[sphere and ash]

This is a theme to which I’ve devoted myself for almost 30 years, and I’m happy to help offline. At first, inspired by the Hall’s ‘evolution of the baseball’ exhibit, I tried to recreate it. Then I realized that there were other stories to tell: why do fans fight for foul balls, no different than the ones they can purchase except for the fact that they have entered the field of play? Why did early teams keep their baseballs as trophies of victory and why did they decorate them? How did that tradition evolve? In what ways was it continued by folk artists like George Sosnak? What does the evolution of the baseball say, if anything, about American ingenuity? What do Federal League, Negro League, and AAGPBBL balls say about American social movements? I could go on, but you understand that much more is possible than collecting every possible Harridge stamp. There is nothing wrong with that, of course—everyone has their own story to tell through their collection—but I think more interesting collections are made without a checklist in hand.

I acquired the last out ball from Brooklyn’s 1955 season. Gil Hodges wrote on it, “It’s good luck just to touch it.” That’s what I wanted to get at: what is it about the baseball as object and symbol and artifact that makes it so compelling? There is no right way to do it; this was merely my way.