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Peanuts at Bat
April 4th-May 31st
See Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the Gang in Peanuts at Bat at the ToonSeum.
The 2009 baseball season is upon us. While we all lament our local baseball teams losing record, take heart Pittsburgh, there is one team whose losing streak has spanned fifty years!
One of the most lackluster baseball teams known to the sport must surely be the one managed by Charlie Brown. His team is comprised of a motley group of uninspired ball players with a dog-Snoopy-as shortstop. Snoopy, as it turns out, is one of the more talented players on a team that can't hit, pitch, or field. Every year for nearly fifty years during baseball season, Charles Schulz sent this hapless crew out to lose game after outlandish game.
The Peanuts Gang's ill-fated baseball games were based, to a large extent, onPeanuts creator Charles M. Schulz's childhood experiences playing sandlot baseball. Baseball was Schulz's favorite childhood sport, but he remembered losing a game once 40 to 0. This game, he said, gave him the idea for Charlie Brown's string of losses. Schulz's passion for baseball continued into adulthood; he played pickup games as often as he could on baseball diamonds he had built at his home and near his studio. Schulz also followed major league baseball and was a keen admirer of Willie Mays and other talented professionals.
Peanuts at Bat, opening on April 3rd 2009, showcases some of Schulz's most memorable baseball-themed comic strips. Forty-three digital prints from the original Schulz drawings are on display, taking the visitor through five decades of thePeanuts Gang engaged in America's pastime. Included in the exhibition are vintage Peanuts baseball memorabilia and ephemera: bobble head dolls, banners, and a board game.
The ToonSeum is Pittsburgh's museum of cartoon art, currently housed within the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh (10 Children's Way, on the North Side). Entry to the ToonSeum is free with paid admission to the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh (Adults- $10, Children under 18 and Seniors - $9, Children under 2- Free). Museum hours are Monday-Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. For more information, please visit www.toonseum.com or call (412)325-1060
The Peanuts at Bat touring exhibition is organized and loaned by the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, Santa Rosa, California. |
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