We have the first — but not the last — giveaway on Ballpark Digest this offseason, as we’re offering a signed Blu-ray/DVD pack of Baseball: The Tenth Inning, the latest mini-series from master documentary producer Ken Burns covering America’s Pastime, which appears in stores tomorrow.
If you missed the airing of Baseball: The Tenth Inning last week, you missed an engrossing continuation of Ken Burns‘ and Lynn Novick‘s coverage of baseball, picking up where the original Baseball series ended. In the four-hour miniseries, Burns and Novick cover baseball from 1992 to 2009, a time when heroes were made in Baltimore and New York City and torn down in Chicago and St. Louis.
“So much has transpired in baseball since we last examined the game and all of its many nuances,” said Burns. “Above all, this new installment furthers a sense of celebration and introspection around one of our nation’s greatest institutions, the seemingly simple stick and ball game whose infinite variations and possibilities have entranced our ever-changing nation for nearly 200 years.”
“Ken and I are passionate baseball fans,” added Novick. “We have worked hard to provide a human dimension to the recent history of the game. It has been tremendously exciting, and challenging, to try to do justice to this complicated story, and to try to understand what it says about who we are.”
The Tenth Inning documents a hugely consequential period for the national pastime: Cal Ripken becomes the game’s new Iron Man; players and owners wage a cataclysmic battle over money and power; dazzlingly talented Latin and Asian players transform the sport; sluggers Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds do things that have never been done before; the Yankees build a dynasty, while their arch rivals, the Red Sox, stage the greatest comeback in history. In September of 2001, at a time when America seems most threatened, baseball offers the hope that things will one day return to normal.
Narrated by acclaimed screen and stage actor Keith David, The Tenth Inning includes interviews with a new generation of international superstars as well as veterans of the game, writers, broadcasters, and fans. It is presented in two parts: “Top of the Tenth” and “Bottom of the Tenth.” The two-disc DVD and two-disc Blu-ray each features hours of bonus material including interviews with filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, additional scenes and outtakes. And, of course, we’re giving away a signed copy.
It can be yours, free of charge, if you take one simple step: sign up for the Ballpark Digest weekly newsletter. Click here to go to the signup form, which will then take you to the Constant Contact signup page. Anyone on this mailing list next Tuesday will be eligible for the drawing. If you’re already a subscriber, don’t worry: you’re automatically entered.
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