'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' opens at Newburgh Museum
By Joseph Payton | June 16, 2019 at 7:13 PM CDT - Updated June 16 at 7:15 PM
NEWBURGH, Ind. (WFIE) - The Newburgh Museum's exhibit "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" opened its doors on Father's Day.
Most of the memorabilia in the exhibit belongs to the father of former sports reporter Dave Johnson's.
His collection spans from 1890 to the 1950′s, most of which highlights the game during the era of legends like Babe Ruth and Yogi Berra.
"They're seeing a lot of old bats, a lot of old gloves, some photos, some posters," said Johnson.
Dave Johnson told 14 News that his father is the reason he became so interested in baseball.
"When I was a little kid, my dad was a big Cubs fan and we grew up in Illinois. He subscribed to like four different newspapers, just a big Cubs fan! He listened to them everyday," said Johnson.
However, the museum started this exhibit with the local history of America's pastime.
"We had our inspiration, it was three early pictures of Newburgh ballplayers starting 1909 to 1927. It's all very important and we always try to emphasize Newburgh. Things that happened or people in Newburgh," said Exhibit Chair Suzi Byers.
Evansville Otters pitcher Jacques Pucheu stopped by to learn about the local baseball history. He recently made his first professional start in front of his own father. He says the consistency of the sport is what makes it so special to those who play it and enjoy it.
"It has always been carried down. It is just a sport that is a generational type sport and baseball really doesn't change too much. You have guys that throw it a little bit harder now but it's just America's pastime. It's what we love," said Pucheu.
Joseph joined the 14 News team in June of 2018 as a Multimedia Journalist/ Reporter. He comes to 14 News from Ohio University where he graduated with a degree in Journalism News and Information and a minor in sociology.