"The Tenth Inning," Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's four-hour follow-up to Mr. Burns's 18.5-hour documentary series, "Baseball," does without some of the things that characterized the original. There are hardly any vintage photos or archival films, no roll calls of minor league teams, no forced detours into women's baseball.

But one thing "The Tenth Inning," making its debut on Tuesday and Wednesday nights on PBS, has in common with the earlier series is the folksy-poetic gasbaggery you know you'll find at the intersection of baseball and Burns.