Another “dying profession” / Baseball art

Sheesh, what’s going to be left?

The New York Times sports media writer Richard Sandomir wrote this story about sports cartoonists joining the endangered species list last week.

In my attic I have pages torn from the NY Daily News from 1969, when Bruce Stark drew a series of Mets, including Gil Hodges, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and others. The pages are crumbling, yellow with age. I wonder which will last longer: these pieces of paper, or the industry.

At the recent Hofstra Conference on the Mets, former AP sportswriter Hal Bock announced he was doing on a book about Willard Mullin, famous for those Brooklyn Dodgers “bum” cartoons,

Speaking of baseball art, baseball artist Paul Lempa is about to open an exhibit in Hoboken, NJ. According to NJ.com, “The exhibit at Gallery 1200 at 1200 Washington St… is due to run through June 23 and will feature some 25 acrylic on canvas paintings in Lempa’s illustrative style of iconic baseball players such as Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Aaron and Jackie Robinson, to name a few.”

Lempa is the “official sports artist” for Topps. I first saw his portrait of Hank Greenberg at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse in Manhattan and thought it was very cool. Evidently I possess a great eye for art since it has been selected as one of 50 pieces for an exhibit in the National Art Museum of Sports “Commitment to Excellence in Art and Sports” exhibit in October.

And if you’re around the Bronx this weekend, check out Bronx Museum of the Arts: ‘Baseball in the Bronx: Nine Innings of Bronx Baseball’ (Friday through Sunday, and Thursday) This show, which will be up through May 13, includes photographs of amateur and professional players over the years, as well as memorabilia of former players and others. Viewing hours for the exhibition are Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., as well as during discussions and special events; 1040 Grand Concourse, at 165th Street, Morrisania, the Bronx, (718) 681-6000, bronxmuseum.org.