Improbable, Part I (2020)

Time in the Minors

Every year in June, nearly 2,000 athletes out of high school and college are chosen from an amateur baseball draft to play in the minor leagues. This inspiring documentary follows the lives of two young players on their arduous journey to launch Major League Baseball careers. As one faces his final year to tryout, another player wrestles with the pressure of keeping his million-dollar first-round draft contract intact. This thrilling and emotional journey illuminates the power determination can have on whether dreams are achieved or lost.

Shot Heard 'Round the World

With one swing of a bat, Bobby Thomson became a legend. His dramatic home run on October 3, 1951, led the New York Giants to win the National League pennant over the rival Brooklyn Dodgers. This documentary looks at the teams, personalities and events that combined to create one of the most heated pennant races ever witnessed...one that ended with an unforgettable homer.

No No: A Dockumentary

Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter on LSD, then worked for decades counseling drug abusers. Dock's soulful style defined 1970s baseball as he kept hitters honest and embarrassed the establishment. An ensemble cast of teammates, friends, and family investigate his life on the field, in the media, and out of the spotlight.

The Battered Bastards of Baseball

Hollywood veteran Bing Russell creates the only independent baseball team in the country—alarming the baseball establishment and sparking the meteoric rise of the 1970s Portland Mavericks.

It Ain't Over

The life and times of Yankee Yogi Berra, whose unique personality and unforgettable Yogi-isms sometimes got in the way of his being recognized as one of baseball’s very greatest catchers.

Ted Williams

Born in 1918 in San Diego, Williams was a latchkey child from a broken home, raised by a mother more dedicated to the Salvation Army than to her two sons, and by a father who spent more time away from home than in it. Williams found salvation by doing the one thing he loved most: hitting baseballs. In his rookie season with the Red Sox, where he would spend his entire career as a player, Williams batted .327, socked 31 homers and led the league with 145 RBI. Over the next 21 years, despite losing five seasons of his prime to active service as a U.S. Marine Corps pilot, Williams hit 521 home runs, twice captured the Triple Crown, and became the oldest man ever to win a batting title. He finished his career with a .344 lifetime batting average, was the last man to hit over .400 in a full season, batting .406 in 1941, and was a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Gift of the Game

Acclaimed Florida novelist Randy Wayne White travels to Cuba with former pitchers Bill "Spaceman" Lee (Boston Red Sox) and Jon Warden (Detroit Tigers), and a band of baseball enthusiasts to find and revive the children's baseball league founded by American writer Ernest Hemingway in the days before Fidel Castro came to power.

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Under The Grapefruit Tree: The CC Sabathia Story

In his own words, Sabathia narrates his story. As the highs and lows of his last season are chronicled, Sabathia looks back on his legacy as one of the game’s pre-eminent pitchers, as well as the profound challenges that shaped him, including his longtime battle with addiction that came to a head in 2015 while playing for the Yankees.

Ball Four Turns 40

Jim Bouton's 1970 book "Ball Four" was groundbreaking, shocking, and controversial. It sold in the millions. 40 years later, Bouton and former teammates spin hilarious stories from behind baseball's cloistered clubhouses, giving a rare glimpse inside Major League baseball in the 1960s. The book's cultural impact is examined by filmmaker and former pro baseball player Ron Shelton ("Bull Durham"), author Jean Hastings Ardell, and David Kipen, former director of literature for the NEA.

The Day The Series Stopped

On Oct. 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. PT, soon after Al Michaels and Tim McCarver started the ABC telecast for Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics, the ground began to shake beneath Candlestick Park. Even before that moment, this had promised to be a memorable matchup: the first in 33 years between teams from the same metropolitan area, a battle featuring larger-than-life characters and equally colorful fan bases. But after the 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake rolled through, bringing death and destruction, the Bay Area pulled together, and baseball took a backseat.

1995 Atlanta Braves: The Official World Series Film

The 1995 World Series featured the two best teams in baseball. The Cleveland Indians won 100 games in a shortened season, and they made it to the World Series for the first time in 41 years. The Atlanta Braves had been here before, twice in the previous four years. With the best pitching staff in baseball, they were called the team of the '90's. Still they needed a World Series Title to claim that crown. This official documentary of the 1995 World Series includes all the dramatic moments of the six-game battle between the Indians and the Braves including: Eddie Murray's game-winning single at frenzied Jacobs Field. Orel Hershiser's gutsy performances against the incredible Greg Maddux. Dave Justice talking the talk...and then walking the walk. Tom Glavine, the series MVP, pitching one-hit baseball under phenomenal pressure.

One of a Kind: Greg Maddux

Star-studded group featuring Barry Bonds, Randy Johnson, Chipper Jones, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz to bring viewers inside Maddux’s legendary career;

Brothers in Exile

Major League Baseball has been transformed by the influx of Cuban players such as Aroldis Chapman, Yasiel Puig and Jose Abreu. But a special debt of gratitude is owed to two half-brothers, whose courage two decades ago paved the way for their stardom. "Brothers in Exile" tells the incredible story of Livan and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, who risked their lives to get off the island.

Fernando Nation

In Fernando Nation, Mexican-born and Los Angeles-raised director Cruz Angeles traces the history of a community that was torn apart when Dodger Stadium was built in Chavez Ravine and then revitalized by one of the most captivating pitching phenoms baseball has ever seen. Nicknamed “El Toro” by his fans, Fernando Valenzuela ignited a fire that spread from LA to New York—and beyond. He vaulted himself onto the prime time stage and proved with his signature look to the heavens and killer screwball that the American dream was not reserved for those born on U.S. soil. In this layered look at the myth and the man, Cruz Angeles recalls the euphoria around Fernando’s arrival and probes a phenomenon that transcended baseball for many Mexican-Americans. Fernando Valenzuela himself opens up to share his perspective on this very special time. Even 20 years later, “Fernandomania” lives.

