Ken Burns Baseball on...

[slidekellyslide]

Eh...filmmaker or historian? Burns went with a photo that had already appeared in a SABR publication identified as Cummings. We still have NO proof that Burns was even aware of the controversy surrounding the photo when he made the film.

[ChiefBenderForever]

He is a great story teller and somewhat of a historian. I don't get the political agenda at all, he made a great starting point, now it's up to others to build upon that. It's his choice to do whatever he wants. Sounds like he made a mistake on a photo and maybe a few other things, but when you look at the overall project it was a success.

[bmarlowe1]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

Eh...filmmaker or historian? Burns went with a photo that had already appeared in a SABR publication identified as Cummings..

Placed there (and at least 6 other publications both prior and subsequent to Burns) by the same person/owner who wanted it used in Burns' project.

[slidekellyslide]

Are you saying that Ken Burns was aware of this decade long evil plot by Mark Rucker to make millions on an anonymous 19th century baseball photo?

[barrysloate]

For the record Ken Burns and Mark Rucker became pretty good friends during the making of the documentary, and he counted on Mark's photo library a great deal. If Mark told Ken that the tintype pictured Candy Cummings, I doubt Ken had the inclination to do independent research. If Ken was told by others it was not Cummings, he then had to make a decision. I'm not sticking up for or condemning anyone, I just think that verifying that particular image was not of paramount importance to Burns. I think he took Mark's word and went with it.

I know Mark always believed it was Cummings, but I think he now realizes that the general consensus is that it is not. I have certainly given him my opinion on several occasions.

[Brian-Chidester]

think that piture of Cummings, which really isn't a picture of Cummings, was used on the 2009 Obak series. So, even 15 years after Burns used the image, it's still being labeled as Candy Cummings. I think that's a shame.

[bmarlowe1]

Brian - I am 100% with you on that one

This "new" to me photo of Cummings appeared in the McFarland reprint of the 1914 Richter's History and Records of Base Ball.

Barry - if you need to - feel free to draw a mustache on him.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

I had the great fortune to meet Mr. Burns and talk with him at length about his baseball effort when he attended the Hot Springs (AR) Documentary Film Festival.

During that visit he stressed that all of his films, which he considers a continuous series, are intended to explain what makes us Americans. His intent is to weave a fabric of human traits that show how we are part part of the other nations that we come from but distinctly different. Thus very American subjects like baseball, jazz and OUR national parks. Of course I am still not happy that he ignored the first National Park-Hot Springs in his latest film.

The good news-bad news is that for the first time he is revisiting a film when he releases The 10th Inning this Fall. He feels that baseball has changed so much since the original release that he needed to add a couple of hours. I am afraid that will mean the strike and of course steroids.

During our visit I asked him about films on other sports and he said that he has no plans for any others. The next day he approached me and said he is still not sure where football fits and how it has influenced American life. He then said maybe in the future?

I guess what I am getting at in this post is that politics, race and sport all are all factors in how baseball has helped shape America.