Burns to take 'Baseball' to extra innings

Sixteen years after its memorable ninth inning came to a close, "Baseball" will add its first extra frame.

The Emmy Award-winning nine-"inning" documentary by filmmaker Ken Burns, which debuted on PBS in 1994 and became the most-watched series in the history of public television with more than 48 million viewers, has been updated with another segment entitled "The Tenth Inning" that will be broadcast in the spring of 2010, PBS announced.

"So much has transpired in baseball since we last examined the game and all of its many nuances," said Burns, who co-directed "The Tenth Inning" with his longtime collaborator, Lynn Novick, and co-wrote it with Novick and David McMahon.

"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."

"The Tenth Inning," a production of Florentine Films and WETA Washington, D.C., in association with Major League Baseball Productions, will pick up where "Baseball" left off.

The film will show the game from 1993 to 2008 and showcase the great moments on the field, plus some of the hardships baseball has endured during those years, including the '94 strike and the controversies surrounding the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

It will feature interviews with managers Joe Torre and Felipe Alou, players Omar Vizquel and Ichiro Suzuki, fans from across the country and overseas, and a host of the memorable contributors to the original documentary, including broadcaster Bob Costas and writers Roger Angell, Daniel Okrent, Gerald Early and Doris Kearns Goodwin.

"Ken and I are passionate baseball fans ourselves, so it's a project that resonates with us on many levels," Novick added. "We were extremely fortunate to capture a cross section of compelling perspectives on the game and to gain a deeper understanding of what it means in our ever-changing world."

"The Tenth Inning" will coincide with a rebroadcast of the "Baseball" series, which is currently being shown Tuesday nights on the new MLB Network.

"We're thrilled to revisit 'Baseball' with Ken, Lynn and all of the talented folks at Florentine Films," said John Boland, chief content officer of PBS. "For all of the loyal viewers who have clamored over the years for a new chapter of 'Baseball,' we can now officially say it's time to 'play ball' once again."