Baseball as Allegory
Showing at the Charles M. Schulz Museum
May 14 through November 3, 2008

In this last panel from the April 10, 1955 Peanuts, Charlie Brown shows his perseverance as the
last player to stay out at the rained out baseball game, even as his mitt washes away.

April 28, 2008—Santa Rosa, CA. Enjoy Schulz’s epic baseball comics in this new exhibition featuring 66 original Peanuts baseball-themed strips at the Charles M. Schulz Museum running May 14 through November 3, 2008.

“On the surface many of Charles Schulz’s baseball strips appear to be a light-hearted look at the All-American pastime and can be enjoyed as such. However on another level, Schulz seems to be commenting on important life themes,” explains, Stephan Pastis, exhibition co-curator and cartoonist of comic strip, Pearls Before Swine. “The themes—hope, perseverance, humiliation, and leadership—can be found disguised in the Gang’s often ill-fated baseball games,” adds Pastis.

Schulz commented in an interview that when he created a sports-themed strip, he did not feel that it was dealing with sports. Instead, he said, “I use it as a springboard. Charlie Brown’s problems on the mound are emotional conflicts that everyone deals with.”

ADDITIONAL IMAGES
Note: If you would like any of the images in this release at a higher resolution to print in a publication, contact Gina Huntsinger at gina@schulzmuseum.org.

Peanuts ~ June 17, 1974