Batter up! Baseball Goes Online 

Just in time for baseball season, the Library of Congress (LOC) has assembled a Web clearinghouse devoted to America’s pastime. The simply named “Historic Baseball Resources” features multimedia offerings from the library’s vast trove, including rare images of early games and the original sheet music to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

Like other LOC-sponsored sites, Baseball Resources sports some educational tools. Lesson plans include “Jackie Steals Home,” which examines the story of famed Dodger Jackie Robinson and the breaking of the color barrier in professional baseball. The standouts here are the primary sources: a 1956 speech by Branch Rickey to the “One Hundred Percent Wrong Club” banquet in Atlanta and a color scan of Robinson’s modest letter of thanks to his manager scribbled on hotel stationery.

Additional online resources for teachers and students help bring the sport and its history to vivid life. For teachers seeking reading materials, there’s a small bibliography of titles, with grade level recommendations. Educators can contribute to this list by submitting their students’ favorite books about the sport.