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Baseball As America
at the Natural History Museum
of Los Angeles County
On September 22, 2002, Baseball As America, the first traveling exhibit featuring artifacts from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, makes its second stop, at the
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
County, in Los Angeles, California. Coming off a highly successful run in New York,
Baseball As America weaves artifacts from baseball history to explore the
game's unique impact on American culture.
As a unique feature of Baseball As America during its run in Los
Angeles, the Hall of Fame has included a section titled "The Game
Goes West," highlighting baseball's special relationship with
Southern California.
The Game Goes West
Baseball was born in the East, but swiftly moved west, nourished by the same transportation technology that brought new settlers. Within months after the transcontinental railroad knit the nation together in 1869, Cincinnati's renowned Red Stockings toured California. In 1929, the minor league Hollywood Stars became the first professional team to travel by air.
Southern California's "endless summer" lured the "boys of summer," bringing major league teams and stars for spring training and postseason tours. The first homegrown professional ballclubs were minor league teams of the California League (1892) and Pacific Coast League (1903). As California exploded into America's most populous state, Los Angeles fans embraced the former Brooklyn Dodgers in 1958. Major League Baseball responded to Southern California's expansion with its own expansion, creating the Angels (1961) and Padres (1969). Today, these local ballclubs are cherished symbols of proud communities.
Artifacts in Baseball As America pertaining to baseball in
Southern California include:
- Sheet music for the official fight song of the California Angels, written in 1966 by Dick Winslow, the "Angels' One Man
Band"
- Bat used by Dodgers outfielder Shawn Green during the 2002 season to hit a record seven home runs in three consecutive games, including four in a single
contest
- Broadside advertising a theatrical appearance by Babe Ruth at Grauman's Million Dollar Theatre,
1924
- California Angels cap with silver halo worn by pitcher Clyde Wright while throwing his July 3, 1970
no-hitter
- Jersey worn by the 1950 Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League, part of a uniform that included short
pants
- Steve Garvey "look-alike" fan given away at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego,
1983
- Souvenir pennant from a luncheon welcoming the former Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles,
1957
- Cap worn by Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Duke Snider during the club's 1959 World Series
triumph
To learn more about the exhibit, select a section below:
 
 
 
Our National
Spirit
Ideals & Injustices
Rooting for the Team
Enterprise & Opportunity
Sharing a Common Culture
Invention & Ingenuity
Weaving Myths
The
Exhibition | Tour
Schedule | The Book
Museum Shop | Press
Releases
The Hall of Fame | Become
a Member
© 2001 National Baseball Hall of Fame
and Museum, Inc.
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