USA TODAY International Edition
10BEST: Baseball pilgrimage sites
For true baseball fans, catching a game is just the start. They can also pay homage to the sport at monuments, museums and graves across the USA. “You can have an experience that takes you beyond the ballpark,” says Josh Pahigian, author of 101 Baseball P
MUDVILLE HOLLISTON, MASS. In the poem Casey at the Bat, the mighty slugger strikes out, leaving “no joy in Mudville.” Both Holliston, Mass., and Stockton, Calif., have connections to the poet, Ernest L. Thayer, and lay claim to being the defeated burg. But the New England city boasts a Casey’s Pub, statue and a baseball team, the Mudville Nine. “Whether it adopted the poem or the poem adopted it, doesn’t really matter. The most famous baseball poem has a town,” Pahigian says. mudvillebaseballclub.com
SIMPSONS STATUES ALBUQUERQUE In a 2001 episode of The Simpsons, the Springfield Isotopes baseball team plans to move to Albuquerque until Homer’s hunger strike thwarts the scheme. The episode took on a life of its own when Albuquerque residents voted to adopt the name for their new minor league team. Its stadium has statues of Bart, Lisa, Marge and Homer. “You can plop down next to him and pose for a picture,” Pahigian says. 505222- 4058; milb. com/ index. jsp? sid = t342
BABE RUTH’S GRAVE HAWTHORNE, N. Y. Even by today’s standards, it’s hard to comprehend the popularity of Babe Ruth, who some consider the game’s greatest player. “If anyone was ever bigger than the sport, it’s him,” Pahigian says. Fans still pay their respects, leaving baseballs, bats, and even hot dog wrappers from Yankee Stadium. 914- 769- 3672; gateofheavenny.com
NEGRO LEAGUES BASEBALL MUSEUM KANSAS CITY, MO. The major leagues didn’t always have the best baseball players, Pahigian says. “They had the best white players. Some would contend there were black players that were better.” Their story is told in this moving museum outlining the history of the Negro Leagues, which became a thriving black cultural institution and a source of community pride. 816- 221- 1920; Nlbm.com
FIELD OF DREAMS DYERSVILLE, IOWA When filmmakers created what may be the ultimate baseball movie, they constructed a field in the middle of an Iowa corn patch. The movie’s famous line, “If you build it, he will come,” proved accurate when the diamond became a pilgrimage site for fans. “It’s a case of life imitating art,” Pahigian says. 888- 875- 8404; fodmoviesite.com
LOUISVILLE SLUGGER MUSEUM & FACTORY LOUISVILLE You won’t have any trouble finding this site — just look for the 120- foot bat leaning against the wall of the Hillerich & Bradsby Co. factory. Inside, visitors can watch planks of white ash and maple shaped into bats, and see ones swung by such stars as Mickey Mantle, Cal Ripken Jr. and Derek Jeter. “It’s a working factory but also a museum,” Pahigian says. 877- 775- 8443; slugger museum. com
JACKIE ROBINSON SITES PASADENA, CALIF. Before Jackie Robinson made history by integrating baseball, he learned the game in Pasadena. The town honors the star in a plaza with massive busts of Robinson and his brother Mack, who medaled in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Other sites include his childhood home, his high school field and the Jackie Robinson community center. 800- 307- 7977; visitpasadena.com
RICKWOOD FIELD BIRMINGHAM, ALA. The oldest standing professional baseball stadium isn’t Fenway or Wrigley but a lovingly restored 1910 minor league park. “In its day it was novel and cutting edge because it was made of brick and steel,” Pahigian says. Although the minor league Barons now play in a new downtown stadium, once a year they don vintage uniforms and return for the Rickwood Classic. The field remains open for touring year- round. 205- 458- 8161; rickwood. com
BEYOND THE VINES COLUMBARIUM, CHICAGO Even after death, some Cubs fans stick with their team. One believer raised money to build a columbarium that’s a replica of Wrigley Field’s outfield wall, with benches and ivy. It now holds his ashes, and has room for a few hundred others. “You can remember fans who have gone to the great ballfield in the sky,” Pahigian says. 773- 539- 8442; bohemiannationalcemeterychicago.org
FORBES FIELD WALL PITTSBURGH Although the stadium is gone, the site of the greatest World Series home run is recognized on the University of Pittsburgh campus, where the Pirates once played at Forbes Field. It was in the bottom of the ninth inning of the seventh game of the 1960 series when Bill Mazeroski homered over the left field wall, defeating the New York Yankees. The wall’s preserved, and every year on Oct. 13, the anniversary of the game, a crowd gathers to listen to the game broadcast. pitt. edu