Baseball Exhibit Sure to Be A Hit With RED SOX Nation No Need to Visit Cooperstown This Summer. Save the Gas and See Baseball As America Exhibit in Boston Visitors can hold bats modelled after baseball greats like Babe Ruth, Mark McGuire, and Rod Carew. susan scully petroni More than a game, baseball weaves together the many threads of American culture. With each new season, hopes and dreams are renewed as fans root for their favorite teams (Go Red Sox Nation!) And this summer, the Museum of Science gives Red Sox fans another reason to cheer as its hosts the 15th and final stop of the national tour of Baseball As America through Sept 1. Organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., Baseball As America is the first major exhibit to highlight the relationship between baseball and American culture. To augment the exhibit, Boston's Museum of Science created new exhibits and programs offering visitors the chance to explore the science and technology behind the game. The Museum's Home Plate Baseball Lab will give visitors the chance to experience life as a catcher, how to choose the right bat, and even how to hold the ball for a specific pitch. These science exhibits and experiments (See sidebar for more details.) are hands on and are sure to delight young children, who may not have an appreciation for some of the more than 500 historical artifacts on display. susan scully petroni A family views Norman Rockwell's painting "Game Called Because of Rain (Tough Call)." While young children will recognize names like Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Babe Ruth, and of course current Red Sox Nation players, the exhibit also features rare photos and possessions from baseball greats like, Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, Rod Carew, Pete Rose, Lou Gehrig, Yogi Berra, and many more. Red Sox Nation is strongly represented past and present. Fans can see: • Red Sox jersey worn by Cy Young in 1908 • 1912 World Series ticket and Program, featuring the Red Sox • Glove worn by Bobby Doerr when he earned the 1948 fielding record. (Doerr, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame class of 1986, toured the exhibit along with a handful of other members of the Baseball Hall of Fame from the Red Sox including Carlton Fisk, Dennis Eckersley, Carl Yastrzemski, & Wade Boggs a few days before its public opening on Father's Day, June 15.) susan scully petroni Pictured is an autographed Cincinnati Reds helmet from Pete Rose, shoes from Tony Gwynn, a member of 2007 Hall of Fame class, and gloves from seven-time batting title holder Rod Carew. • Bat used by Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams for his 521st and final home run in 1960 • Silver bat awarded to Carl Yastrzemski as the 1967 battling champion (triple crown) • Patch commemorating Carlton Fisk's home run in the 1975 World Series • Ball marking Jim Rice's 400th total base during the 1978 season • Wade Boggs' batting gloves from 1989, his seventh straight season with 200 hits • Shoes worn by Mo Vaughn during his 1995 American League MVP season in 1995 Members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League stand at attention during the National Anthem. National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum • Curt Schilling's Bloody Sock from game 2 of the 2004 World Series • Baseball cap worn by Clay Buchholz during his Sept. 1 2007 no-hitter • A piece of the "Green Monster" left-field wall from Fenway park "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," said National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark. "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 in our national game." The exhibit features several cultural baseball icons, like Norman Rockwell's painting "Game Called Because of Rain (Tough Call)," eyeglasses worn by legendary broadcaster Harry Carey, a photograph of Dodger announcer Vin Scully, among others. Get the catcher's-eye view of a 95 mph pitch. susan scully petroni The exhibit also takes on social issues. There is an area devoted to the promise of opportunity and the struggles faced by heroes like Jackie Robinson to ensure baseball evolved to reflect that promise. Also to be viewed are several famous "Hollywood" baseball items, including a Bull Durham poster, a uniform from A League of Their Own, jerseys from the Bad News Bears movies, and the "Wonderboy" bat used by Robert Redford in the 1984 baseball film The Natural. There is a look back at baseball's beginnings in the 1800s. Visitors can witness the game's evolution from its humble beginnings to its currents status of America's national pastime to its symbol of patriotism during and post 9/11. There is a glass case devoted to baseball and 9/11. There is a section devoted to baseball's traditions, including the creation of the seventh-inning stretch, team colors, scorecards, the song Take Me Out To The Ball Game, and even ball park fare like hot dogs, peanuts, and Cracker Jacks. Hear the "Sweet Spot" in a wood and aluminum bat. susan scully petroni Another area of the exhibit focuses on advertising's love of baseball. Through topics like player endorsements, ballpark business, Wheatie's boxes, and more visitors can see how baseball is big business. Finally, fans of baseball can be a part of the exhibit. The Museum of Science is inviting Red Sox Nation to submit their own video-taped baseball story or a photographed to be featured in the exhibit and or online. Stories and photos can be submitted via the Museum's Web site at www.mos.org/baseball Fans submitting stories or photos in advance of their visit will have the opportunity to watch them on mounted video monitors in the exhibit. (If you post after your visit, you can view online.) To kick off the interactive media project, the Museum of Science collected more than three dozen stories from very notable baseball fans, including U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, former Red Sox players Bill Lee & Johnny Pesky, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, sportswriters Dan Shaughnessy & Jackie MacMullen, Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart, Sportscasters