I got a text from a fellow Society for American Baseball Research, SABR, member Anthony Bush. He said that there was a little known museum in downtown Duluth, Minnesota that had a baseball exhibit. I was surprised that an old church of Christian Science is now a little museum and located about a 5 min walk from my rental house. The Karpeles Manuscript Museum is named after a Denfeld High School Graduate who made his fortune in real estate. The Karpeles is a too well kept of secret in Duluth, where approximately 3.5 million people visit a year. There is a special place for local history, here in the Zenith City. In fact, Duluth once had the highest millionaires per capita in the United States thanks to the iron ore, shipping and logging industries in the Northland and around the shores of Lake Superior.

The museum director was a woman named Doris and extremely warm and inviting. She was impressed with our baseball knowledge and asked if we were interested in a baseball talk about some the manuscripts at the museum. She said that we could do whatever we wanted. Soon, I found myself in her office scheduling a time for the gallery talk.

The next step was researching some of the items at the museum. This gave me an excuse to watch Ken Burns’ Baseball. About 10 years ago, I had rented and watched every episode from the local library. Baseball, is a 20-hour baseball history documentary, has 9 episodes that are called innings, a must for any baseball fan and a great way to pass the time in the winter and non-baseball months. I bought it for 120 dollars as a special Christmas gift to myself. But now, it’s on Netflix or pirated for free on youtube.com, that is if it’s not taken down. In addition to the documentary, I read the 34-ton Bat by Steve Rushin and interviewed him for Twins Daily. Lastly, I researched almost all the 30 plus items in the museum and I met with my partner twice at a local coffee shop. The event even got a little press at the local paper.

When the night arrived after a long, high volume day at work, I was little nervous. But I remembered that this was supposed to be a fun experience. In the Museum church it was a little musty and warm in contrast from the cool, dry air off Lake Superior. I met my colleague in Doris’s office while 30 people gathered and waited for the talk to begin around 7pm. Once 7pm rolled around, we walked to the center of the old building that has the acoustics of old an old European church from the 15th century. I was introduced as a graduate student from the University of Michigan, although correctly, I am enrolled at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. After Doris completed the introductions, Anthony read his one thousand-word essay and the history of baseball in Duluth. The locals love their local history and this was no exception.

The next 80 minutes went by in a blur as we covered a wide arrange of topics and some of the exhibits manuscripts. We started with the History of Duluth, The birth of Baseball, spread of it in the Civil War, Babe Ruth’s Career, the short rundown of the Black Sox’s scandal, baseball’s worst teams and all the while Anthony made local connections to each national topic. The next thing I knew, the talk was over. The audience thanked me for telling stories that brought some of the old documents to life. Doris couldn't thank us enough. At a local watering hole afterward we meet up with some friends. The beer tasted great and brought out some mellowness from the thrill of public speaking on your passion.