Sports & Leisure - Overview
The nation's passion for sports is obvious every day—at NASCAR races, kiddie soccer matches, and countless other contests. From a handball used by Abraham Lincoln to Chris Evert's tennis racket to a baseball signed by Jackie Robinson, the roughly 6.000 objects in the Museum's sports collections bear witness to the vital place of sports in the nation's history. Paper sports objects in the collections, such as souvenir programs and baseball cards, number in the hundreds of thousands.
Leisure collections encompass a different range of objects, including camping vehicles and gear, video games, playing cards, sportswear, exercise equipment, and Currier and Ives prints of fishing, hunting, and horseracing. Some 4,000 toys dating from the colonial period to the present are a special strength of the collections.
"Sports & Leisure - Overview" showing 7 items.
Baseball, used in the 1983 Cracker Jack Old Timers Baseball Classic.
- Description
- Baseball used in the 1983 Cracker Jack Old Timers Baseball Classic. The game was played at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. on July 18.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1983
- associated institution
- Cracker Jack Old Timers Baseball Classic
- maker
- Rawlings
- ID Number
- 1984.0229.01
- accession number
- 1984.0229
- catalog number
- 1984.0229.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baseball, signed by the 1984 San Francisco Giants.
- Description
- This ball was signed by members of the 1984 San Francisco Giants. That season the Giants finished 66-96, 6th in the National League West. The autographed baseball was collected by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), who was also an avid baseball fan.
- Autographs include George Riley; Joel Youngblood; Mark Calvert; Bob Brenly; Dusty Baker; Chris Brown; John Rabb; Dan Gladden; Steve Necosia; Mark Grant; Bill Laskey; Scott Thompson; Fran Mullins; John Clark; Duane Kuiper.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- performing artist; recipient
- Fitzgerald, Ella
- maker
- Rawlings
- ID Number
- 1996.0342.106
- accession number
- 1996.0342
- catalog number
- 1996.0342.106
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baseball, signed by the 1982 San Francisco Giants
- Description
- Baseball signed by the 1982 San Francisco Giants. That season the Giants finished 87-75, 3rd in the National League West. The ball was collected by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), who was also an avid baseball fan.
- Autographs include Frank Robinson; Bob Brenly; Chris Brown; Chili Davis; Jose Barrios; Reggie Smith; Mark Dempsey; Dan Schatzeder; Joe Morgan; Jack Clark.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1982
- performing artist; recipient
- Fitzgerald, Ella
- associated institution
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- maker
- Rawlings
- ID Number
- 1996.0342.107
- accession number
- 1996.0342
- catalog number
- 1996.0342.107
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baseball, signed by 1984 All-Star Game Participants
- Description
- Baseball signed by participants in the 1984 Major League Baseball All-Star Game . The exhibition was held on July 10th in Candlestick Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. It was won by the National League All-Stars by a score of 3-1. The game's MVP was Montreal Expo's catcher Gary Carter. The ball was collected by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), who was also an avid baseball fan.
- Autographs include Al Holland; Keith Hernandez; Dwight Gooden; Bob Brenly; Tim Wallach; Charlie Lea; Rafael Ramirez; Mike Schmidt; Mario Soto; Dale Murphy; Jesse Orosco; Tim Wallach; Tim Raines; Chili Davis; Jody Davis; Tony Gwynn; Ryne Sandberg.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1984
- performing artist; recipient
- Fitzgerald, Ella
- maker
- Rawlings
- ID Number
- 1996.0342.109
- accession number
- 1996.0342
- catalog number
- 1996.0342.109
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baseball, signed by Stan Musial
- Description (Brief)
- Stan Musial (b. 1920) played for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1941-1963. In that time he was a three time most valuable player, and finished his career with 3, 630 hits. The 24 time All-Star outfielder known as "The Man" won three World Series Championships with the Cardinals to go along with seven batting titles and a career .331 batting average. In 2011 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- signer
- Musial, Stan
- maker
- Rawlings
- ID Number
- 2009.0243.15
- accession number
- 2009.0243
- catalog number
- 2009.0243.15
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baseball, signed at the 1982 All Star Game
- Description (Brief)
- This Official Ball of the 1982 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was signed by a variety of retired baseball players. The game was played at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec on July 13th, 1982, and was the first All-Star game played outside the United States.
- Autographs include Pee Wee Reese; Stan Musial; Brooks Robinson; Johnny Mize; Mickey Vernon; Willie McCovey.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1982
- maker
- Rawlings
- ID Number
- 2009.0243.20
- accession number
- 2009.0243
- catalog number
- 2009.0243.20
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baseball, with Jackie Robinson Commemorative Stamp
- Description (Brief)
- Autographed baseball affixed with a Jackie Robinson commemorative stamp and 1984 postmark from Cooperstown, New York. The ball has been signed by a number of former Major League Ballplayers, including Carl Erskine; George Kell; Erne Banks; Joe Sewell; Pee Wee Reese; Lefty Gomez.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1984
- depicted
- Robinson, Jackie
- maker
- Rawlings
- ID Number
- 2009.3098.25
- nonaccession number
- 2009.3098
- catalog number
- 2009.3098.25
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center