Double Play Delight: LEGO® Bricks and Baseball
Anne Jewell, VP, Executive Director, LEGO-Brick Chick
Christmas morning, 2011. I was nestled on the couch, watching my son play with his latest LEGO treasure, a direct delivery via Santa’s sleigh. My kiddo’s contentment and my own happy memories of playing with these timeless toys sparked a thought. The team at Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory is always looking for fun ways to delight our guests, and I wondered if we could combine LEGO with baseball for a special exhibition.
St. Nick had circled the globe the night before. I took my own spin around the World Wide Web that morning by googling “lego and baseball.” That was the start of what became Big Leagues, Little Bricks. Our wildly popular and totally original exhibition debuted here in 2013. It’s now back for another run with new pieces added to the stellar starting line-up that wowed guests several years ago, like Wrigley Field.
This jaw-dropping 5-foot wide recreation of Wrigley took artist Sean Kenney 27 days and 58,000 LEGO bricks to complete. When you see in person at the museum, be sure to search the park for LEGO brick likenesses of Darth Vader, C-3PO, R2-D2, Waldo, The Invisible Man, and more. Hey, there’s The Simpsons!
While the Cubs’ iconic home field is a proven fan favorite from the first run of the show, two new stadiums are sure to be crowd-pleasers, too. Check out Busch Stadium and Great American Ball Park above.
There’s nothing bush league about this terrific model of the St. Louis Cardinals’ home turf, made from 2900 LEGO pieces. Building with LEGO bricks is a passionate hobby for Jason Burik. This Busch Stadium took him 60 hours to complete and we’re thrilled to add it to our permanent collection.
Here’s another new addition to the exhibit and our collection, also built by Burik. His version of Great American Ball Park hits all the right details, including LEGO-brick renditions of the Power Stacks. This model of Cincinnati’s stadium used 5000 bricks and took two months to create.
Along with stadiums, the exhibition has portraits, sculptures, a mural, and hands-on fun with a space for guests to make their own LEGO masterpieces.
With Big Leagues, Little Bricks in the house, “everything is awesome” at Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory this year! We don’t even charge an extra fee to see this sensational show, it’s included with your museum and factory tour ticket. The exhibit runs through January 7, 2018.
My son is now 14 years old and a solid 6-feet tall. He’s grown a lot since that Christmas morning, but some things, like LEGO bricks, never get old.