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The first major exhibition to examine the relationship between baseball and American culture, currently at New York's American Museum of Natural History, will travel to nine museums across the nation. Organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and culled from its collections, this exhibition marks the first time that these Hall of Fame treasures have left their home in Cooperstown, N.Y. Through the exploration of a broad range of themes--including immigration, nationalism, integration, technology, and popular culture--"Baseball As America" reveals how the sport has served as both a reflection and a shaper of American society.

It includes approximately 500 of the Hall's most-precious artifacts, dating from baseball's roots in the 19th century to today, ranging from uniforms, balls, bats, and gloves to books, recordings, artwork, films, historic documents, and advertising. Among the highlights are the National Pastime's most-sacred relic, the Doubleday ball, from baseball's mythic first game in 1839; Jackie Robinson's 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers jersey; a variety of artifacts from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League; record-setting bats from the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run chase of 1998, as well as those of Babe Ruth's 60th homer in 1927 and Roger Maris' 61st in 1961; Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt's Jan. 15, 1942, "green light" letter calling for the continuation of professional baseball as a way to heighten morale during World War II; Norman Rockwell's 1949 painting "The Three Umpires"; the "Wonder Boy" bat from the

movie "The Natural"; a 1908 Thomas Edison recording of the classic poem, "Casey at the Bat"; "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's shoes; as well as the most valuable baseball card in the world, the T206 Honus Wagner.

"Baseball as America" is on view at the American Museum of Natural History through Aug. 18. It will travel to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles (Calif.) County (Sept. 21-Jan. 5, 2003); Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Ill. (Feb. 7-July 20, 2003); Cincinnati (Ohio) Museum Center (Aug. 16-Nov. 9, 2003); Florida International Museum, St. Petersburg (Dec. 13, 2003-March 6, 2004); National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (Apr. 3-Aug. 15, 2004); Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis (Jan. 29-Apr. 24, 2005); and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Tex. (May-August, 2005). Two additional venues have yet to be announced.