'Whole New Ballgame' a game-changer

Thanks to the generous support of a longtime fan, an engrossing and enlightening trip through the last four decades of baseball – both on and off the field – is now a permanent part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Artifacts running the gamut from a full-sized San Diego Chicken mascot uniform, George Brett’s “pine tar” bat from 1983, Mo’ne Davis’ jersey from the 2014 Little League World Series, the shoes worn by Dave Roberts of the Red Sox when he famously stole second base in the 2004 ALCS, a 1976 White Sox uniform that featured shorts, the Wonderboy bat from the 1984 film The Natural and a Tom Seaver portrait by Andy Warhol are all part of Whole New Ballgame, a new exhibit on the second floor of the Museum that opened to the public on Saturday, Nov. 7.

“I think one of the most important things about this exhibit is that it will resonate with the fans because they lived through this period of baseball history,” said Hall of Fame Vice President of Exhibitions and Collections Erik Strohl. “It was really important for us to communicate the modern history of the game to the fans and allow them to stroll down memory lane and re-live the past, and I think this exhibit does that better than anything that we’ve ever done before."

“Today is really about three things,” said Janetschek to an appreciative audience prior to a ribbon-cutting ceremony the morning of the exhibit opening. “One, it’s about a man (Bill Janetschek Sr.) and the love he had for the game of baseball. Two, it’s the connectivity that that man had with his sons and his grandchildren around that game. And three, it’s really about history and preserving history.”

With emotion in his voice, Janetschek went on to call his dad the greatest baseball fan he ever met.

“He was a guy who at the age of 65 signed up for a trek where we were going to see all 30 baseball stadiums over what ended up being the next 15 years. And we were fortunate enough to get to 29 of those 30 stadiums,” Janetschek said. “He was a guy who every night from the opening pitch to the World Series would call his son and give him an update on the Red Sox score, the Mets score and the Yankees score.

“So…when we got together, he had the ability to talk to my son about baseball and the bond that they had between a grandson and a grandfather.”

Calling his dad “a very big history buff and more importantly a very big baseball buff,” Janetschek recalled that every Christmas he can remember he and his brother would receive a book on baseball.

“It could have been a book about Sandy Koufax, it could have been a book about the Black Sox, it could have been a book about the ’55 Dodgers, but it was always about trying to instill in us the importance of history, not only just around baseball but history itself,” Janetschek said. “That is why, over a period of time, when my dad and I were talking, that we ended up working with the Hall of Fame, to have the ability to come up with the gallery that you’re going to see here today.

“When we came up here last night and saw what was put together, to say that I was blown away would be an understatement. From the bottom of my heart, we are so pleased that you are allowing our family to be a part of the Baseball Hall of Fame. At the end of the day – and it’s too bad my dad isn’t here – how cool is it that his name is going to be in the Hall of Fame?”

The bat Fisk used to hit his most memorable homer is one of the artifacts that are a part of Whole New Ballgame. Forty years ago, on Oct. 21, 1975, in Game 6 of the World Series, Fisk, then a Boston Red Sox star, socked a walk-off homer leading off the bottom of the 12th inning that gave Red Sox a 7-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Fenway Park and forced a seventh game. The contest’s dramatic conclusion has been seen by millions since, with Fisk’s post-midnight swing launching the ball toward the left-field foul pole, the batter trying desperately waving his arms, willing it to stay fair.

“That’s pretty exciting,” said Fisk when asked his feelings about having the bat used that night featured in Whole New Ballgame. “The only non-exciting thing about it is it was 40 years ago. When I look at it I go, ‘Who was that young guy that did that anyway?’ Every year, obviously, it never goes away because every year there’s a World Series they’re going to show that home run. I never get tired of seeing it, though. I’m just glad it continues to stay fair.

“It’s odd because people say, ‘What’s that bat here for?’ It’s a (Red Sox shortstop) Rick Burleson bat. It was late at night and my bat started to feel really heavy and his bat was an inch shorter and an ounce lighter and it just felt good so that’s the one I used. When the Hall of Fame came looking for it, they said, ‘You’re name’s not even on this one.’

"People think it was one of the best games ever in the World Series, so it’s great to be a part of that. And people don’t even remember we lost the seventh game. I keep telling (fellow Hall of Fame catcher Johnny) Bench when I see him, ‘You know we won that Series three games to four.’”

With the huge ribbon-cutting crowd finally starting to dissipate a bit, Janetschek reflected on what the day’s events meant to him.

“I couldn’t tell you how pleased I am with the way everything came out. I’m a tough grader; I’d give this an A-plus,” he said. “This is the era on which my father raised me and my brother and my sons. It was always and forever about baseball. He would have been thrilled.”