The Old Ball Game

by Daryl Gale

If you grew up in Philadelphia, the current exhibition at the Atwater Kent Museum is guaranteed to trigger fond childhood memories. Like the smell of frying scrapple or the jingle of the water-ice truck, baseball has been a part of life in Philly for more than 100 years, which is about the time Harry Kalas started broadcasting Phillies games.

Just in time for baseball season, the exhibition "Will We Ever Forget: Baseball in Philadelphia, 1876-2004" opened earlier this month and will run through October. (Or, as Viki Sand, the museum's executive director, says optimistically, it will run "as long as the Phillies are in the World Series race.")

Harry's here in the exhibition, along with Philly Sports Hall of Famers Connie Mack, Richie Ashburn, Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton and Jimmie Foxx.

"The exhibition is a collaborative labor of love," says Sand. "We're grateful for the assistance and cooperation we've gotten from the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, the Athletics Historical Society and the African-American Museum of Philadelphia. "Baseball is central to the history of the most historic city in America, and helped define Philadelphia as a city."

The exhibition comprehensively covers the national pastime from a Philly perspective:

Philadelphia Athletics memorabilia from as far back as the 1870s, up through the days of "Connie Mack's Gentlemen" in the 1920s, the 1950s' Whiz Kids, the Baker Bowl, Shibe Park, Tug McGraw's leap of victory in 1980 and Mike Schmidt's game uniform from the '80 World Series.

There's also an entire section covering the forgotten heroes of Philly's Negro League teams from the Philadelphia Pythians to the mighty Philadelphia Stars of the mid-1940s, and a section called Boo Birds and Fanatics, devoted to Philly's legendary fans, known and feared throughout the league. There are also seats, turnstiles, turf and dirt from Connie Mack and Veterans stadiums.

The Atwater Kent Museum is located at 15 S. Seventh St. and is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Tuesday.

While City Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller awaits word on whether council will hold hearings on library safety, Free Library of Philadelphia administrators are scrambling to set in motion a safety and security program.

In February, Miller introduced a resolution calling for an official inquiry into library security in response to the brutally assault of an 8-year-old girl in the women's bathroom of the Independence Branch at Seventh and Market. Although her resolution was adopted unanimously, council has yet to set a date for hearings.

"Nothing has gone through yet," says Steve Johnson, Miller's administrative assistant. "Hopefully there will be word in a few weeks, but as you know, right now council is in the middle of budget hearings, and for right now the budget stuff has to take precedence."

Meanwhile, the shop steward for the union that represents librarians says that, as a result of their two-year battle for new safety policies -- and a City Paper story ("Throwing the Book at Them," Daryl Gale, April 8, 2004) -- the administration is finally getting off the dime.

"Looks like your article scared the administration quite a bit already," says Allen Merry, steward for Local 2187 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "They've already installed the Internet filters we've been screaming for."

Merry says that some users of the libraries' computers will sometimes view pornography. Then, he says, they become hostile and belligerent when a librarian informs them that viewing porn is prohibited. Similar attitude problems result from the librarian simply telling the user that their time is up and they'll have to relinquish the computers. If the patron is loud or intimidating enough, Merry says, the librarian feels threatened into backing down or calling for security. The need for a comprehensive plan on security and guidelines for dealing with problem patrons is obvious, he says, and long overdue.

Merry says he's buoyed by an April 12 memo from the library's administration touting the new SmartFilter system, which obstructs objectionable Web sites and materials. The filters, according to the memo, will bring the Free Library in compliance with the Children's Internet Protection Act.

While the filters have so far only been installed in the computers at the Central Library, officials hope to have SmartFilter implemented systemwide by July 1.

The Support Fund is still in need of more donations to help the child now and in the future. Donations to the family of the library assault victim can be made to Asian Bank -- The Support Fund, c/o Asian Bank, 1008 Arch St., Phila. PA 19107 or dropped off at the Asian Bank or the Free Library, Independence Branch, 18 S. Seventh St.