By: Amy Xu

When walking through the Los Angeles Central Library, one realizes that it isn’t a typical museum. Inside the building, one can find a baseball (possibly) signed by Mother Teresa and a cigar smoked by Babe Ruth.

The artifacts are loaned from the Baseball Reliquary, an organization dedicated to finding baseball relics and historic artifacts.

Terry Cannon, a fervent baseball fan, created the Reliquary and the library’s organization. In 1996, he introduced the Baseball Reliquary as his “brainchild.” Later in 1999, he made the Los Angeles Central Library association, also regarded as the Shrine of Eternals. Both of them were dedicated to his favorite sport.

The last few years have been devastating for the organization, but they still pulled through Cannon’s passing from cancer in August 2020 and the pandemic. The members and fans of the museum gather and annually pay tribute to inductees such as Jim Bouton (2001), Buck O’Neil (2003), and Charlie Brown (2017). The library’s website has also recovered from its “hiatus” and is up and running classes for baseball fans.

Besides Babe Ruth’s cigar, the library owns thousands of books, documentaries, journals, historical magazines, paintings, and relics. There is even a yukata jacket that was worn by Moe Berg, a former catcher who became a spy during World War II for the Office of Strategic Services. A collection of bobbleheads of famous baseball players sit on the shelves of the library. Even a portrait of Darryl Strawberry made of bubble gum exists in this incredible museum.

The Reliquary has plans to improve its baseball collection. “That’s what the arts do. It’s better than true”, says Ron Shelton, an acquaintance of Cannon. “And that’s where the Reliquary lives.”