Thoughts on the Tenth Inning

Early this morning I finished watching part two of The Tenth Inning, Ken Burns' sequel to Baseball.

I found parts of it quite sanctimonious especially where it concerns Latin ballplayers, luxury suites and steroids.

With regard to Latin ballplayers, Burns bemoans how a majority of Latin ballplayers don't make the major leagues. Well, that's true with the overwhelmingly majority of American ballplayers. There are no guarantees in baseball.

I found it interesting that he also bemoaned the construction of luxury suites in ballparks when while watching a Red Sox game on TV I saw none other than Ken Burns sitting in a luxury suite.

As for steroids, if they enhance performance so much why weren't pitchers winning 30 games a season?

While it is very likely that Barry Bonds used steroids the fact the government still hasn't brought Bonds to trial after more than three years tells me that things aren't what they seem.

This isn't to say there weren't good parts in this documentary. I liked the segments on Ichiro Suzuki, the 2001 World Series in the wake of the September 11th attacks and, of course, the Red Sox odyssey to winning the 2004 World Series. That is something I will never tire of reliving.