Manfred was joined by 2015 Hall of Fame inductee and MLB Network analyst John Smoltz to set in motion a tour that will bring fans a one-of-a-kind baseball experience through the illustrious history of the game with compelling historic artifacts, cutting-edge technology and digital media. The exhibit will travel to six cities in its first four months, providing guests nearly 1,000 hours of access to exhibits provided from the vast collections of The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Tour stops are scheduled July 3-10 at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport; July 15-31 at Miller Park in Milwaukee; Aug. 5-21 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City; Aug. 26-Sept. 11 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis; Sept. 16-29 at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn.; and Oct. 7-23 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
"I think the idea of taking another baseball shrine -- Cooperstown -- and making it mobile so that people around the country have a realistic opportunity to share in the experience, is just a great idea," Manfred said after he and Smoltz interacted with many youth players from the region. "For us, the opportunity to combine technology with an iconic location like Cooperstown was appealing. We thought it would be more appealing to young people and important to the game overall."
Many of the game's most iconic artifacts will be with the Tour, including the bat used by Bobby Thomson when he hit the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" walk-off home run in the 1951 regular-season playoff; the glove worn by Willie Mays when he made the famous catch in Game 1 of the '54 World Series; the trophy given to Ty Cobb for his '11 season, when he led the league with a .420 batting average; Babe Ruth's No. 714 home run ball; and the jersey worn by Roberto Clemente during his final season in 1972.
Bobby Thomson's shot
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Through its official ticketing provider, Tickets.com, the Tour's general public tickets across all six locations will be available beginning at 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday on the Tour's official website powered by MLB Advanced Media at HallofFametour.com.
Denise Stillman, head of the ownership group that recently purchased the iconic 193-acre site immortalized in the 1989 Oscar-nominated movie, said the "We Are Baseball" announcement event was "very historic."
"We've never had a Major League Baseball Commissioner at the 'Field of Dreams' movie site," Stillman said. "To know that we are helping to launch what will be a wonderful opportunity to help kids and future baseball fans fall in love with baseball, either again or for the first time, is very special to us, because that directly aligns with our mission."
Hall of Famer Wade Boggs is a member of Stillman's investor group, but he was absent for a good reason. Boggs will be at Fenway Park tonight to see his No. 26 retired by the Red Sox team he led for 11 years, and Stillman said, "We sent him our well wishes and a gift."
Manfred and Smoltz were joined by MLB Network host Greg Amsinger, Tour partners, the World Series trophy, Stillman and ownership group members, and local dignitaries as well as a host of area youth ballplayers.
Manfred grew up in Rome, N.Y., a 50-minute drive from Cooperstown, and he said his frequent trips there made him eventually realize what so many others should see.
"That was a day jaunt for us, not even a weekend jaunt," he said. "So I went to Cooperstown I can't even tell you how many times as a kid. I still enjoy going back. It's one of the reasons I thought this project was so important -- to give as many people as possible the opportunity to see the great history of our game.
"I think that baseball has always been generational. The most important and most fundamental obligation for those of us who are fortunate enough to work in the game is to make sure the game is passed onto the next generation the same way it was passed on to us."
Manfred said the process of selecting cities for the first year was a "difficult" one.
"Someone smarter than I had the idea of starting here and kind of building around a Midwestern core ... with the exception of Las Vegas," he said. "That's a good idea. You don't want to be too close to Cooperstown -- somewhere around the center of our country. But our commitment is to bring it to other cities around the country as we move forward."
Smoltz threw off the mound to Little Leaguers and said it was "pretty cool -- a lot cooler than trying to throw from 60 feet six inches. My shoulder is pretty done.
"I've been places that I never thought were possible, coming from Lansing, Mich., a small city," he added. "I've got a chance to be part of some major sports events, meeting the President ... this has been a really cool journey. This marks it off as another moment I never would have had."
When asked to imagine what seeing "We Are Baseball" artifacts might have done to him as a boy, Smoltz, still glowing from his trip to Cooperstown last summer, replied: "Imagine what it would do to me right now. The opportunity is so fresh, being in the Hall of Fame. It's a tease. It's a tease of seeing some artifacts and the great stuff the Hall has, and then getting a chance to go to the Hall of Fame itself."
"We Are Baseball" was developed with content provided by The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and through a partnership with IMAX Corporation, MLBAM, Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, CAA and United Talent Agency, along with Arny Granat and Grand Slam Productions.
Central to the fan experience is a mobile IMAX theater showcasing an original IMAX film highlighting the past, present and future of baseball. The film will be produced by Thomas Tull and Tom Werner, and it will feature never-before-seen new content as well as historical footage.
To celebrate the shared experiences and bonds fans have for the sport, one-of-a-kind historical artifacts were curated by baseball historians and will be exhibited in unprecedented ways through state-of-the-art technology. This dynamic, customizable and sharable traveling exhibit will allow fans to "experience" the stories, traditions and stars covering baseball's past and present like never before. Examples include:
• History Selfie: Put yourself into some of baseball's most iconic moments and share with your friends, family and followers via social media.
• Hall of Fame Plaques in HD: Scroll through an interactive experience of the Hall of Fame plaques for every inductee.
• Video Exhibit Cases: In a first-of-its-kind for baseball artifacts, utilize video screens to get the story behind a specific artifact before the artifact itself is revealed behind the screen.
• Personal Plaques: Using touch screen technology and high resolution cameras, take your own photo to create a personal Hall of Fame replica plaque and craft your own Hall of Fame story.
• Interactive Games: An interactive touch screen table will allow you to play fun games against your family, friends and other "We Are Baseball" visitors.
• Mobile: Leveraging MLBAM's mobile development and technology expertise, the Tour also will integrate iBeacon technology for location awareness into the experiences for fans with the free MLB.com Ballpark app.
The Tour partnered with pioneering virtual reality company Jaunt to give fans up-close and personal experiences of being present next to the game's brightest stars -- on field, in the dugout and even in the clubhouse.
Fanatics, MLBAM's partner for the MLB.com/shop, will operate a pop-up retail store and provide a wide range of officially licensed gear and customized products for each tour stop. Local fans will have the ability to shop a wide selection of tour merchandise and throwback designs.
MLB Sponsors for "We Are Baseball" are Cisco, Getty Images, MasterCard and Papa John's.
A Tour schedule for 2017 will be released as it becomes available. Visit HallofFametour.com for complete details and the latest scheduling and ticket information.
Mark Newman is enterprise editor of MLB.com. Read and join other baseball fans on his MLB.com community blog. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
'We Are Baseball' tour takes Hall of Fame on road
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