Fun piece written for the Arroyo Monthly  by an old journalism pal of mine Paul Sterman, about a guy named Terry Cannon, who hosts/curates The Baseball Reliquary, a Pasadena-based collection of mostly curiosities and interesting cultural artifacts dealing with baseball.

Ever heard about Eddie Gaedel, the 3′7 guy who was once brought into St. Louis Browns game as a publicity stunt? Well, Cannon has his jockstrap on display. He also has the wooden leg used by Bill Veeck, the PT Barnum-style owner responsible for bringing Gaedel to the plate as part of a publicity stunt.

Cannon’s organization isn’t your typical baseball-history museum, rife with Babe Ruth busts, musty infielders’ gloves and enough statistics about batting averages and home-run titles to make a sports junkie tremble with rapture. The Baseball Reliquary is the alternative version, the product of one besotted fan’s rarefied vision of the game. “I’ve always been involved with organizations interested in unusual artistic expression,” says Cannon, who in the mid-’70s founded the Pasadena Film Forum (now the Los Angeles Film Forum), a showcase for independent and experimental film.

The museum also features more scholarly exhibitions, including Mexican-American Baseball in Los Angeles: From the Barrios to the Big Leagues, an exhibit of photographs, artworks (such as the painting at top)  and artifacts started in 2005, focusing on the legacy of Mexican-American baseball players in Southern California.

“In the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, baseball in East L.A. was huge,” says Cannon. “These guys would play on amateur and semi-pro teams, and even in city municipal leagues. There were quite a few ballparks, and the community would come out in huge numbers [for the games]. There were some legendary teams.”

The exhibition was so fascinating to Francisco Balderrama, professor of Chicano studies and history at Cal State L.A., he designed a 10-week course around the project, for which his students research the era and even interview some of the former ballplayers.

There’s also a “Fernandomania” exhibit. I’d love to see that. Sounds like a great road trip destination if you live in the states. You can find the Baseball Reliquary here.