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Top Baseball Museums Around the U.S.

6 spots where fans can revel in America's pastime

jackie robinson sitting on the bench with his brooklyn dodgers teammates
From left: Brooklyn Dodgers teammates John Jorgensen, Harold “Pee Wee” Reese, Eddie Stanky and Jackie Robinson in 1947, Robinson's rookie year.
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By

Gina DeCaprio Vercesi,

 
AARP
Published May 06, 2021
/ Updated March 30, 2023

Baseball’s history is also America’s history — a game created in New York City in the 1840s that grew into a beloved national pastime that “has helped us through some of our darkest times,” in the words of documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.

Several museums across the country pay homage to the sport while exploring the ways it has reflected and helped shape the country’s social and cultural identity.

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Whether you’re a diehard fan or just someone who enjoys an occasional afternoon at the ol’ ball game, these six spots are worth a visit.

children at the cooperstown new york national baseball hall of fame looking at a display
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National Baseball Hall Of Fame (Cooperstown, New York)

For more than 80 years, baseball fans have flocked to the charming upstate New York village of Cooperstown to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Spread across three floors, more than 40,000 remarkable artifacts share stories of baseball’s most iconic players and moments. Collection highlights include Hank Aaron’s 714th home run ball; uniforms worn by the women who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League; Andy Warhol’s 1977 pop art portrait of Tom Seaver; and a 1964 proposal for a Bill of Rights for Latino players written by Dominican Felipe Alou. Don’t miss walking through the hallowed corridors of the museum’s first-floor Hall of Fame Gallery, which features bronze plaques honoring the 341 players, managers, umpires and executives who have been enshrined in Cooperstown since 1936.

25 Main St.; 607-547-7200 or 888-425-5633; $28 adults (13-64), $22 adults 65-plus with valid ID, $17 children 7-12, free for children 6 and under, free for active and retired military.

a photo of the sign above the negro leagues baseball museum in kansas city missouri
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Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (Kansas City, Missouri)

On Feb. 13, 1920, Andrew “Rube” Foster gathered the owners of seven Midwestern Black baseball teams for a meeting at the Paseo YMCA in Kansas City. His goal? To establish a Black professional league that would protect owners and players from being fleeced by white booking agents who controlled access to big stadiums. Together, the group established the Negro National League, which operated for 40 years, sparking economic growth within Black communities and leading to social change in America. Those teams are celebrated at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, two blocks from that historic YMCA. Through interactive exhibits, video presentations and memorable artifacts, museum visitors learn the history of African American baseball from Jim Crow to Jackie Robinson, examining the impact of discrimination and racial divide on the Black players’ experience and the role the game played in promoting desegregation and social advancement.

1616 East 18th St.; 816-221-1920; $10 adults, $9 adults 65 and older, $6 children 5-12, free for children 4 and younger.

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a photo of the giant baseball bat outside the louisville slugger museum and factory in louisville kentucky
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Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory (Louisville, Kentucky)

What do Cal Ripken Jr., Derek Jeter, Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig have in common? Besides being some of baseball’s most famous players, each one stepped up to the plate swinging a genuine Louisville Slugger bat. Dedicated to baseball’s second most important piece of equipment, the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory pays homage to the players who set records with their Sluggers and the skilled craftspeople who make the bats. An enormous, 120-foot replica of Babe Ruth’s iconic bat greets museum guests who head inside to swing for the fences in the batting cages, view a bat used by Mickey Mantle and examine the third Slugger Joe DiMaggio used during his epic 1941 hitting streak. The best part may be the tour experience at the on-site factory, where cylinders of northern white ash are turned into 1.8-million bats every year. The museum is celebrating the renovation of the gallery on April 5, when the first 500 guests to tour the museum will receive a pennant and miniature bat.

800 West Main St.; 877-775-8443; $18 adults, $17 adults 60 and older, $11 children 6-12, free for children 5 and under. Timed admission tickets are recommended and can be purchased online.

a cut out of babe ruth at the babe ruth museum in baltimore maryland
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Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum (Baltimore, Maryland)

Whether you know him as the Sultan of Swat, the Colossus of Clout or the Great Bambino, there’s no denying that George Herman “Babe” Ruth Jr. was a baseball legend. Tucked down a Baltimore side street a short walk from Oriole Park at Camden Yards sits the redbrick row house where Ruth was born and lived until he was sent to the St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys at age 7. That house is now a museum that traces the Babe’s life story from his tumultuous childhood years through his rise to fame and his poignant personal life. Exhibits — assembled with the help of Ruth’s widow, sisters and daughters — feature memorable pieces such as his boyhood catcher’s mitt, his 1914 rookie baseball card and a kimono from Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel that was presented to the Babe during a 1934 barnstorming tour of Japan.

216 Emory St.; 410-727-1539; $13 adults, $11 military and adults 65 and older, $7 children/teens 5-16. (No advanced ticket purchase is necessary.)

a display at the world of little league museum in south williamsport pennsylvania
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World of Little League Museum (South Williamsport, Pennsylvania)

Every professional ballplayer has to start somewhere, and many of the greats took to the field for the first time in Little League. Learn all about the official six-inning game and the organization behind it at the World of Little League Museum in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania — a complex that’s also home to the annual monthlong Little League World Series. A short video kicks off a self-guided tour that leads visitors through Little League history. Along the way, informative displays and interactive exhibits allow adults and kids alike to test their skills while exploring the traditions and ideals of Little League baseball and softball. At the Global Connections Touch Table, a museum favorite, guests can tap into information about more than 6,000 Little League programs around the world, while the Hall of Excellence showcases Little League “graduates” who serve as exemplary adult role models for children.

525 Montgomery Pike (U.S. 15); 570-326-3607; $8 adults, $5 adults 62 and older, $4 children 4-16, free for children 3 and under. (Admission exceptions noted on the website.)

a photo of bruce hellerstein adjusting a giant baseball bat at the ballpark museum in denver colorado
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National Ballpark Museum (Denver, Colorado)

When Bruce Hellerstein was asked to picture his “perfect paradise” during a personal growth workshop back in the 1980s, he immediately envisioned a baseball field. A longtime fan of the game, Hellerstein collected baseball cards as a boy before moving on to acquire more impressive artifacts — especially those related to classic baseball stadiums. Inspired by that workshop vision, he transformed his basement into B’s Ballpark Museum to display his trove, which was featured in Stephen Wong’s Smithsonian Baseball as one of the finest private baseball collections in the world. In 2010, Hellerstein’s treasures took up residence in a new location just a line drive from Coors Field, home to the Colorado Rockies. Baseball aficionados come to the National Ballpark Museum to ogle relics such as a panel from Fenway’s famous Green Monster that bears an imprint from a ball; authentic seats from classic ballparks, including Wrigley Field and Shea Stadium; a rare usher’s cap from Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field; and an old Yankee Stadium turnstile.

1940 Blake St.; 303-974-5835; $20 adults, $10 adults 65 and older, free for active military and teens/children 16 and under; closed Sundays, Mondays and holidays.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on May 6, 2021. It has been updated to reflect new information.

Gina DeCaprio Vercesi is a New York-based journalist who contributes to National Geographic Traveler and Travel + Leisure.​​​

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