THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 26, 1994 TAG: 9409240039
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
Ken Burns' ``Baseball'' series continues on PBS (WHRO) at 8 tonight through Wednesday.
IT LOOKS SO easy. As the nine innings of ``Baseball'' unfold ever so leisurely on PBS, up pops Charley McDowell from time to time to speak in that delicious drawl of his about how we are the game of baseball and the game of baseball is us.
Every once in a while, McDowell reads stories that were printed in newspapers long ago, such as the reports of a seriously ill Lou Gehrig, shuffling along with bones creaking in 1939.
Talking on camera in ``Baseball'' is a snap. Right, Charley?
Look into the lens. Speak. Smile. Cut. Print. That's a take.
It should have been so easy, said McDowell from his office in Washington, D.C., where the Richmond Times-Dispatch sent him eons ago to write columns about life inside the Beltway.
He's sort of retired now, writing two columns a week.
He had the time to be one of 41 people, ranging from actors Anthony Hopkins, Gregory Peck and Paul Newman to author Stephen King to comedian Alan King to former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Thomas P. ``Tip'' O'Neil, who lent their voices to ``Baseball.'' McDowell also appears on camera throughout the 18 1/2 hours with others also not usually associated with baseball - historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, for instance.
Producer and director Ken Burns is a tough boss, said McDowell.
It took hours and hours to produce the on-camera interviews.
And the work was no walk in the park.
``If you're doing it right, Burns is grinnin' and is as happy as a lark. But if you're being boring, he snores out loud and rolls his eyes back in his head . . . and if you're real bad, he'll interrupt you and say: `Come on. Come on. Let's do that again,' '' said McDowell.
For all of this, McDowell was paid the bare minimum they compensate actors in the union.
He had worked for Burns before, supplying the voice of a foot soldier named Sam Watkins in ``The Civil War.'' Burns again wanted McDowell's voice on his soundtrack, and he wanted viewers to see his wonderfully worn face, too.
``Burns wants your emotions to be more implied than obvious.
``When I was sitting in a glass room all by myself doing Sam Watkins' voice for `Civil War,' I wasn't doing it right, I guess, because Burns came into the room angry and in full stride and said, `If I wanted an actor, I would have hired one.' He wanted an understated, less-is-more delivery.''
Of course. That is Burns' style.
Narrator John Chancellor also acknowledges that he worked for a slave driver. ``I learned that, around Burns, the words `That's superb!' meant, `Let's do it three or four times more.' I'd spend five or six hours going over a small section of a script. I'd be whipped. I felt like I'd painted the Sistine Chapel with a toothbrush.''
Tonight at 8, ``Baseball'' celebrates the success of the New York Yankees, Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s in ``The Seventh Inning: The Capital of Baseball.''
``The Civil War'' made instant national celebrities of Burns and many who appeared in the miniseries, including author Shelby Foote. Perhaps McDowell will emerge as the folksy favorite of the masses as the result of ``Baseball.''
He doubts that, and points instead to 82-year-old Buck O'Neil, who has been captivating viewers with his stories of life in the Negro leagues.
``He's the one everybody is talking about,'' said McDowell, who sat and talked with O'Neil on camera when a segment of ``Baseball'' ended last week, and heard O'Neil philosophize about many subjects, including young people's algebra homework.
O'Neil played 12 seasons in the Negro leagues next to such legendary players as Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige. He eventually scouted for the Chicago Cubs, signing superstars Ernie Banks and Lou Brock, and today continues as a scout for the Kansas City Royals.
It's a kick to hear O'Neil tell about the moment when he heard that Jackie Robinson had shattered Major League Baseball's color line and been signed by the Dodgers. O'Neil was in the Navy, at sea in the Pacific.
His commanding officer broke the news about Robinson. ``I woke up everybody in our outfit to tell them. It had happened, finally! We were elated.''
``Baseball'' is pulling in a large audience for PBS, but not as large as that captivated by ``The Civil War.'' McDowell believes the viewership will pick up for the final ``innings.''
``The poets, authors and historians have had their say early in `Baseball.' Now things really begin to move on the field. The action begins. And so what if `Baseball' is long? That's the best thing about it. It was meant to be looked at again and again and enjoyed and savored for a long time.''
McDowell's take-me-out-to-the-ball-game delivery and folksy vignettes are a perfect fit in ``Baseball.'' Listening to him, you get the impression that he might have been the reporter on the scene when the mighty Casey struck out. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Charley McDowell lent his voice to ``Baseball.''
by CNB