Skirball Cultural Center
Sepulveda Pass
April 9, 2016
We took Margaret on her first museum outing for nearly three months, since our January visit to the Southwest Museum. All three of us love baseball, so we were pleased that the Skirball has just opened a pair of baseball themed exhibitions.
Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming American pays tribute to the American Jews and other immigrants and minorities who played baseball or contributed to it in other roles. Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax feature prominently, as do Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, Fernando Valenzuela, and many other ethnic minority players. The exhibit includes many pieces of historic memorabilia, such as jerseys, bats, mitts, baseball cards, among other things. We were impressed by the four baseballs autographed by Sandy Koufax to Walter O’Malley after each of his four no-hitters, including his perfect game. Meredith was puzzling over a large photograph of Hank Greenberg with a Yankee player, wondering who the Yankee was, and Margaret recognized immediately that he was Joe DiMaggio. This exhibition will run through October 30.
In a separate gallery we enjoyed seeing vibrantly colored paintings by artist Ben Sakoguchi, The Unauthorized History of Baseball in 100-Odd Paintings. Each painting is done in the style of the old orange crate labels popular from the 1920s through 1950s. Various different baseball players, personalities, and themes are illustrated, some humorous, others poignant. There is an excellent short video featuring the artist, discussing his work and describing his inspiration. A baker’s dozen of images can be seen on the museum’s website: here. This exhibition runs through October 2.
Both of the baseball exhibitions are included with the museum admission, as is the museum’s permanent collection, Visions and Values, Jewish Life from Antiquity to America. Prices are $12 for general admission; $9 for seniors, students, and children over 12; and $7 for children 2–12. Parking is free and generally ample.
We enjoyed our lunch at Zeidler’s Café, possibly our most favorite in-museum restaurant of all the museums we have visited. Margaret and Bob each had sandwiches; Meredith had the spinach and cheese empanada. Margaret was a little befuddled when presented with her options for side dishes, saying simply “too many choices.” We reminded her that she likes the fresh fruit Zeidler’s serves, so she ordered that, and she particularly enjoyed the pineapple. All the food was tasty, service excellent, and the portions were generous. The cost was reasonable considering the quality of the food and service.