Sep 16 2008
Baseball As America
Listen to Brian, Kim and Vicki as they tour the Baseball As America exhibit
You would think that after attending eight ball games in eight days, I would have had my fill of baseball. Not so! My wife, Kim, arranged for me to attend the Baseball As America exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science only two days after I got back from my trip. I had intended to go see it prior to the trip but things just didn’t work out.
The exhibit consisted of many glass cases containing balls, bats, gloves, photos and memorabilia. I was lucky to have my friend Vicki along to read many of the descriptive labels and signs We even came across a gentleman who shared some of his own knowledge about baseball.
Some of my favorite items included seats from some of the baseball parks over the past 70 years. It is true that Fenway has the narrowest seats at 15 inches. I also enjoyed the pitching exhibits where I got to learn how pitchers hold the ball for each pitch and even got to throw a pitch or two of my own. I couldn’t get it up over 50 miles per hour. How in the world do they get it over 90?
We saw bats and gloves as they changed over the years and heard recordings of important moments in the sport. My wife is still chuckling over my excitement over the Bugs Bunny “wham, wham, wham” sound bite.
It was impressive how Americans have used baseball to bring them back from depression. President Roosevelt asked that baseball continue after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and baseball also helped us keep going after September 11. They still sing “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch at all MLB games in memory of September 11.
The saddest part of the exhibit was the area where they showed how poorly we treated none-white players. It wasn’t only those who were black, but native Americans and Hispanics as well.
We finished our tour in the gift shop where I purchased a Boston Red Sox tie tack and a Christmas ornament in the shape of a baseball player. We got a book on Fenway that I may share with all of you from time-to-time. It is those heart-warming stories and all of those stats that make baseball the great American pastime.