The Backyard Batting Cage

PLANT CITY, Fla. -- Like thousands of Little Leaguers playing this summer across the country, young Chelsea Baker never gave much thought to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.

She does now.

She's actually going to be in it , not just as a visitor walking through the baseball shrine.

Baker, 13, will be honored Monday when her Plant City Little League jersey -- Brandon Farms, No. 12 -- will be placed in the Diamond Dreams exhibit on the second floor of The Hall.

"I guess I knew a little bit about (the Hall of Fame) before, but once he (her stepfather) really explained it to me, I was in shock,'' Chelsea said Tuesday from her home. "What an honor. This whole thing is pretty amazing to me right now.''

Although there are young girls playing baseball with and against the boys everywhere in America today, Baker's story is unique because of the amazing success she has had, and because of her knuckleball, taught to her by former major league great Joe Niekro shortly before he died in 2006. She was only eight years old at the time.

Chelsea already was planning to be in Cooperstown next week playing for the Sparks, a touring girls baseball team that is part of the Baseball For All organization. The Sparks will competing in the Cooperstown Dream Park Tournament against boys teams of the same age.

No one knows how the Sparks will do, but it was Chelsea's Little League season in Plant City that caught the attention of the Hall. She will be the youngest baseball player ever honored by the Hall with her jersey inclusion.

As a pitcher and the only girl in the league, she threw two perfect games during a season in which she finished with a 12-0 record. Her team finished 29-1. Also playing third base, she batted .604 with five home runs, including her first career grand slam. In four years, she never lost as a pitcher.

"When I first heard they wanted her jersey, I thought, `you've got to be kidding.' When I realized it was real, I got goose bumps on my arms the size of four-inch nails,'' said stepfather Rod Mason, who helped coach her Brandon Farms team. "My jaw is hurting from smiling so much.''

Mason received the request last month for Chelsea's jersey from John Odell, the Hall of Fame Curator of History and Research. Mason was stunned. Here was part of the official request.

``. . . . . .As we discussed, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has an exhibit dedicated to the history of women in baseball, entitled "Diamond Dreams." This exhibit traces the multifaceted role of women playing the game from the 1800s to the present.

It has come to our attention that your daughter, Chelsea, pitched a pair of perfect games over the past 12 months. We believe this is unusual, and we would like to recognize her feat by requesting the permanent donation of her jersey to the collections of the Hall of Fame. The jersey we request would be the one she used when she pitched the second of her two perfect games, which according to our research, she did on April 9, 2010.

While we cannot guarantee the permanent exhibition of any artifact, it is our intent to display Chelsea's jersey in the Diamond Dreams exhibit noted above.''

Please discuss this matter with Chelsea. If you and she would be willing, we would like to accept the donation of the jersey during a small photo op here at the Hall of Fame. . . . . . . Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to answering any questions you and Chelsea might have. .

Best,
John Odell.
Curator of History & Research
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
25 Main St.
Cooperstown, NY 13326

Her jersey in the Diamond Dreams exhibit will be alongside Effa Manley, the only woman enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, a former owner of the Newark Eagles of the Negro League. Also part of the exhibit is memorabilia from the All-American Girls Professional League, which was prominent during WWII; and the Colorado Silver Bullets, the former touring women's baseball team.

Her jersey will be the second addition to the Diamond Dreams exhibit this year, following a jersey received from Eri Yoshida of the Golden Baseball League, who is pitching professionally at the age of 18 for the Chico (California) Outlaws.

The exhibit already includes a baseball that was given to Margaret Gisola in 1928 from Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis when he upheld her right to play American Legion Baseball; a cap worn by Little Leaguer Maria Pepe in 1972 after she won a lawsuit that allowed her to play in Hoboken, N.J.; and a jersey worn by Katie Brownell of Oakland, N.Y, after she struck out all 18 batters she faced in a Little League game in 2005.

Chelsea already has been honored by Major League Baseball before a Tampa Bay Rays game, and she was honored by throwing out the first pitch Saturday at the New York Yankees' Florida State League affiliate's game in Tampa, Fla. The Hall of Fame request will take her stardom to another level.

The ceremony will be held Monday, August 16 at 1 p.m.

"This is a once-in-lifetime thing,'' Chelsea said. "It makes me really proud. It's just so unbelievable.''

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