Baseball Reliquary

The Baseball Reliquary is a nonprofit, educational organization "dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history and to exploring the national pastime’s unparalleled creative possibilities." The Reliquary was founded in 1996 in Monrovia, California and is funded in part by a grant from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

Throughout the year, the Reliquary organizes and presents artistic and historical exhibitions relating to baseball. Recent exhibitions (as of 2007) include a history of Mexican-American baseball in Los Angeles, a detailed replica of Ebbets Field, and a screening of the film The Emerald Diamond about the Irish national baseball team.

Shrine of the Eternals

Since 1999, members of the Baseball Reliquary have elected 27 individuals to their "Shrine of the Eternals." The Shrine is similar in concept to the annual elections held at the Baseball Hall of Fame, but differs philosophically in that statistical accomplishment is not a criterion for election. Rather, the Shrine’s annual ballot is composed of individuals – from the obscure to the well known – who have altered the baseball world in ways that supersede statistics.

The Baseball Reliquary lists the criteria for election to the Shrine of the Eternals as:

• the distinctiveness of play (good or bad)
• the uniqueness of character and personality
• the imprint that the individual has made upon the baseball landscape

Shrine of the Eternals inductees

Current as of the 2015 induction.

The Hilda Award

Named in memory of legendary Brooklyn Dodgers baseball fan Hilda Chester, the Hilda Award recognizes distinguished service by a baseball fan. The award is an old cowbell, Hilda Chester’s signature noisemaker. The Hilda is awarded annually, on the Shrine of the Eternals Induction Day.

Hilda Award recipients

See also

• Nisei Baseball Research Project

External links

• Baseball Reliquary homepage
• New York Times - "A Hall of Fame for Great Stories"