The St. Louis History Museum (formerly the Missouri History Museum) is delving into the city’s rich baseball history in its new exhibition St. Louis at Bat, opening October 3 and on display until September 7, 2027. In celebration of the centennial anniversary of the Cardinals’ first World Series win, the exhibition examines moments that shaped St. Louis into the baseball city it is today.
Opening weekend activities for the exhibition include a ribbon cutting ceremony with Fredbird, a demonstration of vintage baseball and corkball on October 3, and player meet-and-greets with Jenna Marston and Brad Thompson on October 4.
Stay up-to-date with the local arts scene
Subscribe to the weekly St. Louis Arts+Culture newsletter to discover must-attend art exhibits, performances, festivals, and more.
Curated by public historian Adam Kloppe, the exhibition features objects such as a championship pin awarded to 1886 St. Louis Browns pitcher Dave Foutz, a St. Louis Stars jersey, Bill White’s 1964 World Championship ring, and a piece of fabric from the jersey worn by David Freese during Game 6 of the 2011 World Series.
“St. Louis is such a baseball town,” Kloppe says. “There’s such a strong tradition of baseball here, and we wanted to commemorate that.”
Since 2026 is the 100th anniversary of the Cardinals’ first World Series win, Kloppe decided to gather 100 moments that told the stories of what baseball means to St. Louis. The exhibition certainly covers those iconic moments that every baseball fan can rattle off, says Kloppe, but also takes in community baseball fields, small leagues, and the smaller moments that don’t receive much attention in the public eye.
As much as Kloppe believes that baseball has influenced St. Louis, he also believes that St. Louis has changed the course of baseball’s history.
“This is a city that has shaped and been shaped by baseball,” he says. “The Sporting News was a St. Louis publication that became known as ‘the baseball Bible’ for much of the 20th century. [St. Louis] is the home of Rawlings, which is the company that worked with the Cardinals’ pitcher to invent a glove that is the grandfather of every baseball glove we see today.”
Among the 100 stories, Kloppe specifically highlights Jenna Marston, who grew up in St. Louis playing baseball and joined Team USA’s women’s baseball team, winning Team USA’s “Sportswoman of the Year” award, as well as a gold medal in international competition. He also mentions the Skibbe Wiffleball League, which was started in a Manchester backyard and has now grown to be the longest-running wiffleball league in the nation. The history of corkball, St. Louis’ original variation on America’s pastime, is also a must-see story in the exhibition.
“Getting into those stories, and putting them in conversation with those more well-known stories makes this a baseball story unlike any other that’s been put together before for the city of St. Louis,” Kloppe says.
Kloppe hopes to showcase the depth, diversity, and surprising nature of St. Louis’s baseball history.
“Whether they’re someone who knows what Bob Gibson’s ERA was in 1968 or someone who doesn’t know the difference between a hit-by pitch and a homerun,” he says. “There’s something that’s going to connect them to St. Louis’s history.”
