Shifting on the 7’s: LLWS and the Latinization of the MLB
1947: Early History of the LLWS The mainstream history of Major League Baseball has historically been a white male history, although females, religious, and racial and ethnic minorities were integral to the Pastime becoming part of the cultural zeitgeist of the United States. Because of this, it is apropos to redress the lack of focus […]
Interview with an Author: David A. Kelly
Stacie Nelson’s interview with David A. Kelly, author of the popular Ballpark Mysteries Series for young baseball fans. When his young sons desired to read about sports themes and loved mysteries, David Kelly began to research and learn about writing for this audience. After lots of work and rewriting his first book, Babe Ruth and the […]
The Negro Leagues
This article was written by Jay Sanford, guest author and historian from Denver, Colorado. By the time Rube Foster organized The Negro League, in 1920, black baseball had already traveled a long and often bumpy road. Foster came from the small country town of Calvert in southwest Texas. He became attracted to baseball as a […]
Beloved Neighborhood Ballparks
In the early 1900’s every Major League team played their games in small, poorly built stadiums. Most of these stadiums had capacities under 10,000. They were all wooden construction with bleacher type seating all around and had huge issues with fire. In 1900 League Park in Cincinnati burned down and in 1911, the third version […]
Happy Birthday Willie Mays!
Happy Birthday to Giants great and Hall of Famer Willie Mays! Anyone who grew up in the 50′ or 60’s had a few special baseball cards. One was Willie Mays! Willie was born in 1931 in Westfield, Alabama, the son of Annie Satterwhite and William Mays. The ‘Say Hey Kid’s’ dad, called him Cat, because […]
Playing on Mayan Time
After the commissioner’s trophy is hoisted and the leaves finish falling, winter settles into the minds of the boys of summer and their passionate fans. Like clockwork, the temperature starts to fall in the north and the low winter sun provides summertime to the southern hemisphere. The snowbirds then ride out the winter months in […]
Japanese American Baseball: A Shared Experience – Part 2
Don’t forget the National Ballpark Museum’s event THIS WEEKEND on July 27th: ‘Japanese American Baseball A Shared Experience’, it takes place at History Colorado Center on July 27th from 3:30-5:30pm. This is a one time fund raiser event for the NBM (National Ballpark Museum). The National Ballpark Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and receives all […]
Japanese American Baseball: A Shared Experience – Part 1
As part of the National Ballpark Museum’s upcoming event on July 27th: ‘Japanese American Baseball A Shared Experience’, I would like to spend a few days and share some of the history surrounding the Japanese American baseball experience. First of course, a reminder about the event. It takes place at History Colorado Center on July […]
The Fires that changed Fenway Park
On May 8th 1926, a fire broke out at Fenway Park in Boston that changed the ballpark forever! Fenway had been the sight of several minor fires since its opening in 1912, but none was as serious as this one. Wooden construction The park was originally constructed mostly of wood. This made the park vulnerable […]
Charlie Blackmon’s Historic Month!
June was an incredible month for Charlie Blackmon! The numbers that he put up are not only historic for the Colorado Rockies, but for all of Major League Baseball! He was clearly the best hitter in MLB not just because I like him, but because it truly was one of the best months in history. […]