With the onset of World War II, America needed baseball more than ever—even when some of its biggest stars saw action on the battlefield instead of the ball field. Of course, for the game to live up to everything America stood for, its most important battle had to be fought at home. This program follows the sport throughout the 1940s, from Joe DiMaggio’s celebrated hitting streak to the awe-inspiring performance of Ted Williams to the debut of Jackie Robinson—who, by joining the Brooklyn Dodgers and breaking the color barrier, embodied what director Ken Burns calls “baseball’s finest moment.” Distributed by PBS Distribution. Part of the series Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns. (2 hours 30 minutes)