This is the time of year that all of us baseball fans look forward to: Opening Day!  When last year’s last place team has the same win/loss record as the previous World Series winner.  When “Wait Til Next Year” is finally here!  It’s baseball time again, and, the last few years, we’ve been treated to it a little earlier than usual, in late March.  This year was to be no exception with Major League Baseball Opening Day scheduled for Thursday, March 26.  This year, however, Major League Baseball did the right and responsible thing by delaying the start of the season so that all of us can stay safe and healthy.  That doesn’t mean, though that we won’t miss our annual spring ritual so I present to you online options to tide you over until the start of baseball season.

• National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
  The Hall of Fame is a must visit for every baseball fan.  The Hall of Fame library, which I had the pleasure of visiting 5 years ago, houses an amazing collection, a lot of which is available to browse online.
  • Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
  • Baseball Hall of Fame Oral Histories: Interviews with several people involved in the game over the years, including players, umpires, managers, executives, and more.
    • Jackie Robinson Oral History from 1972
  • Negro Leagues Digital Collection
  • Women in Baseball Digital Collection
• Major League Baseball Classic Games
  Because of the delayed start to the season, Major League Baseball (MLB) has released a variety of classic games on Youtube.  The games are free and complete.  What’s best is that they’re uploaded to Youtube with complete permission of MLB, so there is no reason to be concerned about the possibility of watching pirated content.
  • Complete Catalog of Free Games
  • Chicago Cubs win the World Series in 2016
  • The Boston Red Sox break the Curse of the Bambino and win the 2004 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals in game 4.  I could watch this over and over.
• Smithsonian Institute’s Baseball Collections
  Throughout its many museums, the Smithsonian houses a robust baseball collection.  Here is your chance to enjoy them without having to travel to Washington, DC.
  • Latinos and Baseball (new exhibit!)
• 7th Inning Stretch (with Fenway organist Josh Kantor)
  One of my new favorite daily rituals is listening to Josh Kantor play the organ for a “7th Inning Stretch” on Facebook Live for a half hour.  Along with his wife, “Reverend Mary”, Fenway Park Organist Kantor takes requests and plays the organ (always including “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”).  The concert is a wonderful respite and distraction and Kantor also uses the time to ask fans to take their time to donate to local food pantries.  Kantor plays live every day at 3:00 pm (and takes requests) but fans can watch later in the day.  I like to listen while I’m preparing my music and always stretch during “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” (with a tear in my eye).  Read or listen to an interview with Josh Kantor on WBUR’s Only a Game.  
• MLB Players’ Social Media
  I really appreciated this article by ESPN’s Joon Lee in which he lists the top 10 baseball players to follow on social media during this time.  Sean Doolittle and Fernando Tatis Jr. are the highlights.  Doolittle had me with this photo of his to read pile while he’s practicing social distancing.
  

  As an awkward dork with big introvert energy, reading has always been my preferred method of social distancing. Here’s what I was reading during Spring Training. And I’m currently reading Dopesick by Beth Macy. ?? pic.twitter.com/Ab8VdgmV9l

  — Obi-Sean Kenobi Doolittle (@whatwouldDOOdo) March 15, 2020

• Hoopla
  There is an array of baseball related content via the library’s subscription to Hoopla.  In addition to links to the various formats, I’ve also included some titles that I suggest.  Enjoy browsing!
  • Baseball related e-books
  • Baseball related audiobooks
  • Baseball related videos
  • Baseball related music 
  • Baseball related comics
  • NPR’s Driveway Moments: Baseball , audiobook
  • There’s No Crying in Baseball by Lani Lynn Vale,romance series audiobooks
  • Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy by Jane Leavy, audiobook
  • If These Walls Could Talk by Jerry Remy and Nick Cafardo, e-book
  • I Don’t Care If We Never Get Back by Ben Blatt and Eric Brewster, e-book
  • Baseball: Original Soundtrack (Soundtrack to the Ken Burns documentary), music
• Kanopy
  Enjoy a variety of videos related to baseball through our subscription to Kanopy.  Here are a few titles that I suggest or a link if you’d rather browse.
  • Baseball related videos
  • Diamonds in the Rough: Legacy of Japanese-American Baseball
  • Jackie Robinson: PBS Documentary
  • Reel Baseball: Baseball Films from the Silent Era
  • Burn the Ships: A Woman’s Softball Team that Refuses to Quit
  • Long Time Coming: A 1955 Baseball Story

• Overdrive
  Enjoy an audiobook or e-book on your computer, tablet, or e-reader.  Use the Libby app to get the full Overdrive experience on your phone or tablet.  Here are some titles that I suggest available to download.
  • The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron by Howard Bryant
  • Legends: The Best Players, Games, and Teams in Baseball by Howard Bryant
  • In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord (this book is a great middle grade novel that details the immigrant experience in the late 1940s.)
  • The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn

• Waltham Public Library Subscription Online Resources/Databases
  We provide access to a lot of online resources that have material that can get you through days without any baseball.
  • Biography in Context
    Read about your favorite baseball player, past and present, including David Ortiz.
  • Culinary Arts
    Read about any of the foods associated with baseball, including this article about the history of the hot dog.
  • The Boston Globe –Historic Edition
    Relive all of the triumphs and heartbreaks associated with the Boston Red Sox between the late 19th century and 1979, including the front page of The Boston Globe about the 1918 World Series win.  
  • The Boston Globe 1980-present
    Go through the 1986 World Series, 1999 ALCS, 2003 ALCS all over again.  Or, skip all of that and just read articles about 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018.  See where it turned around for the Red Sox by reading about the acquisition of Pedro Martinez in late 1997.  
  • The New York Times
    Click here to get a 72 hour access code via the Minuteman Library Network subscription.  Read about baseball from a New York or national perspective, including reading about game 7 of the 2004 ALCS from Yankee territory!

posted by Laura