WHAT: From Reconstruction to the Round Rock Express, baseball has been a key part of the social fabric of Texas. The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum honors this tradition with “Play Ball! Texas Baseball,” colorfully representing nearly 140 years of Texas baseball. Peppered with information about the Astros, Rangers, and today’s minor-league teams (Henry the Puffy Taco’s uniform is on display!), the real treasure is the first five innings of this “nine-inning” exhibit. Priceless: an 1870 box score between Union and Mexican troops; pictures of West Texas teams in Stetsons playing in the shadow of oil derricks; Willie Wells’ high school scrapbook that contains some of the only known photographs of the Austin Black Senators.

WHEN: Through Jan. 4. The Willie Wells Story, a 20-minute, one-man play about Wells, runs Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through Sept. 1. “The Spirit of Texas Baseball” is a three-part series featuring guest speakers. July 25, Aug. 22, and Sept. 26.

WHERE: The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, 1800 N. Congress.

PRICE: $4.50-5.50 (“Play Ball!”); $3.50-5 (The Willie Wells Story); $3.50-8.50 (both); $12-15 (“The Spirit of Texas”). 936-8746.

This article appears in Lost Austin II.

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