BASEBALL: FIRST INNING: OUR GAME (TV)

Summary

Part one of this nine-part documentary series by filmmaker Ken Burns about the history of baseball in America, narrated by John Chancellor. Each part or "inning" represents an era of the sport's history. The story is told through archival photos and film footage, as well as the words of those who contributed to the game as read by various actors and writers. A select group of writers, historians, players, baseball personnel, and fans offer opinions on specific events and the significance of the game in America's history. The first inning, entitled "Our Game," is divided into fifteen subtitled segments and focuses on baseball as it evolved from its eighteenth-century roots to the professional leagues of the late nineteenth century. Particular attention is paid to the development of the rules, the formation of professional leagues, the game's early heroes, labor disputes, gambling scandals, and the racial segregation of black players from the major league ranks. The first subtitled segment, "Our Game," offers a revisionist history of the game's origin which debunks the long-held belief that army officer Abner Doubleday invented it while stationed in Cooperstown, NY; examines the eighteenth-century popularity in the northeastern U.S. of a game called "townball" which was a hybrid of the British games rounders and cricket; and includes comments by journalist Charley McDowell. "Elysian Fields" explains how the New York Knickerbocker baseball club and one of its organizers, Alexander Joy Cartwright, helped codify the sport's rules, modernizing the game; depicts the first real baseball game in history, a June 19, 1846 contest between the Knickerbockers and a group of cricket players at Elysian Fields in Hoboken, NJ; and includes comments by writer Roger Angell on baseball's urban roots, and legendary Negro League player Buck O'Neil on the positive effects of baseball on spectators. "A People's Game" focuses on baseball writer Henry Chadwick, who championed the sport in his 1850s column in the New York Clipper, establishing the first comparative statistics of the players; explains how the Civil War proved to be a boon for baseball's popularity; and includes comments by editor Daniel Okrent on baseball statistics and New York Governor Mario Cuomo on the nature of "justice" in baseball. "Division of Feeling" recalls the early rejection facing black teams who wanted to join white baseball leagues; describes the public's resistance to women playing the sport on college campuses in the 1860s; re-enacts William "Candy" Cummings' development of the curveball; and includes comments by sportswriter Thomas Boswell on cheating in baseball. "Baseball is Business Now" focuses on Harry Wright's Cincinnati Red Stockings, who became the first professional team in baseball history. "The National League" explores how gambling and greed provoked the owners' formation of the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs in 1876; and examines the National League's "reserve clause" which rendered the players financially powerless. "I Am Dumb, Harry" recalls the Louisville Grays gambling scandal of 1877. "Bottom of the First" has writer George Plimpton rhapsodizing on baseball's unique sounds. "The Wahoos" examines the survival of the amateur spirit of baseball in small towns; features Sam Crawford's written words recalling the nature of playing for a Nebraska barnstorming team; and includes comments by historian John Thorn on the importance of maintaining a "sense of play" as adults. "The Baseball Messiah" depicts the 1882 formation of the American Baseball Association, a rougher second league of midwestern professional baseball teams known as the "beer and whiskey league"; recounts how former pitcher Albert Goodwill Spalding became National League President and created a sporting goods empire; and describes Spalding's 1888 world tour of baseball. "Heroes" recalls the nascency of baseball cards; the first "Louisville Slugger" bats; and early heroes Roger Connor, Pete Browning, Cy Young, Mike "King" Kelly, and Cap Anson. "My Skin is Against Me" remembers the prejudice faced by the more than fifty blacks who played in the white major leagues in the 1870s and 1880s, including Moses Fleetwood Walker; the late 1880s' "gentleman's agreement" among owners no longer to hire blacks; and the birth of Branch Rickey. "Dog Eat Dog" focuses on player John Montgomery Ward's attempt to organize a player's labor union, the Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players League; recounts their subsequent formation of a third league and their eventual defeat at the hands of Spalding and the National League; and concludes with writer Shelby Foote describing being a poor loser as "very American." "The Toughest of the Tough" recalls the domination of the game late in the century by the Boston Beaneaters and the Baltimore Orioles, who played the "inside game," a faster, tougher, more strategic game pioneered by players like "Wee" Willie Keeler and John McGraw; presents a biographical portrait of McGraw; and includes editor Daniel Okrent's description of the unrefined men who played the game during the era. "The Little Boy's Game" has writer Robert Creamer recalling his discovery that his grandfather had been a professional ballplayer; actor Billy Crystal ruminating about the American quality of the sport; broadcaster Bob Costas describing the lifelong interest in the sport that many fans have; and concludes with the decline of the sport's popularity in the final years of the nineteenth century. (This program is closed-captioned.)

Acquisition and cataloging of this program was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Details

• NETWORK: PBS WNET New York, NY
• DATE: September 18, 1994 Sunday 8:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:54:06
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T:34322
• GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
• SUBJECT HEADING: Baseball; Blacks - Sports; Gambling; Sports; African-American Collection - News/Talk; African-American Collection - Sports
• SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1994
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Ken Burns … Executive Producer, Producer, Director, Writer
• Bruce Alfred … Coordinating Producer, Archival Film Research
• Mike Hill … Coordinating Producer
• Lynn Novick … Producer
• David Schaye … Associate Producer
• Susanna Steisel … Associate Producer
• Stephen Ives … Consulting Producer
• Geoffrey C. Ward … Writer
• Dodworth Saxhorn Band … Music Group
• Naomi Gertz … Singer
• George Rabbai … Instrumentalist, Trumpet player
• Jaqueline Schwab … Instrumentalist, Pianist
• Jay Ungar … Instrumentalist
• Matt Glaser … Instrumentalist
• Molly Mason … Instrumentalist
• Jesse Carr … Instrumentalist
• Bobby Horton … Instrumentalist, Music (Misc. Credits), Studio Arrangements
• Paul Mayberry … Music (Misc. Credits), Arranger
• John Chancellor … Narrator
• Charley McDowell … Voice, Guest
• George Plimpton … Voice, Guest
• Adam Arkin … Voice
• Philip Bosco … Voice
• Keith Carradine … Voice
• David Caruso … Voice
• Wendy Conquest … Voice
• John Cusack … Voice
• Ossie Davis … Voice
• Loren Dean … Voice
• Julie Harris … Voice
• Anthony Hopkins … Voice
• Derek Jacobi … Voice
• Gene Jones … Voice
• Garrison Keillor … Voice
• Delroy Lindo … Voice
• Stephen Land … Voice
• Amy Madigan … Voice
• Arthur Miller … Voice
• Gregory Peck … Voice
• Robards, Jason (See also: Robards, Jason, Jr.) … Voice
• Paul Roebling … Voice
• John Turturro … Voice
• Studs Terkel … Voice
• Eli Wallach … Voice
• Tom Wicker … Voice
• Bob Costas … Guest
• John Thorn … Guest
• Robert Creamer … Guest
• Billy Crystal … Guest
• Roger Angell … Guest
• Buck O'Neil … Guest
• Mario M. Cuomo … Guest
• Daniel Okrent … Guest
• Thomas Boswell … Guest
• Shelby Foote … Guest
• Anson, Cap (Constantine Adrian Anson)
• Pete Browning
• Alexander Joy Cartwright
• Henry Chadwick
• Roger Connor
• Sam Crawford
• William Cummings
• Abner Doubleday
• William A. Holbert
• Keeler, "Wee" Willie
• Mike Kelly
• John McGraw
• Branch Rickey
• Albert Goodwill Spalding
• Moses Fleetwood Walker
• John Montgomery Ward
• Harry Wright
• Young, Cy (Denton T. Young)