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Laura Martin, of Moosic, looks at photographs of Christy Mathewson at the Everhart Museum’s Baseball Dreams exhibit Wednesday.

Frank Magnotta, of Scranton, looks at a long list of professional baseball players that were born in Northeast Pennsylvania at the Baseball Dreams exhibit on Wednesday.

Collages on baseball bats are one of the pieces at the Everhart Museum’s Baseball Dreams exhibit.

Topps baseball cards were printed locally for many years and are part of the Everhart Museum’s Baseball Dreams exhibit.

A large crowd came out for the opening night Wednesday of the Baseball Dreams exhibit at the Everhart Museum in Scranton.

A large collage of baseballs with different amounts of wear placed to look like a flag greets visitors to the Everhart Museum’s Baseball Dreams exhibit.

SCRANTON — “Baseball Dreams: They Played the Game,” an exhibit chronicling the history of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s impact on professional baseball, was unveiled during a private showing at Everhart Museum Wednesday night.

The exhibit, which will be on display to the public from April 10 to Oct. 12, combines contemporary art, historical photos and artifacts to tell the story about baseball’s connection to the area.

Six inductees in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, are at the center of the displays. The stories of others who were prominent in baseball history are told along with that of minor league baseball in the area and of the Minooka Blues amateur team that sent 10 players to Major League Baseball in the early 1900s.

Scranton artist William Chickillo provided the collages and other creative works that are part of the presentation.

Everhart Museum director Cara Sutherland thanked various supporters of the project, including primary sponsor PNC Bank, during brief comments at the end of a reception for special guests.

“The outcove space has a summary history of baseball to bring people up to speed by giving them the context, not just of the general history of baseball, but baseball in this region,” Sutherland said. “ … It’s a combination of historic photographs – new printing of historic images, many of which are from the Library of Congress – and some artifacts that are on loan from Keystone College and other lenders.”

Chickillo’s work included a flag made up of used baseballs in varying conditions from different eras.

Factoryville native Christy Mathewson, part of the original class of Baseball Hall of Famers along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner and Walter Johnson, is recognized with help from Keystone. Books written by Mathewson are among the items on display.

The other Hall of Famers from Northeastern Pennsylvania are Hughie Jennings from Pittston, Ed Walsh from Plains Township, Stan Coveleski from Shamokin, Stanley “Bucky” Harris from Pittston, and Nestor Chylak from Olyphant.

Jennings was inducted in 1945 and Walsh in 1946. Jennings, a shortstop, batted .401 for the 1896 Baltimore Orioles. Walsh went 40-15 with 11 shutouts and a 1.42 ERA for the Chicago White Sox in 1908.

Harris, who moved to Pittston from New York State as a 6 year old, made it to the majors as a player and led the Washington Senators to a 1924 World Series title as a 27-year-old player/manager. He won 2,157 games as a manager, seventh-best in Major League history, and was inducted in 1975.

The exhibit also recognizes “Honest” Eddie Murphy and Jean Marlowe, among others.

Murphy, from Dunmore, received his nickname as one of the 1919 Chicago White Sox who was not implicated for fixing the World Series. Scranton’s Marlowe, born Jean Malonoski, was one of the stars of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and is one of the AAGPBL players recognized in the Women in Baseball exhibit in Cooperstown.

The display also has some more modern touches, including a glove from Abington Heights graduate Cory Spangenberg, who made his Major League debut with San Diego in September and made the team’s Opening Day roster this week.

The history of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders is noted along with teams that came before the RailRiders. Artificial turf from Lackawanna County Stadium is included.

The RailRiders will be part of promoting the exhibit throughout the season. Players from the team will conduct meet-and-greet events on Saturday mornings, tentatively set for April 25, May 23, June 27, Aug. 1 and Aug. 22 from 11 a.m. to noon.