Honus Wagner T206 Tobacco Card, 1909–1911. © National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

I think there are only three things that America will be known for 2,000 years from now when they study this civilization: the Constitution, jazz music and baseball. They’re the three most beautifully designed things this culture has ever produced.

Gerald Early, scholar

Baseball As America, the first major exhibition to examine the relationship between the national pastime and American culture, comes to the Oakland Museum of California September 17, 2005–January 22, 2006.

Organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, in Cooperstown, New York, Baseball As America is on a four-year, ten-city nationwide tour, marking the first time many of the treasures have left their legendary home. The national tour of Baseball As America is sponsored by Ernst & Young.

Baseball As America is a national celebration of America’s romance with baseball. The blockbuster exhibition explores the game’s enduring impact on American society, touching on immigration, nationalism, integration, technology, and popular culture.

	Baseball as America Exhibition Events
	Baseball As America website

“Baseball and America have grown up together. In fact, the game is such an integral part of our culture that we often take for granted its deep day-to-day significance in our lives,” noted Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the board of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “In bringing this exhibition to people across the country, it is our hope that we can learn more about ourselves as a people with shared values, as reflected in our national game.”

Exhibition Highlights

• The revered Doubleday Ball, a relic from baseball's mythical first game in 1839
• Jackie Robinson's 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers jersey
• Artifacts from the All American Girls Professional Baseball League
• Record-setting bats from Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, and the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run chase of 1998
• President Franklin Roosevelt's January 15, 1942, "Green Light" letter calling for the continuation of professional baseball as a way to heighten morale during World War II
• Norman Rockwell's droll 1949 painting “The Three Umpires”
• "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's shoes
• The most highly prized baseball card in the world—the T206 Honus Wagner, 1909

Jackie Robinson’s Dodgers Jersey, 1956. © National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Exhibition Themes
Baseball As America is organized into seven thematic sections to explore the changing roles baseball has played in American culture and history.

Our National Spirit. The links between our heritage and national institutions and the game—baseball as cultural ambassador abroad and unifying tradition at home.

Ideals & Injustices. Baseball as a microcosm and catalyst for America’s changing attitudes about equality and opportunity.

Rooting for the Team. A look at baseball rituals—hot dogs, the seventh-inning stretch, wearing team jerseys and colors to the game, fan clubs, baseball cards, and autographs.

Enterprise & Opportunity. Baseball as a business, notably the introduction of an admission fee and the role of baseball in advertising and product endorsements.

Sharing a Common Culture. Lo, the ubiquitous baseball cap! How baseball has become integral to popular American culture, from Norman Rockwell to mainstream movies.

Invention & Ingenuity. Both on the field and off—technological advances in sports equipment, the aerodynamics of the fastball and the curveball, TV and radio partnerships.

Weaving Myths. Stadiums have become shrines. Players become legends. Ruth, DiMaggio, Robinson, Mays, and Koufax each embody an era or an ideal.

Bay Area Baseball Component
Bay Area baseball history is especially rich, with two major league franchises and its illustrious Pacific Coast League teams. Baseball As America at the Oakland Museum of California includes a local component, organized by the museum, with artifacts and photographs of the legendary Billy Martin and Casey Stengel; hometown heroes Joe DiMaggio, Ricky Henderson, and Joe Morgan; and players who broke barriers—Oakland native “Pumpsie” Green, the first black player on the Boston Red Sox, and Glenn Burke, the first openly gay player.

Publication: Baseball As America

The exhibition is accompanied by a major publication, Baseball As America, published by the National Geographic Society. The 320-page compendium includes 45 newly commissioned and 30 classic essays, literature, and commentaries from scholars, humorists, and writers. Historical photos and images of objects in the exhibition illustrate the book.

Baseball As America premiered in New York City in March 2002 at the American Museum of Natural History. It has also appeared at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, The Field Museum in Chicago, the Cincinnati Museum Center, the Florida International Museum in St. Petersburg, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis, and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibition travels to the Henry Ford Museum, in Detroit, after its run in Oakland. For information on the exhibition, visit www.baseballasamerica.org.

Organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, in Cooperstown, New York, Baseball As America is in the midst of a four-year, ten-city nationwide tour, marking the first time the treasures have left their legendary home.

The national tour of Baseball As America is sponsored by Ernst & Young. Major Sponsorship of Baseball As America at the Oakland Museum of California is provided by the Oakland Museum Women’s Board. Additional funding provided by the Wells Fargo Foundation, Platinum Advisors, and the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund.

Relax and ride Amtrak to the exhibit; the Amtrak Jack London station is just a short 8-block walk from the Oakland Museum.

© 2005 Oakland Museum of California | Credits |Phone: 510-238-2200