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Baseball Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
11 Episodes 1994 - 2010
Episode 1
Our Game
Sun, Sep 18, 1994112 mins
Contrary to popular myth, Abner Doubleday did not sit down one afternoon in 1839 and write down the rules of baseball. The game evolved over many years and had its origins in cricket, rounders and town ball. The first game of baseball as we know took place in 1846 at Elysian Fields in New Jersey, just across the river from Manhattan when the New York Knickerbockers played a game. The Civil War had a major impact making it a workingman's game whereas previously, it was reserved for gentlemen. Baseball soon became big business when powerful men such as A.G. Spalding became involved. The National League was formed, soon followed by the upstart American League that sold alcohol and attracted more working class supporters. Negroes were not allowed to play in either league after 1890 and formed their own teams.
Episode 2
Something Like a War
Mon, Sep 19, 1994103 mins
This second episode in the series covers the years 1900-10. The new century was a time of great change in the United States and around the world. Baseball was in decline generally but the creation of the American League by Bam Johnson in 1896 presents the first real competition to the older and well-established National League. The new league was an immediate success and established themselves in cities that had been abandoned by the National League. The National League owners did their best to obstruct the upstarts but in the end had to admit that their play was on a par with the older established circuit. This led to the first World Series in 1903 between the Boston Pilgrims and the Pittsburgh Pirates, which Boston won (there was no World Series in 1904 because of NY Giants manager John McGraw's antipathy towards Johnson and the American League, a decision that cost the players dearly). The stars of the day shone: Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Christie Mathewson and many others. African Americans were still excluded from either league but played baseball on barnstorming teams across the USA.
Episode 3
The Faith of Fifty Million People
Tue, Sep 20, 1994117 mins
The third episode of the series covers the period 1910-20. In this decade, the game went from it's zenith in popularity to the depths of betrayal and fan disillusionment. Ty Cobb dominated the game but was hated by virtually everyone in baseball, including his own teammates. He was racist and brutal, once beating up a handicapped fan who was heckling him. After another similar incident, American League President Bam Johnson suspended him indefinitely. He also became baseball's richest player thanks to a wise investment in a company called Coca Cola. The first Latin Americans, Cubans, were signed to play ball but African Americans were still barred. It was also a time when some of the great baseball fields were built, including Fenway Park in 1912 and Ebbets Field in Brooklyn in 1913. Players were concerned about their own situation vis-a-vis the owners - the reserve clause and the lack of pensions or other benefits led them to create a players fraternity. It was the new Federal League however, with 8 teams that lured 81 players from the established leagues, that provided an alternative. Salaries for the stars of the National and American Leagues went up but when the Federal League collapsed after two seasons, baseball salaries dropped almost immediately. Then came what is still the greatest scandal in the history of baseball: the Black Sox. In 1919, eight members of the Chicago White Sox accepted bribes from gambler Arnold Rothstein to throw the World Series. When the news came out the following year, the scandal led to the creation of the Commissioner and the appointment of Federal Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. All eight of the Black Sox were banned from baseball for life.
Episode 4
A National Heirloom
Wed, Sep 21, 1994114 mins
Baseball in the 1920's can be described in two words: Babe Ruth. George Herman "Babe" Ruth dominated the game in almost every respect. An accomplished pitcher, he was also the greatest batter the game had seen up to that time eventually moving to the outfield so he could play every day. Ruth spent most of his youth in a reformatory, his parents having had him declared incorrigible. He shone in the school's baseball team and was signed by the minor league Baltimore Orioles but was soon sold to the Boston Red Sox. It was a black day when they traded him to the New York Yankees and they would not play in a world series again for 25 years. Babe's conduct both on and off the field became a major issue and he was suspended at one point for 39 games by the Commissioner for refusing a direct order to stop barnstorming in the off season. His off field behavior offended a great many people but he was oblivious to it all. Christy Mathewson, to many the greatest pitcher of his generation, died never having fully recovered from the poison gas he inhaled in World War I. It was also the decade that saw the formation of eight team Negro National League.
