THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409180268
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: REVIEW
SERIES: Baseball
ABOUT THE SERIES
Ken Burns, acclaimed for his 1990 public television series on the
Civil War, now examines the history of baseball - as well as the
history of America - in a nine-part PBS program. The series, which
debuts tonight, looks back at baseball's evolution, from the 1800s to
today.
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
I learned an awful lot about the beginning of baseball in this tape. It told about the game being brought from overseas in the 1700s as a form of cricket, a game called ``base'' being played at Princeton College in 1786, the first pro game in 1846 and how the first pro leagues were formed.
I was most surprised by how widespread baseball was back then. Almost every town had some kind of team. There were teams of doctors, teams of lawyers, teams of guys who owned barber shops.
Baseball was a social event that brought people together and still does today. Since baseball and its statistics haven't changed much, fathers can relate to sons and sons to grandfathers through baseball. It was good to hit
This one showed how baseball really is America's game.
Best scene: When soldiers took time out from the Civil War to play baseball.
Most interesting fact: That 8 million bats were sold in 1878.
Weakest scene: None. Every section held my interest.
Score this one: A double. A lot of good information, but it jumped around too much.
- Compiled by Chic Riebel from an interview with Chuck Green ILLUSTRATION: Photo
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/Staff
Graphic
OUR TEAM OF REVIEWERS (at Harbor Park, from left)
Norbie Wilson, 45, Virginia Beach, head coach, First Colonial
High
Marty Miller, 47, Norfolk, head coach, Norfolk State
Bob McKinney, 30, Portsmouth, scout for Pittsburgh Pirates
Shirley Wright, 45, Chesapeake, mother of minor-leaguer Tim Rose
Charlene Gollihur, 23, Virginia Beach, women's adult baseball
league Ed Nagurney, 63, Virginia Beach, director of sales,
Norfolk Tides
Bud Metheny, 79, Virginia Beach, former New York Yankee and ODU
coach
Chuck Green, 37, Chesapeake, college and high school umpire
Kevin Gibbs, 20, Norfolk, ODU and U.S. national team player
pitcher
Less than a week after the 1994 baseball season was declared history
by a players strike, filmmaker Ken Burns offers his 18 1/2-hour
history of the national pastime. ``Baseball,'' which took more than
four years to make, begins tonight at 8 on WHRO. The Virginian-Pilot
and The Ledger-Star asked a diverse group of nine local baseball
people to offer their thoughts on Burns' work as he traces how the
game got to where it is today. Their reviews will appear each of the
nine days of the series.
Graphic
Photo
ABOUT TODAY'S REVIEWER
CHUCK GREEN
Age: 37
Residence: Chesapeake
Connection to baseball: Has umpired amateur, high school and college
baseball games for 19 years.
Favorite team: Houston Astros.
Most vivid baseball memory: Being in the Astrodome when Larry
Dierker of the Astros pitched a no-hitter against the Montreal Expos
in 1976.
KEYWORDS: BASEBALL TELEVISION SERIES by CNB