See Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the Gang in Peanuts at Bat at the Cesar Chavez Central Library

One of the most lackluster baseball teams known to the sport must surely be the one managed by Charlie Brown. His team is comprised of a motley group of uninspired ball players with a dog-Snoopy-as shortstop. Snoopy, as it turns out, is one of the more talented players on a team that can't hit, pitch, or field. Every year for nearly fifty years during baseball season, Charles Schulz sent this hapless crew out to lose game after outlandish game.

The Peanuts Gang's ill-fated baseball games were based, to a large extent, on Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz's childhood experiences playing sandlot baseball. Baseball was Schulz's favorite childhood sport, but he remembered losing a game once 40 to 0. This game, he said, gave him the idea for Charlie Brown's string of losses. Schulz's passion for baseball continued into adulthood; he played pickup games as often as he could on baseball diamonds he had built at his home and near his studio. Schulz also followed major league baseball and was a keen admirer of Willie Mays and other talented professionals.

Peanuts at Bat, opening on November 1 at the Cesar Chavez Central Library, showcases some of Schulz's most memorable baseball-themed comic strips. Forty-three digital prints from the original Schulz drawings are on display, taking the visitor through five decades of the Peanuts Gang engaged in America's pastime. Included in the exhibition are vintage Peanuts baseball memorabilia and ephemera: bobble head dolls, banners, and a board game. Also on display are a Louisville Slugger Joe Shlabotnik bat (Shlabnotnik is Charlie Brown's favorite-underperforming-player, who's never actually seen in the strip) and an over-sized Snoopy doll decked out in his favorite team uniform.

The exhibit will be open every Saturday in November (excluding Veteran's Day Holiday, November 11) from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Stewart Hazelton Meeting Room. In addition to the open hours, groups of 8 or more are encouraged to call (209) 937-8261 and schedule private tours, a perfect outing for any little league team!

The Peanuts at Bat touring exhibition is organized and loaned by the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, Santa Rosa, California with the support of the Friends of the Stockton Public Library.