November 8, 2001

First Major Exhibition Exploring Baseball and American Culture toat American Museum of Natural History March 2002

• Baseball As America to Bring Hall of Fame Treasures to 10 Museums Across the U.S.

• Cornerstone of Legendary Ebbets Field and Seats from Mythic Polo Grounds Ceremonially Unveiled and on Display at American Museum of Natural History

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New York — November 8, 2001 — Baseball As America, the first major exhibition to examine the relationship between baseball and American culture, will premiere at the American Museum of Natural History on March 16, 2002, and subsequently travel to nine leading museums across the U.S. Organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and culled from its unparalleled collections, this unprecedented exhibition marks the first time that these Hall of Fame treasures will leave their legendary home in Cooperstown, New York. Through the exploration of a broad range of themes, including immigration, nationalism, integration, technology and popular culture, Baseball As America will reveal how baseball has served as both a reflection of, and catalyst for the evolution of American society. The national tour of Baseball As America is sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP.

"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 who possess a shared set of values, as reflected through our national game."

"Baseball plays a unifying role, bringing together people of all backgrounds and from all geographic locations, strengthening our sense of community. Clearly this is especially important in these times," said Ellen V. Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History. "This fascinating exhibition examines all aspects of our national pastime, from its 19th century origins in New York State to its deeply embedded roots in American culture, indeed to its proliferation and popularity around the world, and in the process reveals the profound role of games and sport in societies across the globe."

Baseball As America will be organized in thematic sections to explore the changing roles baseball has played in American culture and history, and to examine its unique position in our national life as a sport that holds the status of an art, a science, and a secular religion. They will examine such aspects of the game as the rituals of fans and players; myth making and the role of heroes; the impact of technology on performance; segregation, integration and baseball's role as a ladder of mobility for ethnic groups; the game's evolution as a business; the physics of the home run and the curve ball; and baseball's presence throughout popular culture as a subject and metaphor, among many others. Ultimately, Baseball As America will reveal how the development of American culture owes so much to a 19th century game, affecting everything from our language and literature to movies, mass communication, and diet.

The exhibition will include approximately 500 of the Museums most precious artifacts, dating from baseball's early roots in the 19th century to today, ranging from uniforms, balls, bats and gloves, to books, recordings, artworks and films, to historic documents, advertising and ephemera. Among the highlights of the exhibition are

• the game's most sacred relic, the Doubleday Ball, from baseball's mythic first game in 1839

• Jackie Robinson's 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers jersey

• a variety of artifacts from the All American Girls Professional Baseball League

• record-setting bats from the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run chase of 1998, as well as those of Babe Ruth (home run #60 in 1927) and Roger Maris (home run #61 in 1961)

• FDR'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 1949 painting The Three Umpires

• the "Wonder Boy" bat from the movie The Natural

• a 1908 Edison recording of "Casey at the Bat"

• "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's shoes

• and the most valuable baseball card in the world, the T206 Honus Wagner.

"A cultural focus on something so familiar as baseball has produced an exhibition that is both thought provoking and revealing," noted Craig Morris, Senior Vice President, Dean of Science, and Curator, Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History. "Visitors will be able to look at our customs, values, and ritualistic practices, as manifested in baseball, in new and interesting ways."

The exhibition has been organized by a curatorial team from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, headed by Lead Curator Kristen Mueller, with John Odell, Mary Wiedeman Quinn, Erik Strohl, Tom Shieber, and Kathleen Gallagher, under the direction of Ted Spencer, Vice President and Chief Curator, William Haase, Senior Vice President, and Dale Petroskey, President. The exhibition has been designed by Gallagher and Associates of Washington, D.C.

Curatorial input for the American Museum of Natural History was provided by Robert Carneiro, Curator in the Museum's Division of Anthropology. Oversight for the installation at the Museum has been provided by the Exhibition Department under the direction of David Harvey, Vice President for Exhibition.

To highlight the national tour of Baseball As America, the American Museum of Natural History and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced on Thursday, November 8, 2001, that two baseball icons will be on public display at the American Museum of Natural History:

• a row of the celebrated green seats from the Polo Grounds, home of the New York Giants

• and the historic cornerstone from Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers

Unveiled at the announcement by officials from both museums and several Hall of Famers including George Brett, Lou Brock, Orlando Cepeda, Larry Doby, Carlton Fisk, Monte Irvin, Joe Morgan, and Mike Schmidt, the treasures will remain on display at the American Museum of Natural History through mid-August 2002, providing a preview of the sport's rich history on view in Baseball As America.

The cornerstone of Ebbets Field, which will be on display in the Museum's Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda at 79th Street and Central Park West, is a testament to the golden age of Brooklyn baseball that ended when the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. For many fans, Ebbets Field embodied the best of baseball. Built in 1912, the stadium offered fans seating in close proximity to the playing field and to the dugouts making every game a personal encounter between fan and player. Ebbets Field was demolished in 1960.

The six seats from the Polo Grounds, which will be on display at the Museum's Rose Center entrance at 81st Street, are all that remain of what was once considered to be the greatest ball park in the world when it was constructed in 1911 along Eighth Avenue between 157th and 159th Streets in upper Manhattan. Home to the New York Giants for more than 45 years, the Polo Grounds stadium was razed in 1964 to make room for an apartment complex.