This fall, Ken Burns’s two-part documentary, The Tenth Inning, will premiere on THIRTEEN on Tuesday, September 28 at 8 p.m. and WLIW21 Tuesday, September 28 at 10 p.m. The film will pick up where the landmark 1994 series BASEBALL left off, and will include baseball history from the 1990s through the present day. THIRTEEN and WLIW21 will also air Baseball: A New York Love Story, a collection of baseball memories and stories submitted to us from New York tri-state area viewers and members like you.
The Tenth Inning
A FILM BY KEN BURNS & LYNN NOVICK
Thousands of bats, three home run records and one “curse” have been broken since Ken Burns last explored the history of America’s national pastime with his landmark 1994 PBS series BASEBALL. Now, Burns and co-director Lynn Novick update the series with THE TENTH INNING. Beginning with a crippling strike that alienated millions of fans and brought the game to the brink, this new film tells the tumultuous story of our national pastime up to the present. It celebrates baseball’s new Golden Age – an era of unprecedented home run totals, popularity and prosperity – and sheds light on one of the game’s darkest chapters – the steroid era. The two-part, four-hour film examines the compelling stories of Joe Torre, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Pedro Martinez, Ichiro Suzuki, Cal Ripken Jr. and Barry Bonds and features insightful commentary from an eclectic lineup of writers, broadcasters, fans and all-stars.
Baseball: A New York Love Story
WNET.ORG will broadcast a multi-part series, Baseball: A New York Love Story beginning Sunday, September 26 at 10:30 p.m. on THIRTEEN, and on WLIW21 on Monday, September 27 at midnight. The series will be hosted by sportscaster Bob Costas.
Baseball: A New York Love Storyis a production of Creative News Group (CNG) for WNET.ORG, one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers.
This summer, WNET.ORG asked viewers to share their favorite baseball memories. The series producers then interviewed dozens of fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants and of the Yankees and Mets who had written or called in. The broadcast, commissioned to run alongside Ken Burns’s The Tenth Inning, will cover more than 60 years dating from Jackie Robinson’s debut in 1947 through the Yankees 27th world championship in 2009. The film includes stories, sometimes humorous, sometimes bittersweet, about the game’s impact on New Yorkers throughout the years.
Unlike other broadcasts, which tell the story team-by-team or era-by-era, Baseball: A New York Love Story takes a thematic approach to the games and the fans’ recollections. For instance, the series will begin with an episode called, “Brushes with History,” and will include stories from fans who wandered into or somehow became part of New York baseball history. Another episode titled “Learning to Love, Loving to Hate,” explores the joy fans, fathers and sons and brothers and sisters all take rooting against one another. Notables interviewed include: Joan Hodges (widow of Gil Hodges) and Gil Hodges, Jr., radio personality Mike Francesa, writer Roger Kahn, former Dodger Joe Pignatano, and award-winning actor Peter Riegert.
The show’s producers were assisted by students attending the Macaulay Honors College program at the City University of New York (CUNY).
Producers are Marc Rosenwasser and Ivette Feliciano. Director of Photography is Daniel Cowen. Editor is Elyse Kaftan. Associate Producers are Daniel Allen and Dorothy Pacella. Researchers are Ian Bloomfield and Lori Rothenbucher. Production Assistants are Christine Berrios, Sam Hasty, Irene O’Hare and Brian Taylor. Graphic Designer is David Chomowicz. Production Managers are Jerry Godfrey and Jennifer Rowe.
