Sports and Recreation

Topical Reference Page
Postal hockey team jersey

Albany District Dutchmen hockey jersey

The National Postal Museum proudly celebrates the rich legacy of American sports including its athletes, events and accomplishments through a variety of online resources. Explore the links below to discover how stamps and postal history objects showcase this important thread of the American cultural quilt.

Object Spotlight

/object/npm_0.245704.4Beginning in 1934, and continuing into today, host nations have had the honor of issuing World Cup themed stamps. The 1930 inaugural competition in...

Exhibition

This virtual exhibition highlights a great sports tradition, featuring stamps from several of the countries that have previously been honored with hosting the tournament.

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Joe DiMaggio stamp art
Exhibition
New York City once had three major league teams: the New York Yankees, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the New York Giants. Fourteen World Series match-ups have pitted New York City teams against one another, and the famed Yankees have won the World Series 27 times. When a New Yorker (James Farley) became Postmaster General, he approved the issuance of the first baseball stamp in 1939 commemorating the baseball centennial.
Illustration of the museum entrance
For young learners: Get excited for our upcoming exhibition "Baseball: America's Home Run" with this fun hidden image game! Can you find all ten objects in the picture of the museum?
April 9, 2022 - January 5, 2025
Exhibition

From fan letters and post office baseball teams to the worlds of stamp and baseball memorabilia collecting, Baseball: America’s Home Run / Béisbol: el Jonrón de los EE.UU. explores our national pastime through a unique, postal lens.

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screenshot of four people participating in an online program
Exhibition
Join the National Postal Museum for a reading of the children's book Clemente! by the book's author, Willie Perdomo. Hear the Q&A with Perdomo and with Roberto Clemente, Junior, the son of the legendary Pittsburgh Pirate Roberto Clemente. Explore museum objects related to Clemente from the Postal Museum's exhibition Baseball: America’s Home Run.

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Related Blogs

T206 Honus Wagner, PSA 5 Baseball Card

A T206 Honus Wagner baseball card, graded a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10 by third-party sports grading service, Professional Sports Authenticator (“PSA”), is featured in Baseball: America’s Home Run. The card is the second highest graded example known and one of the most important pieces of sports memorabilia in existence.

Roberto “Momen” Clemente 1960 Louisville Slugger Professional Model Game Used Bat

The most prized and desired bats are those which exhibit physical markings that reveal personal traits associated with use by that ballplayer. This Louisville Slugger professional model bat perhaps epitomizes this phenomenon the most—all of its physical markings pertain to use by Clemente.

Lou Gehrig 1934 Louisville Slugger Professional Model Game Used Bat

How does one know for sure that Gehrig used this bat throughout the 1934 season? The answer lies with unique features associated with this bat.

Lou Gehrig 1937 New York Yankees Road Jersey and 1939 New York Yankees Team Jacket

Gehrig’s meteoric rise to fame, abrupt decline, and death at the age of 37 has made him somewhat of a mythical hero. His illness and how he handled himself are better remembered than all he accomplished playing 17 seasons for the New York Yankees.

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Related Content

Baseball-Related Objects in Smithsonian Collections

America's “greatest pastime” as captured in these Smithsonian Institution museum collection objects.