Doris Kearns Goodwin

This latest entry covers the period from the early 1990's onward. Labor relations deteriorated badly in the early part of that decade leading to the players strike in August 1994. The Montreal Expos were the best team in baseball at the time but when a Federal judge blocked the owners from unilaterally imposing a contract (which would have let them use replacement players) it quickly came to an end and the players returned to work under the old contract. Attendance dropped after that but the game recovered quickly with the heroics of Cal Ripkin Jr. By the end of 1990's, fans were caught up in the home run derby presented by Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. There was also the first whiff of scandal when McGwire was accused of using steroids. It was also an era when new baseball stadiums were built in many cities, evoking an earlier age when the parks were built specifically for the sport. The curse of the Bambino finally came to an end with the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series in 2004. Bobby Bonds broke McGwire's three year-old season home-run record and later Hank Aaron's HR record. The issue of drug use eventually led to Congressional hearings after the BALCO scandal and the Mitchell Report, which named many stars as having used performance enhancing drugs. Watch Movies Online for Free on 10StarMovies.

Chris Matthews, "Hardball" host and longtime Kennedy observer, takes a not entirely uncritical look at the political dynasty that began with Joe Sr., and came to a generational end with Teddy Kennedy, who died late Tuesday night after battling cancer. Matthews covers vast and well-trod territory , the ambassador's push to get his firstborn son elected president, then, after Joe Jr.'s death in the war, his push to get the second-born son in the White House; JFK's circumvention of politics-as-usual, by targeting states rich in Catholic votes; his embrace of TV; the battle for civil rights; Bobby's eventual ascendancy and tragic death; and, finally, Teddy's fitful and failed attempt to become president. Matthews gets lots of help from his friends, with extensive interviews with former CBS/NBC anchor Roger Mudd, Kennedy advisers Ted Sorensen, Bill Wilson, Frank Mankiewicz, historian/NBC News contributor Doris Kearns Goodwin; former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, and many others. Watch Movies Online for Free on 10StarMovies.