In 2016, my family traveled to Washington DC to celebrate the Royals 2015 World Series championship. While there, we toured the city, visiting Lincoln, Dr. King, and the Smithsonian. Experiencing the Smithsonian was truly beyond words. I spotted a baseball from an exclusive All-Star Game and it reminded me of some of the stories Bob Kendrick tells.
The Buck O’Neil “Nancy” story.
All the stories about Jackie Robinson.
The stories about the amazing statues on the Field of Legends.
In the game from the Smithsonian ball, the man whose statue is at first base hit a decisive home run.
Whenever I visit the Field of Legends, I’m drawn to the man on the mound. Bob tells the story of a bet that took place while he was on a Triple-A team which now shares its name with a major league team. Bob’s story of him throwing a baseball through a hole in the fence and winning the bet is absolutely hilarious.
I wasn’t too far from that same hurler’s statute when I played catch with two players from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the fall of 2018 as a part of Catch 365.
Their story as a league is well-known because of one of the best baseball movies, A League of Their Own. Their story is again being celebrated because of a new book by Anika Orrick.
As Bob Kendrick reminds us, however, they weren’t the only women who played professional baseball. One even made an appearance off Broadway last year.
Even though there isn’t baseball being played currently, there are some pretty cool baseball-related things happening.
Michael Rivers is helping those still chasing MLB dreams.
The Play Catch Foundation is also supporting those dreamers.
In anticipation of Easter, Baseball Seams Co has created a number of new baseball crosses.
And there are so many fine baseball podcasts — the Turn a Pair Baseball Podcast and The Moonlight Graham Show just to name a couple of my favorites.
In the meantime, I’m swinging my favorite MacDougall bat, wishing Jake of Cespedes Family BBQ a speedy recovery, trying to custom-design a Mitchell bat, and dreaming world-record catch-playing dreams.
Now.
The above story provides contexts for the following questions.
Via the Contact page, email the correct answers to the following questions by Thursday (March 26) for a chance to win a free copy of America at the Seams. A winner will be randomly selected from all the entries with correct answers.
Questions:
- What words are written on the baseball at the Smithsonian Museum?
- In that All-Star Game, who hit the home run, what was the final score of the game, and which team won?
- Who is on the mound of the Field of Legends?
- The hurler had a personal nickname for the person who made the bet challenging the throw through the fence. What was the personal nickname?
- Who owned the Triple-A team and what was the team’s name?
- What was won in the bet?
- On what day of Catch 365 did I play catch with 2 players from the AAGPBL?
- What were the names of the AAGPBL players?
- What is the name of the book by Anika Orrick?
- What 2 years are listed on the cover of her book?
- What was the name of the player / play off-Broadway? Who played the lead character?
- What is the Twitter handle for Michael Rivers’ non-profit?
- Who started the Play Catch Foundation?
- What are the names / titles of the new baseball crosses artwork?
- What cities and states are represented by the podcasts?
- On what date did the Royals visit the White House?
- What year was Mitchell Bats established and in what city are they located?
- How much does an M-Series MacDougall Bat currently cost?
- What kind of surgery did Jake have?
- What is the title of my catch-playing book and what month will it publish?
Good luck!
