The Tenth Inning: Top of the Tenth

There are so many things covered here again. The centerpoint has to do with the owners versus the players and the strike that almost destroyed any love people have for the game. I'd forgotten how angry the country became when millionaires were fighting against billionaires. Up until the strike there were several incredible things happening in the league, including a potential .400 hitter, but the strike ended it and even the World Series was cancelled. When people came back, many of them booed their own players. Then a feature on one of the most incredible players of all time. It's interesting that Cal Ripken, Jr., who broke Gehrig's record, was also an incredible gentlemen. I was never a Baltimore fan but I was a Ripken fan because he was the adult who deported himself and brought back class to the game. It took a while but the game started to gain momentum again. Soon the home run became the center of attention and the likes of McGwire, Sosa, Griffey, Jr., Bonds, and Canseco were pounding them out like crazy. Why were they able to suddenly increase their production. Well.......enough said. This is quite the episode.

Keith David's narration makes the expanded Ken Burns Baseball installments less enjoyable than the 9 episodes before. David is always the jerk from the Oscar-winning film Crash (2005) to me. His voice as narrator on The War and other Burns films is therefore a mistake.

Baseball: The Tenth Inning 'Top of the Tenth' (2010)

**** (out of 4)

Sixteen years after his mammoth, nine episode look at the sport, director Ken Burns released another two parts taking a look at the events that followed the last episode. Topics covered include Barry and Bobby Bonds, the Pittsburg versus Atlanta Game 7 play at the plate, Albert Belle caught cheating, Ken Griffey, Jr., steroids, the '94 Montreal Expos, the end of the '94 series, Joe Torre taking the Yankees to the World Series, the Braves triple threat pitchers, Latin players and we end with a look at the McGuire/Sosa chase for Roger Maris' home run record. I think it's fair to say that this episode doesn't contain the same type of magic as the first series but that doesn't mean this is a bad movie or anything close. THE TENTH INNING is an excellent documentary that once again truly captures the mood and spirit of the events it shows but at the same time, perhaps because the stuff is just so recent, it doesn't strike the same feel as the earlier films. With that said, baseball fans and history buffs will still enjoy the topics covered here. Credit has to go to Burns for taking such recent material and being able to make it interesting. This is especially true when it came time to discuss the legendary home run chase as the filmmaker perfectly captures the spirit in the country and how a hot topic it was back in the day. We also get a good look at the 1994 strike and the following year's hot topic of Cal Ripken breaking the games played streak. The one benefit of more recent stuff is that everything is on video in full glory for us to re-watch.

Over the last two decades, the game of baseball has undergone some watershed moments, from the expansion era of the late 90s, to the steroid era, to the '04 Red Sox and beyond. Once again, filmographer Ken Burns is here to recap the key moments.

What I like about this add-on to the original "Baseball" film series is the memories it stirs up. Sure, it is biased towards the East Coast, but let's face it: so many of the seminal moments we all remember involve the Yankees, Red Sox, or other high-profile teams. As a Minnesota Twins fan myself, I can freely admit this is the case, and still enjoyed this entire documentary immensely. I relived the early days of the Yankee dynasty, that emotionally charged '01 World Series, the tragedies of the Steroid Era, and the pure spectacle of the '04 postseason (as well as much more).

About the only thing that keeps this extension from drawing a five-star review is the change in tone of Burns from the original. Instead of sounding like the impartial observer, Burns amps up the "preachiness" a little bit, really skewering steroid usage, and Barry Bonds in general. I'm not saying he's wrong...I believe the exact same sort of things that he does. But, I feel he lost a bit of impartiality and got just a little preachy at times.

All in all, though, this is a worthy continuation of perhaps the greatest documentary series ever made. Buy it separately, or buy it packaged as a whole...you won't be disappointed!