Better than nothing

It’s the only major league baseball in Washington — at least for now.

A traveling exhibit of artifacts from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., will make a six-month stop in town starting tomorrow, giving local fans an up-close look at such treasures as record-setting home run bats used by Babe Ruth, Roger Maris and Mark McGwire, shoes owned by “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and a 1909 Honus Wagner baseball card that is the most valuable in the world.

On exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History until October, “Baseball as America” seeks to present the sport in anthropological terms, and explore baseball’s larger connection to American culture.

“This exhibit has something to tell us about ourselves,” said Cristian Semper, museum director. “Baseball is not only our national pastime but has helped shape our identity and the values for the entire world.”

The Washington stop for the exhibit is the sixth of a 10-city, four-year tour and marks an ever-increasing trend among sports shrines toward taking pieces of their collections around the country. Each of the major sports halls has faced attendance declines in recent years, and all are working to reconnect with fans in any way possible.

“While less then 2 percent of our entire collection, much of this exhibit has not been on display recently in Cooperstown,” said Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The arrival of “Baseball in America” in Washington comes on the 80th anniversary of the Washington Senators’ World Series victory in 1924.

The exhibit received a high-profile boost Wednesday night with a reception featuring 35 of 60 living Hall of Famers, including Bob Feller, Ernie Banks, Gary Carter and Baltimore Oriole legends Earl Weaver, Eddie Murray and Brooks Robinson. Most of that illustrious crowd returned for a news conference yesterday.

Among the numerous items of local baseball interest on display are ticket stubs from the first and last games of Cal Ripken’s streak of 2,632 consecutive games played, a Walter Johnson cap from 1927 and a scorebook from the Washington Olympic Base Ball Club of 1866.

Museum executives expect at least several million visitors to the exhibit the next six months. Several baseball-related discussions and symposia will occur during that span.

The District and Northern Virginia are among seven competitors for the Montreal Expos, currently owned by Major League Baseball. A relocation decision on the Expos has been delayed repeatedly the past two years, and no such choice appears imminent. Meanwhile, the club has played partial schedules in Puerto Rico to reap extra revenue and still parted ways with star outfielder Vladimir Guerrero and ace pitcher Javier Vazquez due to financial struggles.

“I’m obviously very disappointed with what’s happened to the team,” said Carter, a Hall of Fame inductee last year and arguably the greatest Expo ever. “They lost so many players after the strike of [1994-95] and never really recovered. But at some point they’ll be moving on, and I think it would be good for the nation’s capital to have a team. The Expos could fare quite well here and certainly would have the benefit of more financial support. I’d certainly be receptive to baseball bringing them here.”