Baseball-Once Simpler, Still Timeless speaks of America’s National Pastime as a simple game linking for more than 150 years generations of families and friends, cities and cultures, men and women, young and old, while fans of their favorite teams in season-long quests to become for that year World Series Champions or of players who perform not just for one shining moment but season-to-season throughout long and illustrious careers so as to be worthy of enshrinement forever in Cooperstown in Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Baseball-Once Simpler, Still Timeless is a three-part exhibit presented in Greenwich Free Library’s lobby and Community Room. A broad range of ephemera and personal memorabilia is organized within the Library’s glass-enclosed display cases while an extensive galley exhibit of limited edition and original artwork is shown both in the cases and throughout the Community Room. As described on its poster, the exhibit is one of “Baseball History Depicted in Art & Memorabilia”. A multi-page narrative has also been prepared.

Baseball-Once Simpler, Still Timeless is curated by Art Brod, a local resident and a lifelong baseball fan, historian and collector. Art has attended every annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony since 1964 and is a member of the President’s Circle at the Hall of Fame and Museum, SABR, and Friends of Doubleday Field. Art’s principal historic interest lies in baseball, as played by both youth and hometown teams, and within the American and National Leagues, the Negro Leagues and the AAGPBL, prior to broad expansion in teams and playoffs, drug scandals, fundamental rule changes, multi-million dollar and/or long-term contracts, and often the overly intrusive role played by analytics in both governing the day-to-day play of the game and through measures like wins above replacement (WAR) comparing ballplayer performance among a player’s peers during a given season or in comparison to the performance of players in years or decades past. In Art’s opinion, both simple “feel” for the flow of the game and simple “eye test” can be more effective.

Art has been assisted in organizing this exhibit by his wife Judith Ellers with many of her original oil portraits of HOF members displayed. More than 60 artworks by other prominent sports artists, including several by an old Cooperstown friend, James Amore, and a movie poster or two are presented.

Baseball-Once Simpler, Still Timeless will be on view at the Greenwich Free Library from September 3 through October 12.

As a complement to the exhibit baseball movies will be shown in the Library’s Community Room during the afternoon of Saturday, September 21. Movie times for that day and any additional viewings that may be scheduled will be announced on the Library’s calendar. Art will be available at these times to discuss the exhibit or simply talk baseball