By Dedra Cordle
Staff Writer
Sharon Bardus has some fun with her grandchildren, Daria and Jadon Bardus, at the Grove City Welcome Center and Museum’s baseball exhibit. The cutouts featuring players of a bygone era are just some of the attractions that Tracy Martin loaned to the museum for the exhibit that runs until Nov. 19.
As a host at the Grove City Welcome Center and Museum, Don Ivers has fallen in love with a number of the exhibits that have made their way through its doors, but there is something about the new baseball exhibit that makes him giddy whenever he browses the items on display.
“I feel like a kid again when I come back here,” he said.
While giving a tour of the collection, Ivers points out the baseballs in the display case and marvels at their appearance.
“Some of these are from the late 1800s and you can see how much and how little they have changed throughout the years,” he said.
Then he moves onto the next case where a pair of the All American Athletic Underwear that Babe Ruth endorsed lie in mint condition.
“Definitely wouldn’t want to wear those now or then,” Ivers joked.
Then he gestured to the wall where catcher’s uniforms from the late 1800s and early 1900s are stretched across the bricks.
“This,” he said while pointing to something that looks like a medieval torture contraption “is a spitter mask. Can you imagine how they must have looked while wearing this?”
Then he moves over to the other side of the room where baseball uniforms throughout the ages are on display.
As he points to a heavy wool uniform, Ivers, a former baseball player himself, says he cannot believe they had to wear this material while playing in the summer.
“They must have smelled terribly,” he said.
Each day, he said, he goes through this exhibit and yet it never bores him.
“There is so much stuff here,” Ivers said. “So much history and memories.”
He said this exhibit, which has only been at the museum since mid-July, has exceeded his expectations.
“And I was chomping at the bit to get this here too,” he said.
The plans to bring a baseball exhibit to the museum began last year when representatives with the museum and the Grove City Arts Council brainstormed a new attraction for the summer of 2016.
Knowing the city’s love for baseball, someone pitched the idea to contact renowned collector and Grove City resident Tracy Martin and see if he would be willing to loan some pieces to the museum.
Martin immediately said yes to the plan and even pitched his own theme.
“I was really interested in putting together a timeline of the first 100 years of baseball’s history,” Martin said.
Most of the pieces in the collection are dated from 1860 to 1960 and clever positioning puts the changes throughout the years on vivid display.
Martin said he was worried that the progression of the catcher’s equipment would not unfold properly, but as they started playing around with the placement of the items, they discovered that the brick wall really brings it to life.
He said he is very proud of this exhibit.
“It has turned out to be something truly special.”
And that is coming from a man whose Babe Ruth collection was on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. for several years.
Though one does not need to be a fan of baseball to enjoy the historical significance of the collection, Martin said it might help to have some of the game within your heart.
“Baseball always comes back to a memory,” he said.
Museum visitor Sharon Bardus, an admitted non-baseball fan, said this exploration of the history of baseball with her grandchildren certainly etched itself into her mind and hopefully into the minds of Daria and Jadon as well.
“This exhibit is awesome and I am so thankful to have found it here today,” she said.
The exhibit will run through Nov. 19 at the Grove City Welcome Center and Museum, located at 3378 Park Street. It is considered to be a moving museum since Martin plans to add and subtract items throughout the course of its run. There are no appointments needed, but museum visiting hours are Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, contact the museum at 614-277-3061.
