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Baseball As America
at The Houston Museum of Fine Arts
On May 21, 2005, Baseball As America, the first traveling exhibit featuring artifacts from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, makes its
eighth stop, at the The Houston Museum of
Fine Arts, in Houston, Texas.
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 Houston, the Hall of Fame has included a section titled “Lone
Star Baseball Stars,” highlighting baseball’s special relationship with
Houston.
Lone Star Baseball Stars
Texas is famed for doing things big. So it’s no surprise that it supports baseball in a big way. Scarcely a generation after the state’s first recorded game in 1867, Texas fielded 100 minor league clubs—more than any other state.
In 1888, Houston joined six cities in the professional Texas League. Its team, later called the Buffaloes, became a powerhouse, boasting legends such as future Hall of Famers Dizzy Dean and Joe Medwick. The Buffaloes represented the Bayou City until the end of the 1961 season, when the National League expansion Colt .45s brought big league ball to the Lone Star State.
Houston and its team—renamed the Astros—made headlines in 1965 with the innovative Astrodome, the first indoor stadium. The Astros have since enjoyed sporadic success on the field…but unwavering support from fans. And they continue to think big, opening a new stadium in 2000 and rewarding loyal fans with a spot in the 2004 National League Championship Series.
Some of the many artifacts in Baseball As America pertaining to baseball in
Houston include:
- Ball thrown by Astros ace Nolan Ryan for his 3,509th career strikeout on April 27, 1983, breaking the previous record held by Walter Johnson for 55 years
- Classic Houston Astros “rainbow” home jersey, worn by Nolan Ryan during the 1983 season
- Cap worn by Cy Young Award winner Mike Scott while pitching a division-clinching no-hitter for the Houston Astros on September
25, 1986
- Spikes worn by Astros second baseman Craig Biggio during the 1997 season
- Bat swung by Jeff Bagwell to achieve his 400th career home run, July
20, 2003
- Ball signed by U.S. astronauts Gus Grissom, John Young, Alan Shepard, Buzz
Aldrin and John Glenn Jr. at the 1965 home opener held at the new Astrodome
- Ken Johnson’s cap, worn April 23, 1964 when the Colts hurler became the first major league pitcher to throw a no-hitter and lose, 1-0 to the Cincinnati Reds
- Houston Colt .45s yearbook for 1962, the inaugural year of the expansion franchise
- Program from an April 1965 pre-season exhibition series held at the Astrodome, the first indoor major league baseball games
- Ticket from the first league game held at the Astrodome: Houston vs. the Philadelphia Phillies, April 12, 1965
- Pocket watch awarded to the minor league Houston Magnolia’s “most popular player,” Jimmy Slagle, in 1896
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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