Great courses (DVD)

"National Baseball Hall of Fame"--Container

Change the way you think about baseball as a guide from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum covers the fascinating evolution of America's national pastime

"Course no. 8629."

Contains 24 lectures; each lecture is approximately 30 minutes

Closed captioned for the hearing impaired

Lecturer: Bruce Markusen, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Disc 1.

Ground rules: baseball before Babe Ruth -- Early bat and ball games -- Era of amateur baseball clubs -- Dawn of professional baseball -- Baseball's many leagues and associations -- How baseball created the World Series.

Disc 2.

Baseball grows by hitting the road -- Sacred ground: baseball's early ballparks -- Development of baseball's rules -- Evolution of protective equipment -- Role of women in baseball's early days -- Black baseball before the Negro leagues.

Disc 3.

Prejudice and diversity in early baseball -- Baseball grows through the press -- Baseball becomes a game of numbers -- Baseball: a game for the fans -- Baseball and our common culture -- Business behind the national pastime.

Disc 4.

Players, owners, and the reserve clause -- American politics and early baseball -- Baseball's rituals and traditions -- Impact of war on baseball -- Scandals and deception on the diamond -- How changing baseballs changed the game