Kj’s Baseball Collection: Ty Cobb Museum

They had two different baseballs at the Ty Cobb Museum. Both basically looked the same, but one was just a cheaper vinyl one and the other was an actual leather Rawlings ball. I just went with the cheaper one, since the only thing on the leather one was the Rawlings logo that would end up hidden when I put the ball on my display rack. The ball has the museum’s logo in black ink. The black ink logo is of a bat with a ribbon around it that says Ty Cobb Museum. Below the bat logo it says Royston, GA.

Mik’s Mini Bat Collection: Ty Cobb Museum

At the Ty Cobb Museum Mik got a mini bat with the museum’s logo on it. The mini bat is natural wood color. The logo is a small one colored brown. The logo is of a bat standing upright with a ribbon around it that says Ty Cobb Museum. Below the bat it says Royston, GA.

Baseball Museum 15: Ty Cobb Museum

On July 13, 2009, on our way to the Atlanta area we stopped at the Ty Cobb Museum in Royston, Georgia. The museum is a rather small one inside the professional building of the Ty Cobb Healthcare complex, but it does use the small space well. Also, being in a healthcare building they really care about being accessible. The door into the building is automatic, but the one into the museum is not and they were apologetic about it. The exhibit itself is easy to navigate with the wheelchair, especially since there were no other visitors until we were leaving. The displays were also for the most part easy to see from Mik’s height although he was just playing his PSP the whole time except during the movie. The theater did not exactly have wheelchair seating, but it was a flat room and there was room along the side for Mik to roll up and not entirely block the aisle.

The Ty Cobb Museum begins with a display of bats. This is really cool and almost my favorite part of the whole museum. The bats are engraved to tell about the highlights of Ty Cobbs life mainly focusing on his baseball career. The engravings include things like his birth in 1886, being sold to the Tigers in 1905, hitting his first Major League home run in 1905, his final game in 1928, and being the first player voted into the Hall of Fame in 1936.

The exhibits then continue in a sort of time line fashion about his life from childhood through to his baseball career and life after baseball. There is a decent amount of memorabilia related to Ty Cobb on display including baseball cards, one of his gloves, balls signed by him, a Tigers uniform worn by him, and even his dentures. One of the most in depth displays is about the Ty Cobb Style of Baseball from his hitting style to base running style.

My favorite display was the one about Ty Cobb and Coca Cola. Ty Cobb became a wealthy man and it was not really from playing baseball. His wealth mainly came from smart investing and part of his investments were in the Coca Cola Company. A whole display case shows items related to his ties with Coca Cola. This includes ads featuring him and special Coca Cola bottles commemorating Ty Cobb.

In the museum there is a short movie about Ty Cobb. It is nice that the movie plays on demand rather than at specific times like at larger museums and even some smaller museums. It took a few times of pressing the button to get it to finally start up the projector and play the movie, but it did work in the end.

Overall the Ty Cobb Museum was a worthwhile detour on the way to Atlanta and it was worth staying in South Carolina two nights in order to get to the museum when it was open on Monday, since there is no way we could have made it before it closed on Saturday and it is closed on Sundays.

Before leaving we went to the souvenir shop to get our normal souvenirs of a mini bat and souvenir baseball. Mik also choose one of the limited edition Ty Cobb baseball cards made just for the museum. It was about $10, but it comes in a protector case with a Ty Cobb Museum gold sticker on the opening and is numbered 176 of 376, so it is a cool collectible. We also got a pack of Topps 2009 Series 1 cards. We did not get anything very rare or anything in the pack, but it was cool that we got a Roger Maris Legends of the Game card. Those cards are not in every pack (I think only one in every six pack odds) and the Legend we got was cool because we went to the Roger Maris Museum earlier on this trip.

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum

At the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum I got a souvenir baseball with the museum’s logo. The logo features an image of Babe Ruth at bat and says Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum. The baseball also has an image of Babe Ruth’s signature. The other side lists Babe Ruth’s records such as home runs, walks, home run titles, and mutli home run games.

Mik’s Mini Bat Collection: Babe Ruth

At the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum Mik got a Babe Ruth mini bat. The mini bat has a photo image of Babe Ruth and a Yankees logo on it. It also has the National Baseball Hall of Fame logo. Basically it is the design that they sell at the Hall of Fame, so it is not like it is unique to this attraction, but it was better than the Louisville Slugger that just said Babe Ruth and also did not say anything about it being from the Babe Ruth Museum.

Smashed Pennies: Sports Legends Museum

At the Sports Legends Museum I got two smashed pennies and Mik got one smashed penny. The design we both got has an image of the museum’s building. It says Sports Legends History Heritage Heroes. The other design that only I got is of Orioles Park at Camden Yards, although the penny just says Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD. It has an image of the park and little Orioles logos on it.

