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The Cincinnati Reds, Kirk Gibson and Nolan Ryan on the finale of BASEBALL from Ken Burns – May 11 at 9 pm
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Inning Nine airs Thursday, May 11 at 9 pm
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“The Great Eight”
The 1975 Cincinnati Reds, which many consider to be the greatest starting eight in the history of the game, capped off a franchise best 108-54 regular season record with a sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Championship Series. The team then topped the Boston Red Sox in one of the most famous World Series ever played. A memorable 12th-inning home run by Boston’s Carlton Fisk in Game 6 was overshadowed by a come-from-behind victory in the seventh game by the Reds, who rallied from a 3-0 deficit with a two-run homer by Tony Perez and a game-winning single by league MVP Joe Morgan.
Cincinnati: Great American Ballpark – “The Great Eight” | Flickr. Creator: Wally Gobetz
The ninth and final inning covers the most recent history of baseball and explores the future of the game.
Game Six of the 1975 World Series — thought by many to be the greatest game ever played — miraculously reawakens the whole country’s love for the game.
But in the 1980’s, the rising influence of television and the coming of free agency, with its enormous salaries and dislocations, threatens that affection.
The episode ends with an impressionistic look at some of the astounding achievements on the field in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, including Kirk Gibson’s World Series home run; the first Canadian World Series; the extraordinary career of Nolan Ryan; and, finally, a consideration of the game’s enduring appeal.