Thunder!

My son's baseball team wrapped up their final season together last weekend in the state tournament. He's played for his team—The Thunder—since kindergarten, and their last game was bittersweet for players, parents and coaches alike.

I helped coach a little over the past few years, though my most helpful contribution may have been the team's logo…

There was never a shortage of fathers who knew more about the game of baseball than I did, so I'm grateful I was able to spend as much time in the dugout—chewing sunflower seeds and keeping the batting order in check—as I did. What a great group of kids!

I learned a lot and developed an appreciation for the finer points of the game.

My son lives for sports, and baseball is his favorite sport of all.

On Father's Day, he gave me a giant old album of baseball cards he discovered in a thrift store…

By the way, did you know the largest collection of baseball cards in the world—over 30,000 cards—is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art? The collection includes the rare and valuable Honus Wagner card, which has been called 'The Mona Lisa' of baseball cards.

Which got me thinking: What else happens at the intersection of baseball and art?

Here's what I found:

Graig Kreindler is a highly-regarded fine artist who specializes in painting baseball scenes. (Here's his painting of Babe Ruth.)
Artist Nathan Rueckert makes art OUT of baseballs. Here's a piece of his called 'America's Game'—an American flag made from actual used baseballs.
Artist Emily Wolfson uses baseballs as a canvas for her art prints, and artists Paul Nichols, Monty Sheldon and Mike Floyd all draw and/or paint directly onto baseballs.
You can buy hand-painted bats, too – and artist Sean Kane even hand-paints baseball gloves. Here's a hand-painted catcher's glove, complete with Johnny Bench autograph!
I found a recent art gallery exhibition called 'The Art of Baseball'. (Walk through the exhibition here.)
Of course, baseball and photography go way back. Here's an amazing collection of photographs of the Boston Red Sox from the Boston Public Library.
Here are 50 Incredible Vintage Baseball Advertisements.
And this 1927 World Series Champion New York Yankees team signed baseball is definitely a piece of art.

Oh, well… next stop for us: High school baseball! In the meantime…

PS: I don't know if we'll ever be able to top last year's batting practice with Eric Hosmer (click link to read the story) but we did make it to Kauffman Stadium to see the Royals play the Red Sox a few weeks ago—and saw Salvador Pérez hit his first ever grand slam! By the way, Salvy was just selected to appear in his fifth straight All-Star Game. Way to go, Salvy! (Here's an entire photo gallery of 'Salvy Splashes!' in his honor!)

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“Another secret of the universe: Sometimes pain was like a storm that came out of nowhere. The clearest summer could end in a downpour. Could end in lightning and thunder.”
–Benjamin Alire Sáenz

"People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."
–Rogers Hornsby, Sr.

1. Ignoah da clickah! How to lose your Boston accent. (For some it's wicked difficult!)

2. How baseballs are made. (Hint: They're stitched by hand—and it's pretty amazing!) And while I'm at it, here's how they make wooden baseball bats. And here's "How baseball gloves are made!"

3. Two pieces of Babe Ruth memorabilia previously owned by actor Charlie Sheen—Ruth’s 1927 World Series ring and an original copy of the agreement sending Ruth from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees—sold at auction last week for over $4 million. By the way, here's the last known photograph of Babe Ruth alive. And did you know: There once was a 17 year-old girl who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, back-to-back?

4. Since 1938, every baseball ever used in the MLB is rubbed in a 'magic mud' called Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud. Here's the story. (One of the reasons this is done is to prevent what happened to Ray Chapman, the only player to ever be killed in the major leagues. Here's his sad story.) And here are 35 Odd Baseball Facts That Are Too Strange To Be Made Up. By the way, did you know famed major league manager Casey Stengel was born Charles Dillon Stengel? His nickname 'Casey' came from the initials of his birthplace: Kansas City!

5. Umps: Gotta love 'em! MIB (Men in Blue): Funny Stories Involving Umpires | “You’re Outta Here!” 16 Clever Comments That Got Coaches Tossed by the Umpire | The Big List of Umpire Heckles.

“I've never questioned the integrity of an umpire. Their eyesight, yes.”
–Leo Durocher

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“It ain't over 'til it's over.”
–Yogi Berra

“It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.”
–George Herman “Babe” Ruth, Jr.

"I'll never make the mistake of being seventy again."
–Casey Stengel

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About Me

Hi. I’m D.E.Uhlig. I’m an artist, author, husband and father.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved to draw. Years ago I gave my wife a hand-drawn card for our anniversary, and she loved it so much she made me promise to ALWAYS hand-draw her cards. Then our three kids made me promise to do the same with their birthday cards. And when I posted some of my drawings online, people began asking how they could purchase my work—so I created this newsletter. I believe in something I like to call “The Happiness of Art” and I hope it makes you smile.

Official Bio

D.E.Uhlig is an award-winning illustrator whose work has appeared in numerous publications including the Kansas City Star, Christian Science Monitor, University Daily Kansan, Editorial Humor Magazine, and World Policy Journal. Commercial illustration and design clients over the years have included Samsung, Sprint, and the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, among others—and his Starbucks RedCup illustrations have been featured on the company's Pinterest and Facebook pages. In 1989, Mr. Uhlig co-founded Uhlig LLC, a leading provider of cross-media publishing and communication services in industries ranging from residential housing to book publishing to cancer care. Mr. Uhlig is married with three children and resides in Kansas City. He is currently working on children’s books, ebooks and apps.

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