First broadcast on PBS, this was Burns' ninth documentary and won the 1995 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series.

Baseball, like Burns' previous documentaries such as The Civil War, used archived pictures and film footage mixed with interviews for visual presentation.

These often include player highlights, important or eventful games, or the creation of various brands that are now well known throughout baseball such as Louisville Slugger.

[5] This was officially confirmed by Burns in an MLB Network interview, and later to the NBC LA web site during the winter Television Critics Association media tour January 8.

During in-game coverage of a Texas Rangers game during July 2009, Burns was interviewed, and said The Tenth Inning would air "about a year from now" on PBS.

David Hinckley of New York Daily News wrote, "Ken Burns hits another one out of the park.

"[7] The complete series (including the Tenth Inning segments) was streamed online for free by PBS during the shortened 2020 Major League Baseball season, starting on what would have been the regular opening day for the season, hoping to "fill the void" left by the lack of baseball.

[8][9] In a video message posted the Sunday prior, Ken Burns confirmed the following: "As we hunker down in the days ahead, it’s important that we find things that bring us together and show us our common humanity.

That’s why, in the absence of many of our favorite sports, I’ve asked PBS — that’s the Public Broadcasting Service — to stream my film about America’s pastime, ‘Baseball.’ Stay healthy and let’s look after each other.