Have a Ball - 2017

June 14, 2017 Hartford, Wi

A set of eight stamps, intended to recognize America's passion for athletics. The stamps include baseball, soccer, basketball, football, kickball, golf, tennis, volleyball.

The stamps were designed by Mike Ryan, with Greg Breeding servings as the art director. Daniel Nyari created the stylized stamp art.

The first day of issuance ceremony was held in Hartford, Wi as part of the 117th US Open Championship, a part of the US Golf Association's Flag Day celebration.

The US Open was held at Erin Hills, Erin, Wi

USPS digital color postmark

USPS official postmark

ROMP - Jackie Robinson cachet

ROMP - Willie Mays

Pete Rose lino-block print (1 of 2)

Robert Redford in The Natural lino-block print

June 14, 2017 Little Falls, NJ

unofficial first day postmark, home of the Yogi Berra Field and Museum on the campus of Montclair State University
I live in New Jersey, which provided opportunities for unofficial first day postmarks, however time and dealing with postal clerks without knowledge of the regulations, usually hamper these endeavors.
Both the Springfield (Baltusrol Golf Course) and Little Falls (Yogi Berra Museum and Stadium) agreed to hand-stamp the envelopes, only after consulting with their supervisors after I quoted the regulations and handed them in writing. The Bridgewater office (home of the Somerset Patriots) were not as accommodating, stating their supervisor was out delivering mail and I should return later, as they would not touch the envelope.

Since the stamp was issued nationwide on the first day, other area baseball opportunities would have included Hoboken, Sussex, Trenton, Lakewood, Newark, Camden...
I will be interested to see what other postmarks are out there...

Baseball Entertainment

Baseball and the movies have had a long relationship. From Babe Ruth, Abbott and Costello, Mantle and Maris, Bugs Bunny, Angels in the Outfield and Field of Dreams... Baseball has focused on biographies, love stories, comedies, life lessons and the supernatural..

Although there are not many stamps featuring baseball movies, there are many potential cachets on first day covers that bridge that gap..

Gary Cooper first day issue September 19, 2009, which features a Lou Gehrig cachet from Macintosh cachets, Hobby Link and a Robinson Stamps lino-print Lou Gehrig cachet with a Gary Cooper Beau Geste first day from 1999.  These envelopes utilize Cooper's portrayal of Gehrig in the 1942 film "Pride of the Yankees"

John Cusack - Eight Men Out

(Cusack is misspelled in the envelope)

Cusack portrayed Buck Weaver of the Chicago White Sox.

Wilford Brimley - The Natural

Bromley portrayed the manager of the NY Knights "Pop Fisher" in the film

2017.03.10 Monster Con, Cherry Hill, NJ

Both Brimley and Cusack appeared at the Monster Con, I just had to create a cover for their autographs, which commemorated their respective baseball films..

May 7, 1984 Opening Night - The Babe

The Babe hits Broadway not with a homer but a foul pop-up closing on May 20, after 5 performances. The show starred Max Gail of Barney Miller fame as The Babe. The show was written by Bob and Ann Acosta, directed by Noam Pitlik...

Pooh's On First - sketch by Charles Paul Wilson III

Abbott & Costello - Who's On First

Possibly the greatest comedy routine based on baseball. The concept of wordplay had been around for years. In vaudelville the concept was the Baker Scene, using Watt Street as the main focus. Wheeler and Woolsey used the concept in the 1930 movie Cracked Nuts looking at a map of the mythical Kingdom of Which.

Abbott and Costello refined the routine using baseball players names, around 1936. On the 1938 Kate Smith Hour radio program the team performed the routine. At times actual player names were used like Dizzy and Daffy Dean or Enos Slaughter, to which Costello replied "He knows Slaughter". In 1940 they performed the routine in their film debut One Night in the Tropics. 1945 the routine was again sued in The Naughty Nineties. this longer versions is considered the finest recorded version of the routine and is played at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

The routine would also be used on their radio and television shows.

A League of Their Own

Gambia used a souvenir sheet with a Ronald Reagan as Grover Cleveland Alexander stamp, along with images of James Stewart portraying Monty Stratton and Anthony Perkins as Jimmy Piersall