Baseball Museum 6: Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame

The Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame is located next to the Great American Ballpark. I knew it was there and planned to see it, but I did not realize that it was not exactly part of going to the ballpark. I assumed it was one of the things you could walk through and see before the game started. Instead it is its own separate admission price thing. We paid the $10 per person ($8 for Mik at student price) to do it still. It is not too bad of a deal, as it is a pass for unlimited visits in 2009.

The first floor of the Hall of Fame at least currently has an exhibit on Crosley Field. Mik found this interesting since he did not even see the Crosley Field replica, which Dad and I went to earlier in the day we went to the Reds game and the Hall of Fame. In particular Mik was fascinated by the Pete Rose jersey, as it looked like a basketball jersey. It was one of the style jerseys meant to be over long sleeves and without the long sleeves it really does look a lot like a basketball jerseys. The exhibit also included some interesting things left over from Crosley Field including glass pieces from the field’s backstop.

Along the wall by the staircase they have thousands of balls in a display to represent Pete Rose breaking the all time career hit record. By the way there is a white rose bush in the landscaping right outside this part of the Hall of Fame.

The second level of the museum currently has a small exhibit about the Negro Leagues. This was not all that interesting to us because it was mostly similar to what we had recently seen at the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City. Mik did enjoy the Clowns playing.

On the second level there is also an interactive area about different aspects of the game. It includes videos with tips for different positions. Mik liked the one with pitching tips, as that is the position he likes to play in his video game. There are also things like catching a ball against the outfield wall and throwing a pitch. There is an even interactive part to be a sports announcer.

The exhibit ends with a small Hall of Fame room with plaques of the Reds Hall of Fame players. Right before this Hall of Fame room there is an interesting room with a timeline of the Reds history. It includes a life size sculpture of the 8 players nicknamed the Big Red Machine.

Overall the Reds Hall of Fame was worth seeing. However, we did feel a little rushed because we only got to the ballpark 2 hours before game time and we easily spent an hour here and could have spent longer if we had had time. It is open way before game time (10am most days, I think) and we could have come earlier, but as I said before I thought it was part of the game ticket ballpark experience and I thought it was open at the same times as the gates for the game.

Baseball Museum 2: San Diego Hall of Champions

The San Diego Hall of Champions was not even originally on the plan and we did not even realize it existed until we saw it across the parking lot from the San Diego Automotive Museum. One of the main sections of the museum is a baseball exhibit and the only other sport with a decent section is football. There are a several other sports represented, but most just have one little display each.

We pretty much just checked out the Baseball section since Mik was getting burnt out and obnoxious again. The Baseball section was pretty cool. It was mostly about the Padres and it was interesting to learn about the history of the team from being a Minor League to the current Major League team. It also had some interesting displays with Major League players with ties to the San Diego area, such as Ted Williams. It was actually a lot of fun to see this museum, especially since we did not know it was there.

Click the photos below to see the rest of the photos from this museum and today.

International Bowling Museum and Cardinals Hall of Fame

Just found out that this museum is closing by end of 2008 and moving to Arlington, Texas. Of course, that is just the bowling part and not the Cardinals baseball part. I read the area will be used in the development of Baseball Village, but it appears it will not be open next summer even though St. Louis is hosting the All Star Game. Who knows if, when, and where exactly they will reopen the Cardinals Hall of Fame part, but it looks like it will not be on the 2009 All the Ballparks itinerary anymore. Oh well, at least we did get to this museum a few years ago. Perhaps the new location in Arlington, Texas will be open and we will go to the bowling part while in the area since the three of us all like bowling and bowl in leagues.