Chasing Dreams: Baseball & Becoming American

Announcing our starting lineup!

From Opening Day to the World Series, join us during the run of Chasing Dreams for an exciting calendar of programs and events for the whole family. For a full schedule of Museum programs and events throughout the year, visit our calendar.

Programs & Events Tickets
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Chasing Dreams Calendar of Events

Members Only Quarterly Book Club
Sunday, March 2, at 11:00 am
FREE & Exclusively for Members

Join fellow NMAJH Members to discuss The Catcher was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg by Nicholas Dawidoff. Shirley Brown, Co-Director of the Philadelphia Writing Project will facilitate the discussion. Coffee, tea, and snacks will be provided.

Limited to 20 people

RSVP to Elayna Tursky, Development Assistant, at etursky@nmajh.org or 215.923.3811 x109.

Only in America Gala
Tuesday, March 11 at 6:00 pm
Tickets: $500 and up

Be among the very first to view the Museum’s special exhibition, Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming American, at the annual Only in America Gala.

MVP Preview and Reception
Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming American
Wednesday, March 12 at 4:30 pm

NMAJH Members are invited to view the exhibition and hear remarks from the Official Historian for Major League Baseball, John Thorn, and Chief Curator Josh Perelman before Chasing Dreams opens to the public.

Old Jews Talking Baseball – Just Added!
Tuesday, March 25 at 7:00 pm
$18/$15 Members

Longtime friends, baseball experts, and fans Dan Okrent and John Thorn sit down for a chat about life and baseball. They’ll ponder why Fantasy Baseball is a metaphor for what Jews and other minorities have always longed for in baseball and in American life. They might even tell a joke. Or two.

Bestselling writer Daniel Okrent was the first public editor of The New York Times, and is perhaps best known for inventing Rotisserie (aka “Fantasy”) Baseball and for bringing Old Jews Telling Jokes to the stage. John Thorn is the Official Historian of Major League Baseball and served as the chief consultant to Chasing Dreams. Both were significant contributors to Ken Burns’s Baseball, among countless other accomplishments.

Books will be available for sale and signing at the light reception to follow.

Young Friends Curated Cocktails
Thursday, May 22 at 6:00 pm
$12/ FREE for Young Friends Members

Join the Young Friends of NMAJH for a cocktail party and discussion of Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming American with Associate Curator Ivy Weingram.

Second Sunday Family Workshop: Baseball, Teamwork, Family, and Community
Sundays: April 13, May 11, June 8, July 13, August 10, September 14, and October 12, at 10:30 am and 3 pm
FREE with Museum admission; advance registration strongly recommended, most appropriate for ages 5 and up.

Join us and share your favorite family baseball memories. Explore Chasing Dreams through storytelling, games, and interactive tours. Each workshop will feature unique activities and discussions.

Jackie Robinson: Outsider Hero
Thursday, May 8 at 7:00 pm
Individual Tickets: $12/$10 Members
Series: $45/$36 Members

Inspired by the legacy of the legendary, barrier-breaking #42, the Official Historian of Major League Baseball, John Thorn, will lead a conversation on the contemporary relevance of Robinson’s legacy for outsiders of every kind. Also featuring Professors Adrian Burgos, Jr., University of Illinois (Cuban Star and Playing America’s Game), and Lisa Doris Alexander, Wayne State University (When Baseball Wasn’t White, Straight, and Male).

Baseball in America Today
Wednesday, May 28 at 7:00 pm
Individual Tickets: $12/$10 Members
Series: $45/$36 Members

Explore the role of baseball in American life and culture today with the President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Jeff Idelson, and ESPN The Magazine Executive Editor, Steve Wulf.

Members Quarterly Book Club
Sunday, June 1 at 11:00 am
FREE & Exclusively for Members

Join fellow NMAJH Members to discuss The Natural by Bernard Malamud.

Dreamers and Doers: Kim Ng
Wednesday, June 11 at 7:00 pm
$18/$15 Members

The second installment of our annual series features the Senior Vice President for Baseball Operations at Major League Baseball, Kim Ng, a Chinese American woman breaking barriers in a traditionally male-dominated field who continually demonstrates passion, vision, and a quintessential American spirit. Her focus on aspiration and hard work— dreaming and doing—reminds us that anything is possible.

