Baseball exhibit opens in Aurora

The summer exhibit at the Aurora Historical Society is a genuine slice of Americana.

"Play Ball, Aurora!" traces the development of baseball and its later offshoots, fastpitch and slowpitch softball, from the arrival of the game in the 1860s through today.

The exhibit opens with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 23, at the Aurora Historical Society at the Pierce Art and History Center, 20 E. Downer Place, Aurora. The reception is free, but donations are appreciated. Organist Ron Newman provides entertainment.

Aurora soldiers returning from the Civil War helped popularize the new game of baseball they had learned from their counterparts in other units. The modified game of fastpitch softball swept the country in the 1930s and 1940s, and Aurora adopted it warmly. By the 1950s, fastpitch flourished as a spectator sport in Aurora. Local companies sponsored championship teams that competed at a high level, culminating in several national and world championships by the likes of the Sealmasters and the Home Savers.

John Jaros, executive director of Aurora Historical Society, curated the exhibit, assisted by prominent player and organizer Bill Pfeiffer. The exhibit includes uniforms from a variety of teams, beginning with the Question Marks, a dominant baseball team from the 1930s. Also part of the exhibit are the towering American Softball Association world championship trophy of 1959 and the runner-up trophy from 1963, as well as hundreds of photographs.

The exhibit is open noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays through Sept. 13. For information, visit aurorahistory.net.