Playing With “Peanuts”

Baseball can be a sometimes endless season, especially for franchises that get off to a poor start and never have the chance to recover. However even with the worst of teams, the moment exists, either on the field or off, that a fan can be at that one game that can capture a moment that will live forever. that is the beauty of sport at any level…seeing that one unexpected moment live, or being part of the shared experience or commemoration that happens just once in a lifetime. Baseball also has the ability, because of its length of season, to find ways to honor so many aspects not just of the sport but of human and artistic achievement almost every day. The ceremonies of baseball…from the first pitch to the seventh inning stretch to even a memento…present oppoertunities unlike any other sport, try as others may.

We noticed one of those such moments, courtesy of Maury Brown's Great Business of Baseball blog, this past week. It is a series of events i. stadia which honors a unique tie of timeless art and sport…the 60th anniversary of Charles Schulz's series of baseball comic strips with the Peanuts gang. The six events, which will run from June through August from California through Detroit, will honor each of the six strips in their own way, from Bobbleheads in L.A. to Snoopy in Minnesota, each looking at one of the strips and celebrating the great game with one of America's great comic artists. Baseball has the ability to tie any person back to the poignant moments of childhood, and using Peanuts as a vehicle for the special occassion is a very smart one. The overall commemorative series of strips should also make their way into some MLB collectable series for the masses as well over time. Regardless it is a great series and a smart tie that can help recreate memories and make new ones for fans of Peanuts and fans of baseball.