National Postal Museum Is Opening a New Baseball Exhibit

The opening of the new exhibit coincides with the beginning of the MLB baseball season.

The National Postal Museum in D.C. is opening a new exhibition dedicated to baseball in America. Called Baseball: America’s Home Run, the exhibit includes stamps, mail, and other baseball memorabilia dating back to the early 1800s.

Items from private collections, including bats and uniforms worn by Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio, will also be on display.

The opening of the exhibit coincides with the beginning of the 2022 season, the first without restrictions due to the pandemic.

The game of baseball was popular among postal employees, with clerks and letter carriers running their own leagues after the turn of the century. The National Postal Museum has its own unique connection to the sport. The museum building itself sits on the site of Capitol Park, one of the city’s first baseball parks.

“The exhibition examines the mythologies of the game of baseball and the role postage stamps have played in creating and enforcing that mythology,” said Daniel Piazza, chief curator of the museum. “We tell some of the lesser-known stories about the game of baseball through the medium of stamps and mail and explore fascinating details about the game in new and unique ways.”

Joe DiMaggio Rookie Uniform, Loan from The Stephen Wong Collection
Joe DiMaggio's Rookie Uniform, Loan from The Stephen Wong Collection, Courtesy of National Postal Museum

The exhibit has four major themes:

Creating Baseball traces the true roots of the game through stamps, starting in the cities and moving into rural areas
We All Play Ball shows how the game expanded internationally, including the role of the game on military bases
The Negro Leagues describes what it was like for African American players before they were allowed to participate in the Major Leagues
Legendary Playing Fields explores the country baseball stadiums and their significance in communities

The National Postal Museum is open Friday through Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and admission is free.

The exhibit Baseball: America’s Home Run runs through January 5, 2025.