Baseball is a well-researched, thorough documentary of the history of baseball made by Ken Burns, and anyone should find it enjoyable. Burns' overfocus on labor and blacks can be a bother at times, but that is the perspective he chose and he does well with it, and I certainly enjoyed "Shadowball." The real problem is the surfeit of commentary from people like George F. Will (besides, I do not wish to hear what he thinks about anything) and Doris Kearns Goodwin, all of 'em. What I want to hear is the baseball personalities, whom Burns did so well with, not the continual ruminations of celebrity nonexperts -- a little is enough. The worst moment is hearing them sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." The result was underemphasis of some areas of substantive baseball, like some great Philadelphia A's teams of old and various aspects and personalities of the most recent baseball at the time the documentary was made. But for the most part, thumbs up to Burns for his efforts.