Episode 5
Shadow Ball
Thu, Sep 22, 1994122 mins
In the period 1930-40, the Depression had a major impact on the game of baseball. Many teams were nearing bankruptcy with attendance dwindling and fan interest at its lowest ebb. The owners introduced many innovations in an attempt to revive interest and attendance including the All Star game. Night games were introduced in 1935 and the Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown in 1939 on the mythical 100th anniversary of creation of the game. The sport still provided its heroes however. Babe Ruth was larger than life and in 1930 signed an $80,000 a year contract; his teammate Lou Gehrig had become the best hitter in the AL. Barnstorming black teams played white teams regularly and had an entertaining pre-game warm-up routine dubbed shadow ball. The Negro leagues came into its own and drew huge crowds. It had its own stars such as Satchel Paige, one of the greatest pitchers in all of baseball, and catcher Josh Gibson it's greatest hitter. By the end of the decade, the Babe's career was over, Gehrig had retired due to ALS and professional baseball was still segregated.
Episode 6
The National Pastime
Sun, Sep 25, 1994148 mins
The 1940s was a decade of huge change in America and in baseball. In the 1941 season, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hit .406 and Joe DiMaggio had his record-setting 56 game hitting streak. The Brooklyn Dodgers went from being perennial losers to actually winning the NL pennant. With the belated entry of the US into World War II many veterans enlisted, including Bob Feller, Ted Williams, Hank Greenberg, and Joe DiMaggio. In all, 340 major leaguers and over 3000 minor leaguers enlisted. With women entering the workforce in record numbers, it seemed only natural that they too would play professional baseball and the AAGPBL, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, was formed in 1943. The biggest change however, came with the breaking of the color barrier. Over the years, several owners had wanted to sign African-Americans but Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis flatly refused. On his death however, the new Commissioner Happy Chandler, showed himself far more open to the idea. Brooklyn Dodgers manager Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson in 1945 and changed the game forever. The end of the decade also saw the death of a legend: Babe Ruth died in 1948 after a two year battle with cancer.
Episode 7
The Capital of Baseball
Mon, Sep 26, 1994132 mins
The episode covers the 1950s and deals with several key events and issues: the dominance of the Yankees, the continuing integration of the game and the move to the West Coast of the Dodgers and Giants. The Yankees dominate baseball in the 1950s, winning 9 American League pennants and the World Series 5 times. For their rivals, particularly the Brooklyn Dodgers, every season proved to be a case of 'wait until next year'. The Dodgers year finally came in 1955 but with dwindling attendance, both the Dodgers and the NY Giants announce a few years later that they are moving to the West Coast. Integration of the game continued throughout this period but as one observer notes, the democratization of the game meant the end of the Negro leagues, at one time the largest Black-owned business in America.
Episode 8
A Whole New Ballgame
Tue, Sep 27, 1994114 mins
The 1960s are a turbulent decade for America. There are race riots, anti-war protests, hippies, Woodstock. It is also a turbulent decade for baseball, as one by one its "sacred" institutions fall.
Episode 9
Home
Wed, Sep 28, 1994146 mins
America and the world are seeing more changes than at any time in history. And so is baseball.
Episode 10
The Tenth Inning: Top of the Tenth
Tue, Sep 28, 2010118 mins
This latest entry covers the period from the early 1990's onward. Labor relations deteriorated badly in the early part of that decade leading to the players strike in August 1994. The Montreal Expos were the best team in baseball at the time but when a Federal judge blocked the owners from unilaterally imposing a contract (which would have let them use replacement players) it quickly came to an end and the players returned to work under the old contract. Attendance dropped after that but the game recovered quickly with the heroics of Cal Ripkin Jr. By the end of 1990's, fans were caught up in the home run derby presented by Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. There was also the first whiff of scandal when McGwire was accused of using steroids. It was also an era when new baseball stadiums were built in many cities, evoking an earlier age when the parks were built specifically for the sport. The curse of the Bambino finally came to an end with the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series in 2004. Barry Bonds broke McGwire's three year-old season home-run record and later Hank Aaron's HR record. The issue of drug use eventually led to Congressional hearings after the BALCO scandal and the Mitchell Report, which named many stars as having used performance enhancing drugs. This inning is dedicated to the late, great Buck O'Neil.
Episode 11
The Tenth Inning: Bottom of the Tenth
Wed, Sep 29, 2010125 mins
As the new millenium dawns, Baseball is more popular and profitable than ever, but suspicions and revelations about performance enhancing drugs keep surfacing, calling the integrity of the game itself into question.