u Exhibits in the National Baseball Hall of Fame include a full range of uniforms, baseball equipment, and paraphernalia—enough to engage the interest of visitors for hours.
boy, or little girl for that matter, hasn’t imagined what it would be like to be so talented? The Hall of Fame Gallery gives even more credibility to the dream. When it comes to baseball, the men honored here have been there and done that.
“Ooh, Grandma, here’s Whitey!” The same little boy from the staircase points to the plaque for Whitey Herzog, St. Louis Cardinals manager and 2010 inductee. The family stops to stare at Herzog’s plaque for awhile, and then moves on.
“And Ozzie Smith,” the grandfather says, pointing at another plaque. “And Stan Musial,” the grand- mother sighs. “I used to have such a crush on him.”
Reflecting on History, Society, and Culture
Baseball is something more than just its players and managers. A timeline of the sport through the twentieth century runs along walls of the museum, highlighting various significant moments in history, culture, and society that ran parallel
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to—and in some cases crossed paths with—significant moments in base- ball. Diamond Dreams: Women in Baseball; Pride and Passion: The African American Baseball Experi- ence; and ¡Viva Baseball! are informa- tive and exhilarating exhibits; they explore the difficulties and successes of women ballplayers, African Ameri- cans players, and players from the Caribbean basin countries in a way that reflects a continued evolution of attitudes and social institutions. Here is a lesson not just in sport, but in culture and society.
This sort of multitiered lesson in
culture and history is continued in other exhibits as well. Scribes and Mikemen, an exhibit honoring journal- ists and broadcasters; Baseball at the Movies, paying homage to the many cinematic re-creations of the sport and its stories; and Sacred Ground, an exhibit highlighting ballparks of the past and present, all reflect not only on important events in baseball but also on aspects of society throughout the years. In these exhibits, visitors can track changes in technology,
Out of the Park
“I’m not really into baseball,” a woman tells a friend. Their husbands and children have already climbed off the Cooperstown Trolley, and are headed toward Doubleday Field, the historic ballpark that was believed to be the birthplace of baseball. “But you come here every year,” the
friend says.
“I don’t come for the baseball,” the woman says.
So what is Cooperstown if not just a M A Y 2 0 1 1
media, communications, architecture, celebrity, and stories told and revised. Daily programs such as Artifacts Spotlight and interactive exhibits in the Sandlot Kids’ Clubhouse offer other opportunities for visitors to deepen their knowledge of baseball. The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s mission is to “preserve the sport’s history, honor excellence within the game, and make a connec- tion between the generations of people who enjoy baseball.” The exhibits help make this mission a resounding success.
PHOTO: LONELY PLANET
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