Chasing Dreams Family Fun Day
Sunday, June 15
FREE

We’re taking it outside for this fun family day on Independence Mall featuring games, arts and crafts, meet-and-greets with MLB personalities, music, and more!

Classics & Crackerjacks: Fun for the Whole Family
Second Sundays at 1:00 pm
FREE with Museum Admission

Join us throughout baseball season for a cinema series filled with baseball classics, documentaries, and family films that examine, commemorate, and celebrate America’s love of the game.

The Bad News Bears (USA, 1976, 102 min.)
April 13, July 13, and October 12

The Sandlot (USA, 1993, 101 min.)
May 11 and August 10

Rookie of the Year (USA, 1993, 103 min.)
June 8 and September 14

Classics & Crackerjacks: Summer Cinema
Wednesdays in July at 7:00 pm
Individual Film Tickets: $12/$10 Members
Summer Cinema Series: $38/$32 Members
See below for more film savings!

Join us throughout baseball season for a cinema series filled with baseball classics, documentaries, and family films that examine, commemorate, and celebrate America’s love of the game.

July 9: The Natural (USA, 1984, 134 min.)
July 16: Bull Durham (USA, 1988, 108 min.)
July 23: A League of Their Own (USA, 1992, 128 min.)
July 30: Field of Dreams (USA, 1989, 107 min.)

This series is presented with longtime film critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Carrie Rickey.

Buy more and save!
Classics & Crackerjacks Package
$50/$40 Members
Do you love baseball and film? Purchase this package for maximum savings. Includes all four Summer Cinema films and both DOCtober documentaries.

Classics & Crackerjacks: Documentaries
Individual Film Tickets: $10/$8 Members
DOCtober Series: $18/$14 Members
See below for more film savings!

Join us throughout baseball season for a cinema series filled with baseball classics, documentaries, and family films that examine, commemorate, and celebrate America’s love of the game.

The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (USA, 1999, 95 min.)
Sunday, October 19 at 2:00 pm

Featuring Director Aviva Kempner in conversation with Professor of Religion and advisor to Chasing Dreams, Rabbi Rebecca T. Alpert, Temple University (Out of Left Field: Jews and Black Baseball).

Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story (USA, 2010, 91 min.)
Wednesday, October 22 at 7:00 pm

Featuring Director Peter Miller.

Grandparents Day
Sunday, September 7
FREE for grandparents and children 12 and under.

Grandmothers, bubbies*, and nanas! Grandfathers, zadies*, and pops! Grab your grandkids for a day of fun at the Museum. Explore Chasing Dreams, take a journey through time in our interactive, family-friendly permanent exhibition, participate in a Spotlight Talk, watch a film, or read a story together in a cozy spot. Release your creative spirit with Chasing Dreams-themed arts and crafts and have fun outside with special activities on the Museum Plaza. There is something for kids of all ages!

*Grandma and Grandpa in Yiddish

Members Mural Arts Trolley Tour
Sunday, September 14 at 11:00 am
$50/ $36 Members

This Members-only sports-themed tour will complement our special exhibition, Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming American.

Writing Baseball
Sunday, September 21 at 2:00 pm
Individual Tickets: $12/$10 Members
Series: $45/$36 Members

What happens when baseball leaves the field and swirls around in the imaginations of great writers? This conversation seeks to understand the journey of baseball from the field to the page, where deeply personal connections are translated into text, resonating with readers across generations. Participants include: Morris Dickstein, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he is also the founder and Senior Fellow of the Center for the Humanities; author Eric Rolfe Greenberg (The Celebrant), and journalist and bestselling author Jane Leavy (Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy and The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood).

Baseball and Becoming American
Series of four weekly lectures
Tuesdays, October 7, 14, 21, and 28 at 6:00 pm
$90/$75 for Members

Drawing on primary and secondary sources featured in the exhibition, this series of lectures will examine the ways in which American baseball has served as a reflection of and catalyst for the development of American culture since the 19th century. It will focus on the ways baseball was an agent of integration for new arrivals to America, as well as an arena for addressing civil rights. The role of baseball in transmitting values and traditions across generations through familial relationships will also be explored.

Instructor: Rabbi Rebecca T. Alpert, Professor of Religion at Temple University and author of Out of Left Field: Jews and Black Baseball and advisor to Chasing Dreams.

Special guest instructor: Jeffrey S. Gurock, Libby M. Klaperman Professor of Jewish History at Yeshiva University.