Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum

"Me carrying a briefcase is like a hot dog wearing earrings" - Sparky Anderson, manager, Cincinnati Reds, 1970-1978

Back in June, I visited the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum at Great American Ballpark. I didn't know anything about the Public History profession then, but now that I do know a little bit, I'm looking back on the experience differently.

Sparky Anderson was the manager of the Reds during the "Big Red Machine" era in which the team won two World Series championships and his unpretentious attitude as shown in the above quote is reflected in the museum.

On display are some truly amazing artifacts for any baseball or Reds fan, like signed game-used jerseys, the ball representing the final out of the 1919 World Series (the Reds' first world championship) among many others.

What makes this museum different, I think, is the wealth of interactive exhibits. You can try on catcher's equipment, throw pitches (with a display that tells you if it's a ball or strike with a cut out in the wall in which another person can look through an umpire's mask and try his or her hand at calling balls and strikes). Also, there is a display that shows how to grip a baseball to throw different kinds of pitches, see and touch a MLB base, as well as see and touch the materials that make up a baseball for the big leagues. You can even try your hand as a broadcaster and call plays from actual Reds game footage.

Me trying on a catcher's mask

We've talked before about how some people won't visit museums because they think it's not "for them". But, through the use of these interactive exhibits, the Reds HoF & Museum makes the museum accessible and inviting rather than a collection of old stuff you're allowed to see but not touch. Baseball, and sports in general, already serves to bring people together and foster a connection with a particular place. The museum's use of interactive exhibits helps to nurture that connection that many people in Ohio and elsewhere already feel for their Cincinnati Reds without anyone being excluded or feeling that he or she doesn't belong.