Play ball! Detroit Institute of Arts debuts baseball exhibit as Tigers set to play home opener

Skyline made of baseball bats, collection of 500-plus rare baseball cards on display

Image | DIA play ball

Caption: New work commissioned for the exhibit called "Urban Landscape (Detroit)" by Dario Escobar depicts an outline of Detroit's skyline constructed with baseball bats. (Detroit Institute of Arts)

Comerica Park won't be the only place where the phrase "play ball!" will be heard this season. A few kilometres up Woodward Avenue from where the Detroit Tigers are set to have their opening day, the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is debuting a baseball-themed exhibit of the same name.
"We really wanted to broaden our audience and reach out and connect sports, arts and the community with a very unique exhibition," explained Nancy Barr, who heads the DIA's prints, drawings and photographs department.

Media Video | CBC News Windsor : "Play Ball!" Baseball at the DIA

Caption: The Detroit Institute of Arts opened an exhibit Thursday called "Play Ball!" The show features more than 600 items, many of them rare baseball cards.

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"We had a local collector who was willing to be very generous and loan a very high quality collection ... we thought it was a perfect opportunity to build out a whole new experience for our visitors," she said, adding that the baseball-themed show is a first for the DIA.

Image | DIA play ball

Caption: Nancy Barr is the DIA's curator of photographs. (Jonathan Pinto/CBC)

All but two of the roughly 600 items in the exhibit are on loan from Metro Detroit lawyer E. Powell Miller, founder of the Miller law firm in Rochester, Mich.
The heart of the collection is the T206 White Border set of baseball cards produced by the American Tobacco Company from 1909-11.

Image | DIA play ball

Caption: The majority of the items in this exhibit were sourced from the collection of E. Powell Miller, a Metro Detroit lawyer. (Jonathan Pinto/CBC)

"It is one of the most popular sets ever created. It's the golden era of baseball," Miller said, noting that the set includes a few Canadian players, an ultra-rare Honus Wagner card, and four different portraits of famed Detroit Tiger Ty Cobb.

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Caption: An "ultra-rare" Honus Wagner baseball card from the T206 White Border set. (Detroit Institute of Arts)

Play Ball! Baseball at the DIA runs until Sept. 16. Admittance is included with general admission.

Image | DIA play ball

Caption: The centrepiece of the exhibit is the T206 White Border set of baseball cards. (Jonathan Pinto/CBC)

Image | DIA play ball

Caption: A Detroit Tigers 1968 World Champions ball, pen and ink on leather by George Sosnak. (Detroit Institute of Arts)

Image | DIA play ball

Caption: A baseball autographed by famous Detroit Tigers player Al Kaline, as well as a 1958 Al Kaline Topps baseball card. (Detroit Institute of Arts)