagues, and the rise of broadcasting. Each episode is a long-form essay built from memory and archive, giving the viewing experience a measured, contemplative pace. Its tone is warm and elegiac, with nostalgia for ballparks, box scores, and radio voices balanced against sober reckoning with racism and economic change. Viewers who appreciate patient archival documentaries about American culture, and those drawn to social history told through sport, will find it deeply absorbing.

## Shows like Baseball

- [American Experience (1988)](https://ember.film/tv/1112)
- [The Last Dance (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/68437)
- [American Masters (1986)](https://ember.film/tv/14049)
- [A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995)](https://ember.film/tv/116175)
- [The West (1996)](https://ember.film/tv/28324)
- [The War (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/29234)
- [The Civil War (1990)](https://ember.film/tv/8991)
- [The Movies (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/76977)
- [Lewis & Clark - The Journey of the Corps of Discovery (1997)](https://ember.film/tv/39555)
- [The Roosevelts: An Intimate History (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/57967)

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