Dayton Dragon's Mark Wohlers Pitching, July 27, 2000

The Todd Hollst Baseball Collection contains memorabilia that spans over 100 years of Dayton baseball history and provides a glimpse into the evolution of professional baseball in Dayton. The collection is arranged into four series: I. Game Day Memorabilia, II. Business Items, III. Photographs, and IV. Artifacts.

Series I. Game Day Memorabilia is divided into three subseries. Subseries I. Tickets, contains rain checks and ticket stubs for Dayton team games in 1910, 1911, 1941, 1951 and 2001. Subseries II. Score Books and Programs, contains 21 items from games played in the 1930s-1950s and 2000-2001. Inside the score books and programs are advertisements from sponsors, season schedules, and team rosters. Also in this subseries is the 1995 program from Dayton-born Mike Schmidt's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame (see Series III for photographs). Subseries III. Posters, contains three oversize posters commemorating the inaugural season of the Dayton Dragons team in 2000.

Series II. Business Items, is the smallest of the series, containing three letters from different decades, as well as two items concerning the entertainment schedule during the Dayton Dragon home games in 2000.

Series III. Photographs contains 25 photographs (several of which are reproductions of originals), going back to 1898 and depicting games at ball parks, Dayton teams, Dayton Ducks Manager Ducky Holmes, and players Jesse Haines, Johnny Vander Meer, and Dayton Dragons pitcher Mark Wohlers. Jesse Haines was born in Clayton, Ohio and played for Dayton before making his Major League debut with the Cincinnati Reds in 1918. He later played for the St. Louis Cardinals, won two World Series Championships, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970. Johnny Vander Meer played for the Dayton Ducks before going on to be an All-Star pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds. Dates in the inventory reflect the date the image was taken, not when it was printed.

Series IV. Artifacts, contains three-dimensional artifacts with historical significance. Among them is Jesse Haines' mitt, a miniature souvenir Dayton Ducks baseball, four game-used baseballs (some of which are signed), a bat cracked by Dayton Dragons player Ranier Olmedo during the first Dayton Dragons home game, and the first base bag from the Dragon's first game at Fifth-Third Field.