AstroTurf featured in "Baseball as America" exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston

Exhibit brings the history, science of baseball to life

By GARY FITZ Staff Writer gfitz@nashuatelegraph.com

Curt Schilling's bloody sock from the 2004 American League Championship Series with the Yankees is there.

So is a bat swung by Babe Ruth and a jersey worn by Jackie Robinson.

There are wooden seats from Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, which was demolished in 1971.

There is even a letter sent from former player Curt Flood to then-Commissioner Bowie Kuhn in December 1969, challenging baseball's reserve clause. Flood's eventual Supreme Court challenge was credited with opening the era of free agency and the much more lucrative contracts that players enjoy today.

All are part of an extensive collection called "Baseball as America," a traveling exhibit of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., on display through Sept. 1 at Boston's Museum of Science.

For baseball fans with a thirst for its history – and how that history reflected society in general – it's an easily accessible alternative to the approximately 250-mile trek, each way, from the Nashua area to Cooperstown.

This is the last stop in a 15-city tour of "Baseball as America," which opened in 2002. In terms of successful traveling museum exhibits, it's been compared with "King Tut and the Golden Age of Pharaohs."

There is plenty to see, do and even eat at "Baseball As America." In celebration of the exhibit, the museum cafe invites guest to sample 10 varieties of top-rated hot dogs, including the Dodger Dog, Chicago Red Hot and, of course, the Fenway Frank. The Hot Dogs of America are be available through Aug. 1.

The interactive portion of the exhibit, and the one most closely linked to science, is the "Home Plate Baseball Lab.'' Visitors can witness, close up, balls being shot out of a pitching machine at 95 mph. The visitor tries to "hit" the ball by pressing a button. A camera takes a photo when the button is pressed and the freeze-frame is displayed on a screen.

There is a pitching cage in which visitors can wind up and pitch and have their velocity recorded by radar. There are dissected baseballs, showing the differences in construction of balls used by Major League Baseball, the NCAA, Little League and T-ball. Another exhibit shows the different speed of balls rolled on different types of artificial turf. There are also dirt samples showing the differences from Fenway Park's pitching mound, warning track, infield and home plate area.

To read more of The Telegraph article

Museum of Science, Boston website

"Baseball as America" exhibit website