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Legends take the field in new exhibit on Cincinnati’s baseball history

Queen City Baseball opens March 28 at Cincinnati Museum Center

CINCINNATI – As 2015’s all-stars take the field at Great American Ballpark , a collection of baseball legends and icons will be gathered in a new exhibit at Cincinnati Museum Center. Queen City Baseball: Diamonds and Stars explores Cincinnati’s rich baseball history in a free exhibit opening March 28.

Queen City BaseballThe story of baseball is the story of Cincinnati. Home to the first professional baseball team in 1869, Cincinnati changed professional sports in America. Names like Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Barry Larkin are known by baseball fans in every city regardless of age or hometown team. Queen City Baseball tells the story of Cincinnati baseball over the nearly 150 years since the Red Stockings first took the field en route to a 57-0 season.

“As fans from all over the world descend upon Cincinnati for the Major League Baseball All Star Game, Cincinnati Museum Center will be proudly showcasing the city’s role in shaping America’s pastime as we know it today,” says Elizabeth Pierce, interim CEO of Cincinnati Museum Center.

Listen to the roar of the crowd as legendary announcer Waite Hoyt provides play-by-play as you tour the exhibit. From the mustaches of the Red Stockings to the dominance of the Big Red Machine, Queen City Baseball tells the history of baseball through the city where the game as we know it today began. View 19th century players’ contracts and payment records and photographs of Cincinnati’s earliest teams. Lifelong fans will have their own stories to tell when they see bricks from Redland/Crosley Field but few will have memories of the 1919 World Series and the infamous “Black Sox Scandal” as they watch video footage of the Reds slugging their way to a 5-3 series victory. Baseball cards from the early 20th century will be on display next to baseballs signed by all-time greats like Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle.

The story of baseball has not just been about breaking records but also about breaking barriers. Baseball mirrored the attitudes of society and sometimes even set progressive examples that the nation was not ready to accept. Queen City Baseball traces the journey of race and equality in America with artifacts like Louis Dula’s Negro League player’s contract and the uniform of Chuck Harmon, the first African American to play for the Cincinnati Reds.

Step onto the field and back in time in Queen City Baseball: Diamonds and Stars, open March 28 through September 7 in the Ruthven Gallery at Cincinnati Museum Center.

For more information, visit www.cincymuseum.org