When America Took the Field

One of sport’s first and most influential megastars, beloved baseball icon and 5-time World Series champion Reggie Jackson contemplates his legacy as a trailblazing Black athlete fighting for dignity, respect, and a seat at the table in this intimate and revealing documentary exploring his life and barrier-busting career.

The World Series champion Mets of 1969 and 1986 were embraced by fans for their pitching, personalities, and perseverance. In 1969, the world was mesmerized by man's first steps on the moon. The world of baseball was equally transfixed by the Mets. New York relied on pitching from Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman, and the hitting of Tommie Agee and Cleon Jones to register the Club's first 100-win season. It took the 1986 Mets two games to recover from a grueling NLCS, and then the fiery Lenny Dykstra led the charge. With two road victories pushing the Fall Classic back to Shea Stadium, the stage was set for Game Six--and arguably the most remarkable comeback in baseball history...

In 2025, as MLB's Dodgers and Cubs clash in Tokyo for a historic season opener, their games become a lens into Japan's passionate baseball culture and the values that bind two nations through America's pastime.

This 100-year celebration has rare footage of Red Sox southpaw Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx and Lefty Grove. This superb documentary bridges the gap to Ted Williams, whose hitting heroics are captured in living color along with the history of Fenway Park itself, from Opening Day, 1912, through the "Impossible Dream" season of 1967.

This DVD tells the story of the men who made the season memorable -- the players and personalities who made the first season at Busch Stadium unforgettable. The surprising rookies and reliable veterans, the superstars and the role-players, the fan favorites and the late-season new faces, are all saluted here, in a tribute to the heroes who brought Baseball Heaven to life and a joyful Cardinals Nation to its feet in 2006.

A look at the Boston Red Sox's 2003 season, from Spring Training to their meeting with the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series, and the team's relationship with their fans.

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.

The 1975 Fall Classic matched the Reds against the Boston Red Sox in a seven-act performance that enthralled the nation. After an extra-innings defeat in Game 6 the night before, the Reds trailed 3-0 in Game 7, but like true champions, they battled back to win the game and take home the series. The taut drama of the previous season's finale was replaced by an awesome display of professionalism and dominance in the 1976 World Series as the Reds swept the star-struck New York Yankees. Fourteen years later, the Reds again swept their opponent, but this time it was a significant upset. The defending champion Oakland Athletics were out-pitched and out-played over four games as the Red Legs completed their wire-to-wire season with their fifth championship in franchise history.

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.

Montanhão: Raízes da Luta

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.

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.

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.

The story of Baseball Hall-of-Famer Hank Greenberg, the first major Jewish baseball star in the Major Leagues, is told through archival film footage and interviews with fans, former teammates, friends, and family. As a great first baseman with the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg endured antisemitism and became a hero and source of inspiration throughout the Jewish community, not incidentally leading the Tigers to Major League dominance in the 1930s.

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.

Red Sox legend Ted Williams grew up in front of America during baseball’s golden age. He served his country as an ace fighter pilot in Korea and was the last man to ever hit over .400 for a season. This story isn’t about how he lived, but about the mystery surrounding his world after his death. Williams’s head (yes, his head) is preserved in cryostasis in a facility in Arizona. How this came to be remains a mystery shrouded in claims that his children mistreated him and wrapped in a notorious dirty cocktail napkin.

An intimate, funny and compelling take on the unique relationship and shared legacy of Tommy John, the chatty Indiana lefty who won nearly 300 Major League games, and Dr. Frank Jobe, the unassuming L.A. Orthopedist who conceived and performed a revolutionary elbow operation on John in 1974.

The season's schedule for major league baseball affects the lives and moods of millions of Americans. Each year executives and managers ridicule the logic, sportswriters and broadcasters question the sanity, and athletes and fans cast blame. Yet not many people know how it is that the MLB schedule is figured out, and even fewer have any idea what is involved. The masterminds for 25 years behind this massive logistical undertaking were Henry and Holly Stephenson. A husband and wife duo working out of an upstairs bedroom in their Staten Island home with a computer, a pencil and a great deal of cooperation. How did this mom-and-pop team ever end up with the daunting and thankless job of MLB scheduling? This is the story of how the Stephensons landed their first MLB contract and became "The Schedule Makers."

The film will tell the story of Mackey Sasser, a talented catcher for the New York Mets, who could hit, call pitches, block the plate and fire missiles down to second base but he couldn't throw the ball back to the pitcher. Through interviews with Mackey, his sports psychologists and commentators, as well as footage of his playing days and his treatment (which involved using a baseball to find the boyhood traumas underlying his career-ending anxiety), this program will look at the mental side of sports and probe what takes a player in and out of the "zone".

A look at Hall of Fame inductee Mike Piazza's improbable rise from a 62nd-round draft pick to baseball immortality.