Smashed Penny: Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum

At the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum Mik and I got the same smashed penny design. The design we both choose is of Babe Ruth holding a baseball bat ready to hit. Underneath Babe Ruth it says Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum Baltimore, MD.

Baseball Museum 14: Sports Legends Museum

The second museum we visited before the Orioles game on July 10, 2009, was the Sports Legends Museum. This museum is located in a building on the same block as Orioles Park at Camden Yards and is located the near Eutaw Street entrance to the park. The museum focuses mostly on the history of baseball and football in Baltimore, although it does have a little bit about other sports in the Baltimore. Mik and Dad have seen this museum before and since I am not into football, we skipped that half of the museum and just saw the baseball exhibits. By the way this museum is fully accessible and you still get to see some Babe Ruth history, so until the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum is remodeled to be accessible this is a decent only stop if accessibility is an issue.

On the first floor the baseball exhibit is mostly organized by inning. Basically the history of baseball in Baltimore is broke into nine innings, which is a great themed way to organize the exhibits. One of the most amazing items on display is an 1895 Championship Banner that honored the team being a championship team in 1895. Another interesting display was things salvaged from the rubble of Old Orioles Park, which was destroyed in the July 4, 1944 fire. Some of the other displays include the closing of Memorial Stadium, the current ballpark, and Cal Ripken Junior and Senior memorabilia.

The most amazing part of the first floor, though, is the Hall of Fame area. The Hall of Fame displays are presented in a unique way. The displays are square glass cases broken into three or two triangle displays depending on the amount of players per pillar. For each player there is some memorabilia and below is a trading card or two on display. A few of the Orioles honored are Cal Ripken Sr, Cal Ripken Jr, and Brooke Robinson.

The second level to explore is actually the lower level of the building. On this level there are displays about the old stadiums of Baltimore. In this area there are a few items from Memorial Stadium including benches. There is also a model of the current Orioles Park at Camden Yards. The other displays on the lower level are about Maryland baseball from sandlot to the show (includes high school and college ball) and the Negro League history of Baltimore.

Overall the Sports Legends Museum is a fun place to visit and certainly better than the Babe Ruth Museum since this place is fully accessible. It has some overlap with a similar display, although on a small scale, of Babe Ruth memorabilia. The organization of the history of baseball in Baltimore by innings is very well done. The Hall of Fame is more interesting than just plaques, as they are actually cases with memorabilia. Plus, there is some other sports things to see if you want to, especially related to football, but we were not interested and skipped that.

Baseball Museum 13: Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum

On July 10, 2009, before going to the Orioles game one of the museums we visited was the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum. The Museum is easy to find just by following the baseballs painted on the sidewalk from the Babe Ruth statue in front of Eutaw Street to across the street from the museum. Thus parking at the Orioles Park at Camden Yards is a good place to park to see the museum if you are also going to a game that day, especially since it did not seem to have any parking next to it other than maybe a little bit of street parking.

We got to the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum and discovered that it is not accessible. There is not even an accessible way into the museum. However, there are only a few big steps up into it. Dad and I just lifted Mik up into the museum. The museum does have a second floor, which was impossible for Mik to get to, but at least he was able to experience most of the museum. They even let him in free since he could not experience the whole museum and we had to lift him up the steps to get him to even the first floor. Note when you buy admission they ask if you want to donate $1 to the future remodel of the museum and that remodel is to make the museum accessible. We donated a $1 and encourage all other visitors to do so in order for Mik and other physically disable people can enjoy the whole museum, especially since some cannot even enjoy the amount Mik was able to.

The bulk of the museum is on the first floor. This includes a re-creation of the house Babe Ruth grew up in that originally stood where the recreation now sits. In the re-creation they also have a small display about the bars his father owned, which included some items from the bar he owned that once stood where Orioles Park at Camden Yards is now. The items were found when they were excavating to build the Orioles Park.

One of the most interesting things at the museum is the wall of plaques commemorating all the home runs Babe Ruth hit. There is a small plaque for each home run. It is kind of like the giant wall of balls at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame commemorating Pete Rose’s hits. Of course, the 714 home run display is quite a bit smaller than the 4,256 hits display, but still impressive even though it is not the record anymore.

Other exhibits on the first floor include one on other ballplayers that have hit over 500 career home runs and a room that chronicles Babe Ruth’s professional baseball career. In the room about his career they have memorabilia such as Babe Ruth uniforms, Babe Ruth bats, and balls signed by Babe Ruth.

The second floor of the museum does not have much, so Mik did not really miss the big stuff at least. The main thing on the second floor is the recreation of the second floor of the house Babe Ruth grew up in. The main display on the second floor includes artifacts related to him playing at St. Mary’s school.

Overall the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum was worth stopping at even though it is not exactly accessible. It does a good job of showing the career of Babe Ruth, as well as recreating the house he grew up in, which actually stood where the recreation is.