THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 20, 1994 TAG: 9409200420
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Review
SERIES: Baseball
About the series: The Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star asked nine local
baseball people to score acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns' "Baseball,"
appearing on WHRO. The comments will appear each day of the nine-part
series, an 18 and one-half hour work that traces the history of the
sport - and of America.
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
With the baseball strike going on now, it made me look at this episode differently. It was about the owners, how the players were treated and how much the players and the fans really loved the game.
The players back then were literally owned by the owners. They had no organization and there was a lot of competition for jobs, so they couldn't complain too much.
The Black Sox scandal came about because the players didn't think they were treated fairly. They got the name Black Sox because their owner was so cheap he wouldn't wash their uniforms.
Ty Cobb and Branch Rickey were also big parts. I didn't realize how important Rickey was. He started farm systems and put the players through training that made them seem more like athletes, and he later got Jackie Robinson into baseball.
Best scene: Joe Jackson and the other Black Sox.
Most interesting fact: How supportive the fans were back then.
Weakest scene: The portrayal of Ty Cobb. It dwelled on the negative and not about what a great player he was.
Score this one: A double. I enjoyed most of it, but it wasn't real fast-moving.
- Shirley Wright ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Shirley Wright
KEYWORDS: TELEVISION SERIES BASEBALL by CNB