Four Days in October

When the night of October 16, 2004 came to a merciful end, the Curse of the Bambino was alive and well. The vaunted Yankee lineup, led by A-Rod, Jeter, and Sheffield, had just extended their ALCS lead to three games to none, pounding out 19 runs against their hated rivals. The next night, in Game 4, the Yankees took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, then turned the game over to Mariano Rivera, the best relief pitcher in postseason history, to secure yet another trip to the World Series. But after a walk and a hard-fought stolen base, the cold October winds of change began to blow. Over four consecutive days and nights, this unlikely group of Red Sox miraculously won four straight games to overcome the inevitability of their destiny. Major League Baseball Productions will produce a film in "real-time" that takes an in-depth look at the 96 hours that brought salvation to Red Sox Nation and made baseball history in the process.

The Pine Tar Incident: Making of Tar Wars

An examination of the story of the infamous 1983 George Brett pine tar incident. This documentary is a behind the scenes making of a fictional film, "Tar Wars," the little known tale of the aftermath of George Brett's unforgettable blow-up.

Jordan Rides the Bus

In the fall of 1993, in his prime and at the summit of the sports world, Michael Jordan walked away from pro basketball. After leading the Dream Team to an Olympic gold medal in 1992 and taking the Bulls to their third consecutive NBA championship the following year, Jordan was jolted by the murder of his father. Was it the brutal loss of such an anchor in his life that caused the world’s most famous athlete to rekindle a childhood ambition by playing baseball? Or some feeling that he had nothing left to prove or conquer in basketball? Or something deeper and perhaps not yet understood?

Little Big Men

In 1982, Cody Webster and a small group of friends from Kirkland, Washington, sat anxiously in a dugout waiting to take the field for the championship game of the Little League World Series. Their focus was just about what you’d expect from any 12-year-old: hit the ball, throw strikes, cross your fingers and then maybe – maybe – you’ll win. Adults in the stands and watching from home saw a much broader field of play. The memories of American hostages and a crippling oil crisis were still fresh; the economic malaise of the late 1970s still lingered; and the new President was recovering from an assassination attempt even while confronting new threats from the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, back on that tiny baseball field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, no American team had won a true international Little League World Series Championship in more than a decade. When the Kirkland players rushed from their dugout that day, they stepped onto a much bigger field than the one they saw.

The House of Steinbrenner

Love them or hate them, the Yankees dominated baseball for more than four decades, then sagged under ownership by CBS until a 42-year-old shipbuilder named George Steinbrenner led a purchase of the team in 1973. He turned that $10m investment into a billion-dollar business, and the 'House that Ruth Built' inspired generations of fans. Deteriorating facilities and changing revenue streams inspired Steinbrenner to build an impressive new stadium marking the end of one grand era and the beginning - perhaps - of another.

Faith Rewarded: The Historic Season of the 2004 Boston Red Sox

This is a recap of the 2004 Boston Red Sox season that finished with them breaking a winless drought of 86 years by coming back against the New York Yankees and later sweeping the world series.

Super Stars of Sports: Baseball

Made in 1990, this compilation video highlights the "Best of the Best" in Baseball.

Shohei Ohtani: A Baseball Virtuoso

NHK has followed baseball sensation Shohei Ohtani closely since his 2018 Major League debut. We look at Ohtani’s ability to both pitch and bat at the highest level. We hear from those who have supported him on and off the field and examine the importance of his father’s training regime. Join us behind the scenes at such pivotal points as Ohtani’s battle to recover from elbow surgery and reclaim his place as a baseball virtuoso like no other.

4192: The Crowning of the Hit King

On the evening of September 11, 1985, before a sellout crowd at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Pete Rose stood on the edge of history. With one swing he would collect more hits than anyone in the history of the game he loved. 4192: The Crowning of the Hit King is a love letter to baseball that highlights the playing career of one of the game s most honored and controversial stars. It is a story that began in 1963 when Rose ran to first base on a walk. It spanned more than two decades and brought numerous individual awards as well as three World Series titles. But there is more to this story than just awards. It is about baseball and what drove this man to chase what many thought was an unbreakable record and become The Hit King.

2007 Boston Red Sox: The Official World Series Film

Red Sox Nation rejoiced as its beloved team reached the World Series in dramatic fashion, having just overcome a three-games-to-one deficit in the ALCS by outscoring the Cleveland Indians 30-5 in the final three contests. There they met the sizzling Colorado Rockies -victors in 21 of their last 22 games and just the second team ever to win their first seven in the postseason. But while both teams came into the World Series on fire, only one continued that torrid pace. The Red Sox briskly swept the Rockies aside to capture their second title of the decade and their second straight Fall Classic sweep.

Miguel Cabrera: One of a Kind

A look back at Miggy's illustrious career.

2002 Anaheim Angels: The Official World Series Film

It was an all-California World Series - the first ever between two wild card teams - and both the Anaheim Angels and the San Francisco Giants were in search of a dream. The Angels were in the World Series for the first time in their 42-year history. The Giants hadn't won one since they moved to San Francisco in 1958. The result was a Fall Classic that will forever be remembered for one of the most astonishing comebacks in history.

Michael Jordan: Above and Beyond

"Michael Jordan Above and Beyond" provides a much-needed look at Michael Jordan's fantastic return from retirement in 1995. The first 20 minutes or so recap his retirement, attempt at minor league baseball, and his dealing with his father's murder. It picks up when it starts looking at the huge frenzy that was his return to the NBA in the Spring of 1995. It covers his mediocre first game back against the Pacers, his Friday night Chicago return against the Magic, and his subsequent return to form with a game-winning shot against Atlanta, and a career night dropping 55 on the Knicks.