Dr. Christopher Lovett is all about old school baseball.
He’s against designated hitters and he even thinks the game was better suited for radio, not TV.
“It leaves it to the imagination of the audience,” Lovett said.
So when the Emporia State University history professor was approached about speaking on the history of baseball, Lovett was all too excited to accept.
“Baseball has always attracted national attention,” he said during his hour-long presentation on Monday night. “It’s not just a game. It’s a historical event.”
Lovett spoke on behalf of the Allen County Historical Society at the Dr. John Bass North Community Center to a crowd of about 20 people.
The presentation went hand-in-hand with Humboldt’s “Hometown Teams” baseball exhibit, which is part of the Smithsonian travelling circuit.
Like the events in Humboldt, Lovett focused his talk on Walter Johnson, George Sweatt and Ad Brennan, who were all born in Allen County.
He discussed each player’s rise and fall within the game while including how their environment affected their play on the field.
Lovett ended his presentation with a plea for Allen County to go further in its appreciation of Johnson, Sweatt and Brennan.
“They should have a monument of them,” Lovett said.
Lovett and the love of baseball
