Day Trips

“Baseball as America” brings back memories. The summer headline exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, showcases the national pastime with more than 500 objects borrowed from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Many of the items haven’t been on public display in decades. Almost everything in the show is so unique that it is exciting just to see the original. The Holy Grail of the show for some will be the Honus Wagner baseball card from 1909. The highlight of the show for Yankees fans may be the mitt that Yogi Berra used to catch Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series – the only time that feat has been accomplished.

OK, that last item might be of more personal interest than it is awe-inspiring to the general public. “I can remember when Texas fans were Yankees fans,” Berra said at the Houston exhibition. On opening day of the show, the museum brought in the former Yankees catcher along with hall of famers Dave Winfield, Gaylord Perry, Earl Weaver, and Ryne Sandberg to talk baseball.

Of all the team sports, there is something about baseball that makes it one of the most personal. Over the years the game has changed, but it has been carried along by the fans for the love of the game. The highs and the lows of the business and the sport are brought back through the exhibit.

During the Sixties, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle were battling for the home run title, and baseball games were the best reality shows on television. My friends and I replayed the great moments in sports history on our own baseball diamonds cut into vacant lots. We played every summer day until our mothers called us home for supper.

Many of the artifacts brought back memories of the summers when baseball was the most important game in our young lives. Seeing the display about Mantle, I couldn’t help but remember when I had seen him when I was a squealing 10-year-old. My father, whose opinion of sports was what I think of my kid’s video games, laughed hysterically as I joined a riot of kids chasing the Yankees slugger from the Montgomery Wards before he could sign his name once.

Mantle was great, but my favorite Yankee during that era was Yogi Berra. The irascible catcher who gave us quotes like “Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded” and “It ain’t over till it’s over” was my childhood hero, and there he was sitting in front of Nolan Ryan’s Astros jersey. I had to struggle to repress the same giddiness I had felt at Montgomery Wards.

It was good to see that, for an 80-year-old, the hall of famer looked fit. I stared at him from across the room, and the memories of the flickering images on television came flooding back. For a few moments we were both decades younger.

After the television cameras moved down the hall, I waited my turn at the end of the line of autograph seekers and picture takers for my chance to shake the hand that had once been inside that tattered glove. When it was just me and Yogi, I could feel my professionalism slipping away.

Even though the museum had said that no autographs would be given, the hall of famers seemed happy to oblige. After a couple of questions, I simply couldn’t resist the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I slipped a brand-new baseball from my camera bag and handed it to Berra before a museum staff member could intercept. I suffered the inevitable scolding gladly for a piece of baseball history that I missed as a Little Leaguer.

Recall some baseball memories or make some new ones at “Baseball as America” through Aug. 14 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The museum is open Tuesday and Wednesday, 10am-5pm; Thursday 10am-9pm; Friday and Saturday, 10am-7pm; Sunday 12:15-7pm; and is closed on Monday. Admission is $7 for adults, $3.50 for children, free for everyone on Thursday, and free on Saturday and Sunday for children with any library card or wearing a Little League uniform. For more information, call 713/639-7300 or go to www.mfah.org.

This article appears in June 3 • 2005.