E22: The Baseball Reliquary: A Fan’s Hall of Fame

Send us Fan MailCooperstown tells one kind of baseball story. The Baseball Reliquary tells the one that lives in fan memory, strange artifacts, and the people who shaped the game’s lore even if they never fit a Hall of Fame template. We sit down with Joe Price, Professor Emeritus and co-director of the Institute for Baseball Studies at Whittier College, to explore how an “alternate hall of fame” can honor impact, meaning, and cultural weight alongside on-field greatness. Joe explains what a reliquary is and why the word belongs in baseball, then takes us inside the collection now housed at Whittier: a grassroots museum and archive built from donations, obsession, and love. We get into unforgettable pieces of baseball memorabilia, from perfect game baseballs signed across eras to a one-of-a-kind Tommy John surgery textbook signed by Tommy John on the very page that diagrams the procedure. Along the way, we talk about Joe’s National Anthem Tour and what it reveals about baseball as tradition, ritual, and community. Then we break down the Shrine of the Eternals, the Reliquary’s fan voted hall that celebrates cultural significance, barrier breakers, and enduring stories, not just career totals. If you’ve ever argued about who really matters to baseball history, this will sharpen your list and probably scramble it too. Subscribe, share this with a baseball friend, and leave us a review with your pick for who belongs in the Shrine next.Email us at [email protected]