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Baseball As America
at The Field Museum in Chicago
On February 8, 2003, Baseball As America, the first traveling exhibit featuring artifacts from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, makes its
third stop, at the The Field Museum, in
Chicago, Illinois.
Baseball As America weaves artifacts from baseball history to explore the
game's unique impact on American culture.
As a feature of Baseball As America during its run in
Chicago, the Hall of Fame has included a section titled "Root, Root,
Root for the Home Team," highlighting baseball's special relationship with
Chicago.
Root, Root, Root for the Home Team
“There is no city in America that is prouder of its ball team than is Chicago,” wrote the Sporting News in 1886. That’s still true. Despite a legendary World Series dry spell — the Cubs haven’t won since 1908, the White Sox since 1917 — fans remain faithful. This team loyalty has merged with traditional North Side-South Side rivalries … most visibly in the 25 City Series games played between 1903 and 1942.
The Windy City also has left its mark on the national game. It drew headlines with the infamous 1919 Black Sox scandal…and drew audiences as a broadcasting pioneer, embracing radio in the 1920s when most teams feared that fans would abandon the ballpark if they could cheer from home. In 1933, Chicago hosted the first All-Star Game. It also gave birth to the first successful Negro league (1920) and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943).
Some of the many artifacts in Baseball As America pertaining to baseball in
Chicago include:
- Bat used by Sammy Sosa to tally his 500th career home
run, becoming the 18th major leaguer and first Latin American to reach that
milestone
- Louisville Slugger swung by Chicago Cubs legend Billy Williams en route to winning the 1972 National League batting title with a .333 average
- Kerry Wood’s cap, worn May 6, 1998, when the rookie pitcher struck out 20 Astros at Wrigley Field, tying the major league record for strikeouts in a game
- Ball thrown by Chicago Cubs ace Ferguson Jenkins on May 25, 1982 for his 3,000th strikeout, the seventh pitcher to reach that career milestone
- Ball that earned Ernie Banks — “Mr. Cub” — his 500th career home run, hit beyond the ivy at Wrigley Field on May 12, 1970
- Souvenir pin from the Cubs’ last Fall Classic appearance, 1945
- Joe Jackson’s watch fob, commemorating the 1917 World Championship
- Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown’s fob, crafted from championship jewelry awarded between 1906 and 1908
- Turkey Red baseball cards of the famed “trio of bear cubs”: Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance
- Glove used by Nellie Fox, skilled second baseman of the “Go-Go” White Sox, c. 1959
- Mask worn in 1988 by White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk when he caught his 1,807th game, breaking the American League record for games played at that position
- Chicago American Giants jacket worn by Negro leagues first baseman Lyman Bostock Sr., c. 1949
- Souvenir photo card, c. 1902, of the Chicago Stars Ladies’ Base Ball Club
- Advertising coupon featuring the National League Chicago White Stockings, 1889
- Score Book from the 1906 all-Chicago World Series
- Charm presented to Nick Altrock of the 1906 World Champion Sox
- Fob commemorating the 1911 White Sox victory in the postseason “City Series”
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 | Highlights
The Book | Museum Store | Press
Releases
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a Member
© National Baseball Hall of Fame
and Museum, Inc.
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