Baseball in the Bronx Starts April 13th

Baseball in The Bronx, Running Between April 13 and May 13

“When you think of spring, you think of baseball. And when you think of baseball, you think of the Bronx,” said Cary Goodman, executive director of 161st Street Business Improvement District, when announcing the upcoming Baseball in the Bronx exhibit at the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

Beginning April 13 and running until May 13, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, in conjunction with the 161st Street Business Improvement District, will host the Baseball in the Bronx exhibit. “It will discuss how baseball helped the growth of the Bronx,” Goodman said. “It will also include photos of the Bronx leagues, the Negro Leagues, and you can’t forget our proud Yankees.” In attendance at the press conference was former Negro Leaguer Jim Robinson, who also spent time in the Bronx. “I played for the CCI, Club Cubana Interamericana,” Robinson said. “While we played games in Central Park, our clubhouse was on Prospect Avenue in the South Bronx.”

Ex-Negro Leaguer Jim Robinson

The exhibit’s photographs were gathered by way of an open call. “Bronxites and photographers brought the photographs to us,” Bronx Museum of the Arts Executive Director Holly Block said. Some of the photos include little leagues, Negro Leagues, and locals playing baseball, dating back to the 1930s. Block also discussed how locals took advantage of baseball through the Bronx’s toughest times. “There were a lot of abandoned areas that were nothing but rubble,” Block said. “Residents would clear the site out, use a doll’s head for a ball and a stick for a bat, and they played baseball.”

Playing Baseball in the Midst of Rubble

In addition to the exhibit, there will be free events surrounding it. Several authors, historians, and sportscasters will be discussing famous books and/or movies about the sports icons and events affecting Bronxites. Completing the trifecta will be a trolley that will take riders to the museum, the 161st Street BID, and Yankee Stadium itself. “These three events are covered by the Triple Play Pass,” Goodman said. “With the heavy advertising around Yankee Stadium, we hope this gets people’s attention.”

To see a complete list of the events surrounding the exhibit, please visit www.161bid.org.

A Piece of the Old Yankee Stadium Dugout