Mike Lynch & Dan Roche, and the Red Sox' Terry Francona, Tom Werner, Larry Luccino, & John Henry. Until you get to the exhibit, you can view their baseball stories online, too. Test your speed pitching. Learn how science can increase speeds. susan scully petroni Admission to Baseball America is included with regular exhibit hall tickets to the Museum of Science, so expect heavy crowds all summer long. Tickets are $17 for adults, $15 for seniors age 60 and older, and 414 for children ages 3- 11. Expect heavy crowds all summer for this exhibit, which closes on Sept 1. For additional information visit www.mos.org Exploring the Science of BASEBALL This summer, visitors to the Museum of Science in Boston will experience the adrenaline rush of a baseball being hurled toward them at 95 mph; seek the sweet spot of a bat, wind-up a pitch like Jon Lester while investigating velocity, acceleration, and spinning forces like a physicist. In conjunction with the final stop of Baseball As America exhibit from The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, the Museum of Science created the Home Plate Baseball Lab. (While the Hall of fame exhibit is open through Sept. 1, the Home Plate Baseball Lab is at the Museum only through Aug. 1) Visitors can learn where to place their fingers on a ball to throw curve, fast, and knuckballs. susan scully petroni The Museum worked for 18 months to build the Home Plate Baseball Lab to engage visitors, especially children, in the science and technology behind the game. Lab components include: • Pitching Machine: Visitors will experience the adrenaline rush of a baseball being hurled toward them at 95 mph and have a chance to test and analyze their swing reflexes. • Pitching Momentum: Explore the transfer of momentum from the pitcher's body to the baseball. A photo series of a Red Sox pitcher shows how momentum is transferred from the lower body to the upper body to the ball. Visitors can watch Red Sox pitchers throwing pitches in realtime and slow motion. To demonstrate the principle, visitors experiment with throwing a beanbag. First, they throw the bean bag at a target 10 feet away without moving their feet. Then, visitors throw the ball while using their legs and feet. A radar gun attached to the target measures the velocity of each bean bag pitch. • Pitching Grips: Discover the differences between three types of pitches: fastball, curveball, and knuckleball. Visitors can hold baseballs that are marked for each different pitch, to get a feel for the different grips. Sock worn by Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling on his right foot during game two of the 2004 World Series. Milo Stewart Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, New York. • Pitching Cage: Visitors can wind-up and try to pitch like a major leaguer while exploring speed, velocity, acceleration, and spinning forces. Museum interpreters will help engage visitors in the science and technology of the game with multiple small-group activities. • Medical Stories: Examine the causes behind sports injuries that commonly afflict young, non-professional baseball players, plus learn about treatment and how to prevent injuries. Visitors look at medical images, like x-rays, MRIs, etc, of injuries and compare to a healthy shoulder or elbow. They'll learn about good nutrition and how children and teens can prepare their bodies in a healthy way for practice and games. • The Baseball: Explore baseball's history, materials, and physical make-up with a dissected MLB ball. Visitors can look at and touch cut open balls used by Major League Baseball, NCAA, Little League, and T-Ball. They'll investigate how the balls look and feel, while a video monitor shows high-speed video of the four ball collisions. • The Baseball Field: All turfs are not created equal. Discover the ways groundskeepers use dirt and grass to perfect the qualities of the playing surfaces, including historic Fenway Park. Visitors examine several types of dirt in clear boxes and learn about the advantages of each one. The samples consist of the types of dirt used in different parts of Fenway: pitcher's mound, warning track, infield, and home plate area. In another activity, see how the speed of a hit ball is affected by the playing surface of the field. An incline is covered in three different surfaces: tall FieldTurf (the latest artificial turf) shorter FieldTurf, and AstroTurf (the older type of artificial turf). Visitors can roll balls down the slope and watch how fast they roll down on different surfaces. Also compare the turfs of Fenway Park from the past and present, plus discover how groundskeepers create those checkerboard patterns in the grass. • Which Bat? Visitors investigate the difference between wood and aluminum bats and find the "sweet spot" of each. Explore the difference in tradition, swing speed, performance, and the effect on the inside pitch. Visitors can press one of two buttons to hear the sound of a wood or aluminum bat hitting a home run. • Fielding Gloves: Get a feel for the history and evolution of the fielding glove. Visitors learn about the characteristics of fielding gloves for different positions: catcher, pitcher, outfield, first base, and infield - then they'll test their knowledge in a matching activity. Can you tell which type of glove Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek uses? Visitors can touch a number of these gloves. • Scientific Research: Learn about the studies conducted at the Baseball Research Center at UMass-Lowell, which focus on bat performance, bat durability, and baseball testing. NEW TO BOSTON Even if you were fortunate to have seen the Baseball As America exhibit at one of its other 14 stops, since it began its national tour in March 2002, the 15th and final stop of the tour at the Museum of Science in Boston has several new items never seen before as part of the tour. They include: • Curt Schilling's bloody sock from the 2004 World Series • The final out baseball from the 2004 World Series • David Ortiz's jersey worn during the 2004 World Series • Glove worn by Jonathan Papelbon in the 2007 World Series • Boston Red Sox jersey worn by Cy Young