Baseball: A Film By Ken Burns

Following up a masterpiece is never easy, but 18 hours and a century of history made a strong case. After the national success of "The Civil War," his 11-hour epic and the highest-rated miniseries in public-television history, many wondered whether Ken Burns could bring the same energy and passion to smaller subjects. His answer was "Baseball," an 18-hour history of America's greatest sport that not only quieted those worries but may have surpassed his earlier achievement. It's massive in scope, covering more than 100 years, and exhaustive in detail, featuring celebrities, journalists, politicians, historians and the men who played the game. Burns's romantic love letter to baseball pulls off the impossible: even people who hate the sport can't help getting immersed in it. That's because he doesn't stop at great players and memorable games. He presents baseball as a cultural and social mirror, reflecting both the beauty and the hypocrisy of the nation that created it. Divided into nine innings of about two hours each, the series takes on complex issues including segregation, racial inequality, labor battles between owners and players, politics, technology and gender conflicts. Its section on Jackie Robinson, who broke the modern major leagues' color barrier, should be required viewing in every school. Then there's the fascinating footage and biographies of the players themselves: troubled icons like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, heroes like Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, and tragic figures like Pete Rose and Lou Gehrig. Despite a rocky and often hypocritical history, these are the men who built baseball's tradition and kept its aura of invincibility intact. You don't have to love the game to appreciate what they left behind.