2015 was another banner year of the MEARS Museum and supporting reference/exemplar collection. Additions to the holdings included:
*Completion of the 1950-1952 Major League Baseball Patch Effort (1950 Athletics Connie Mack 50th Anniversary, 1951 Detroit 250th Anniversary, 1951 National League 75th Anniversary, 1951 American League 50th Anniversary, and 1952 New York Yankees 50th Anniversary)
* Uniforms Items:
-1936 Ernie Lombardi Cincinnati Reds Jacket
-1939 New York Yankees Road Jersey
-1940 Paul Derringer Cincinnati Reds World Series Cap
-1945 Pittsburgh Pirates Home Jersey
-1947 Philadelphia Phillies Home Jersey
-1947 New York Giants Road Uniform
-Early 1950s Carl Erskine Brooklyn Dodgers Cap
-1950 Philadelphia Athletics Home Jersey (Rare One Year Style)
-1951 Detroit Tigers Home Jersey
-1952 New York Yankees Road Jersey
-1954 Philadelphia Athletics Road Jersey (Rare One Year Style)
-1954 Ted Kluszewski Cincinnati Reds Home (Complete Uniform)
-1954 New York Giants Home Jersey
-1956 Cincinnati Reds Road Vest (Rare One Year Style)
-1960 Chicago White Sox Road Jersey
-1961 Los Angeles Angels Road Uniform
-1968 Pete Rose Cincinnati Reds Road Jersey (Rare One Year Style)
-1969 Tony Perez Cincinnati Reds Home Jersey
-1970 Sparky Anderson Cincinnati Reds Home Jersey
-c1973 Pete Rose Cincinnati Reds Jacket
* Bats:
-1951 Ewell Blackwell All Star Game Bat
-1954 Al Dark New York Giants World series Bat
-1954 Wes Westrum New York Giants World Series Bat
-1961 Vada Pinson Cincinnati Reds World Series Bat
-1970 Pete Rose All Star Game Bat
*Stadia:
-Second Crosley Field Ushers Uniform (Complete)
-Ebbets Field Ushers Cap (c1947-1954; Only Known Example)
-New York Yankees Ushers Jacket (c1947-1956
-New York Yankees Ushers Cap (c1947-1953)
-Wrigley Field Ushers Cap (c1930-1936; Only Known Example)
-Fenway Park Ushers Cap (Late 1940s/Early 1950s)
-Milwaukee County Stadium Seat Cushion (Rare 1950s Example)
-1950s Milwaukee County Stadium Ushers Jacket
-1960s Crosley Field Fan Conduct Sign
-1940 Crosley Field World Series banner
* Memorabilia:
-Brooklyn Dodgers Sun Cap
-Brooklyn Dodgers Amateur Baseball Foundation Baseball (Ball and Original Box)
-Sheet Music; “Let’s Keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn”
-Frank Robinson’s 1961 Cincinnati Reds Contract
This year’s efforts were somewhat heavy on Cincinnati Reds items as the majority of these were obtained and then loaned out right away to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum to support their 2015 All Star Game exhibit. The MEARS Museum staff believes very strongly in loaning out artifacts to support other museum efforts and we hope this is something we can continue in the future.
For 2016, we have taken down the displays devoted to:
-Baseball in the 1960s
-Baseball in the 1970s
-War Time Baseball
-The All Star Game
In their place we have opted to devote more space to team exhibits as well as recognition of two special players; Hank Aaron and Pete Rose. Also new for 2016 are “Learning Exhibits” that allow visitors to work through the research and evaluation process using established protocols and references so they might better see and understand the true value of the museum collection. We have also brought out hundreds of exemplar jerseys and jackets and placed them on racks in the “Learning Area” so that they may be enjoyed and leveraged to support individual directed research projects as well.I have included a schematic of the main floor of the museum and a few photographs so that you might be able to better envision what all of this looks like.
While the MEARS Museum is not yet open to the general public, we encourage collectors and other museums to contact us for tours or artifacts loans. For questions and comments on the MEARS Museum Collection, please feel free to contact me at DaveGrob1@aol.com. As always, enjoy what you collect and collect what you enjoy.
MEARS Auth, LLC / Curator, MEARS Museum Collection