America’s game

Baseball has been there through war and peace. As America be-gan breaking down its racial barriers, so did the sport. Geographic loyalties and cheering for heroes have united communities.

In short, baseball is America.

These are some of the themes highlighted in “Baseball as America: Seeing Ourselves Through Our National Game,” a new exhibit that opened yesterday at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

The exhibit features about 500 artifacts from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Fans can see, among other things, the first ball pitched by Cy Young in the first World Series in 1903, a letter of admiration from then-Sen. John F. Kennedy to Jackie Robinson as he broke the color barrier in 1947, the original 1908 manuscript of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and bats from the 1998 home-run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

These items will make an obvious impression on baseball fans. There is a bigger story to tell here, though, says Robert Sullivan, the museum’s associate director for public programs. That is why “Baseball as America” is being housed in a museum dedicated to anthropology.

“This exhibit is looking at baseball as a social phenomenon,” Mr. Sullivan says. “It explores baseball as ritual, as social relationships. Like all games, baseball is the cosmic struggle between order and chaos.”

The exhibition is organized into seven sections, each addressing a series of related ideas and issues surrounding the game. The sections are:

• Ritual: Weaving Myths. This area explores players and aspects of the games as cultural icons. A large portion is devoted to Babe Ruth, the larger-than-life player who was the sport’s first national superstar.

• Our National Spirit. Here is where the themes of patriotism and identity can be found. Among the items: a baseball signed by 10 presidents and a ball pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center.

• Ideals and Injustices. Baseball, like society, has had to struggle with change. Among the items here are letters — both positive and negative — as Hank Aaron prepared to break Ruth’s all-time home-run record in 1974.

• Ritual: Rooting for the Team. Here is where the attachment of fans to their teams is explored. Whether it is nostalgia for a moment in the past or an unshakable loyalty, everyone has “my team.” Mascots are given their tribute here.

• Enterprise and Opportunity. From the introduction of the admission fee to baseball players as pitchmen, baseball is big business. A 1910 ticket window from Chicago’s Comiskey Park and a selection of Wheaties boxes, among other items, illustrate this.

• Invention and Ingenuity. Here is where technological advances, home-run power and aerodynamics are discussed.

• Ritual: Creating a Common Culture. This segment explains how baseball is everywhere in Americans’ lives, from Norman Rockwell paintings to expressions such as “he hit it out of the park” to movies such as “The Natural.”

The exhibit’s Washington visit, which will run through early October, is the sixth stop on a national tour that began in New York two years ago.

As in other cities, parts of the display will be dedicated to local baseball history. In Washington, that includes items that represent the District as a former baseball city as well as the presidents’ role in baseball history, Mr. Sullivan says.

On display are Washington Senators photos and Griffith Stadium memorabilia as well as items documenting the history of Negro League baseball in the area. There also are items showing the involvement of the presidents — from photos of them throwing out the first pitches and Senate aides playing a pickup game on the Mall to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1942 “green light letter.”

That letter was written to then-baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, encouraging him to let the games continue during World War II as a way to boost morale.

“In that sense, baseball became a place to put itself back together again, much like it did after September 11,” says Jerry Sachs, the museum’s special assistant to the director for business development and marketing.

Says Mr. Sullivan: “Baseball continues to be the symbol of American spirit.”

Many of the fragile, aging artifacts (such as Lou Gehrig’s glove) are kept behind glass, but the exhibit features plenty of hands-on activities. In the section devoted to the science of baseball, visitors can read instructions on how to throw change-up or knuckleball pitches, then grip a baseball attached to the wall to try it out.

They also can pick up bats of various sizes to compare bat size and swing and how players, including Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth, have evolved over the years.

Baseball, for many families, means memories of going to games with Dad or playing Little League. Mr. Sullivan hopes the exhibit also will appeal to families.

“Baseball has always been a family ritual,” he says. “We expect big family audiences. Most families have some relationship to baseball.”

When you go:

Location: “Baseball as America” is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW.

Hours: The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The exhibition will run through Oct. 3.

Admission: Free

Parking: There is limited on-street parking around the Mall. The nearest Metro stop is the Smithsonian stop on the Blue and Orange lines.

Note: “Baseball as America” is an exhibition featuring about 500 items on loan from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. It explores the central themes of baseball and humanity, such as rituals, patriotism, ideals and enterprise. Among some of the rare artifacts: 1909 Honus Wagner card, Babe Ruth’s 56-ounce spring training bat, Roberto Clemente’s cap, Walter Johnson’s 1927 glove, shoes worn by “Shoeless Joe” Jackson in 1919, and an autographed first ball thrown out by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940.

More information: 202/357-2700 or www.si.edu or www.baseballasamerica.org.