6th Inning - The National Pastime (#42): 1940-1950
This sixth volume in Ken Burns' classic documentary on "Baseball" begins with the marvelous summer of 1941, which featured not one but two of the greatest individual achievements in the history of the sport: Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak and Ted Williams batting .406. But the event that dominates this "inning," and towards which Burns has set his sight since the opening prologue, is Jackie Roosevelt Robinson playing in the major leagues for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1942. By the time we get to this part of the documentary we fully appreciate the social and personal significance of the event for both Robinson and Branch Rickey. This episode also covers baseball during World War II, including the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and ends with the death of Babe Ruth, thereby linking the game's two most significant players, the Babe and Jackie Robinson. Every spring as opening day approaches I take out "Baseball" and watch it again. Just hearing the voice of John Chancellor and watching the film clips of the game's great players is a necessary rite of spring. "The National Pastime" is clearly the climax of the series.