Like the NBA, NHL and MLS, Major League Baseball announced last Friday it would suspend spring training games and delay the regular season by two weeks. The earliest Opening Day will be April 9, reports CBS.
But for aficionados of the national pastime, PBS has an inviting option.
Ken Burns’ acclaimed Emmy-winning documentary “Baseball,” an 18-hour series, will stream for free on PBS’ site and all its apps, per the AV Club. “Baseball” has nine episodes and utilizes photos, paintings and newsreels to examine not only legendary players, but also how the history of the game, including its treatment of race, is woven into the larger ethos of America.
The 2010 follow-up to the series, the two-hour “The Tenth Inning,” which tells the story of the national pastime from the 1990s forward, is not included in the offer.
First aired in 1994, “Baseball” can be streamed here.
Responding to the pandemic, Burns tweeted: “I asked @PBS to stream BASEBALL for free so we can participate in the national pastime together.”
Given the number of people isolating in their homes, the U.S. could see a 60 percent increase in the amount video content watched, according to Nielsen. Media consumption in the U.S. is at record highs.