I’ve been missing baseball a lot of late, so to get some
baseball I visited the baseball Hall of Fame website. When I got to their website I found some
virtual exhibits. Then I spent quite a
bit of time exploring and here is part of what I found.
Presidential Pastime
This exhibit had information about many different presidents
and their connections to baseball. Some
fun facts I learned were that William Taft threw out the first 1st
pitch in 1910. Harry Truman attended a record 16 games. Ronald Reagan was the first to watch a game
from the dugout and also did play by play at Wrigley field. Also there was the video when George W Bush
after 9/11 threw a strike from the mound and was the most meaningful first
pitch that I remember.
Pastime Portraits
This exhibit had different portraits from the twenties and
thirties and was kind of boring.
Picturing America's
Pastime
This photography exhibit had different pictures and quotes
from all different Eras of baseball. My
favorite quotes were
“I always figured that I had a bat and all the pitcher had
was a little ball, and as long as I kept swinging that bat I’d be all right.”
— Hank Aaron, 1991
“The only comparison is that we both love to hit and hate to
lose.”
— Pete Rose on the similarities between himself and Detroit
Tigers outfielder Ty Cobb, 1985
“Baseball is really two sports—the Summer Game and the
Autumn Game. One is the leisurely pastime of our national mythology. The other
is not so gentle.”
— Author Thomas Boswell, 1982
My favorite pictures were ones of various players including
- Roy Campanella and Yogi Berra in the World Series in 1955
- Tim Lincecum
- Orestes “Minnie” Miñoso
- Jackie Robinson
- Honus Wagner
- And also one outside of Wrigley Field when they hosted the World Series in 1929
There was also information about what the different things
they had to do throughout the years to get the best pictures and had info about
some of the photographers.
Head, Heart and
Hustle
This exhibit talked about the All-American Girls
Professional Baseball League AAGPBL which was during WWII and after 1943-1954. And had information about the different women
that played in the league.
My knowledge about this league was just from the Movie “A
League of Their Own" and this expanded on the league and I learned some
new things including
- · In 1943, Philip K. Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, started the league
- · They had spring training in Cuba in 1947
- · Prior to the 1949 season, an American All-Star team traveled to Cuba and Latin America to recruit Cuban players
- · They established an International League of Girl’s Baseball
- · Ysora Castillo was one of nine native Cubanas who played in the AAGPBL
- · Dorothy Kamenshek received a weekly $125 paycheck which was one of the highest in the league
Google street view inside museum
They had a Latin baseball exhibit that included jerseys of
Roberto Clemente, Albert Pujols and Edgar Martinez. They also had a locker room display with a
locker for each team filled with memorabilia.
Then there was the room that had all of the Hall of Fame plaques.
This was a very fun adventure, I was able to find baseball
and was able to learn some new things about the sport.
If you want to check out these exhibits here’s the link
