Starting this Saturday, the Oakland Museum of California is hosting an exhibition from the Baseball Hall of Fame, called Baseball As America, displaying the history of America's game. The show's been traveling across the country since 2002, and features, among other things: Shoeless Joe Jackson's shoes, a baseball from the first baseball game ever, Babe Ruth's bat, Jackie Robinson's 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers jersey, and a Bay Area-specific section chock full of Giants and A's goodness, curated by the Oakland Museum of California.
Sure, you grumble, it's all about fetishizing objects at the expense of the actual experience of playing some ball -- but dang, who doesn't want to see Shoeless Joe Jackson's shoes??? The show runs until January 22, 2006; get your tickets here. At a minimum, you should totally be able to buy all the birthday presents for your dad/brother/best man that you'll ever need at the exhibition store.
