The Met Museum Opens Historic Baseball Card Exhibition Today
The term 'dead ball era' refers to the era of American baseball when the combination of cavernous ballparks, spongy baseballs, and pitcher-friendly rules resulted in games with few home runs. Strategy was important to the sport at this time, with great value placed on individual runs, stolen bases, sacrifice bunts, and other maneuvers. Beginning today, July 8, the exhibition LEGENDS OF THE DEAD BALL ERA (1900-1919) in the Collection of Jefferson R. Burdick, on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, will feature nearly 600 historical trade cards of baseball greats from the time. The exhibition will run until December 1 and will be located in the The Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art, The American Wing, mezzanine.