Featured Online Resource: National Baseball Hall of Fame

The web site for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY  has been a great resource for finding information on its legendary members.  A project is currently underway that will provide a great deal of information through its Digital Archive as well!

Cogswell, Ron. "Character and Courage" (CC BY 2.0)

Use the Hall of Fame Explorer to find information on your favorite players.  For example, if you search for Lou Gehrig, you will see his plaque, but also have access to a brief biography, his career statistics, and a sampling of items from the hall of fame collection that have been digitized, including his hall of fame trophy, a letter from the Mayo Clinic describing his ALS diagnosis, photographs, and related content such as the text of his "Luckiest Man" speech.

The Digital Archive Project is just getting started, but will soon be a source of even more primary source materials related to baseball.  Some digitized photographs are already available in the Hall of Fame's Online Photo Exhibitions which currently feature "Picturing America's Pastime" and "The New Face of Baseball".

If you are a teacher who would like to use baseball to explain various concepts, but cannot quite manage a field trip to Cooperstown, the Hall of Fame offers distance learning options.  The curriculum available is not limited to the history of baseball, it covers mathematics, science, social studies, and character education.

Enjoy the offerings of this web site, and be sure to check out the "Hall of Famers" for your favorite team!