Does a Major League Baseball player’s All-Star Game jersey hang in the Smithsonian?

By JACK BAGLEY
didyouknowcolumn@gmail.com
This coming Sunday is Easter, so I hope you have prepared your bonnet and your eggs.
I have never really understood why a rabbit and eggs are the secular representations of Easter, though. Rabbits don’t lay eggs. (At least I’ve always heard that whatever it is they do leave behind, they ain’t eggs.) And I do get the part about “renewal” and all, but still … rabbits?  Eggs? Come on.
Anyway, I do hope you have a very happy Easter (if indeed you celebrate) and that your trivial needs are addressed in the basket of goodies that follows.
Did you know …
… the date for Easter is calculated based on the moon? If, like me, you always wondered why Easter was a different day each year, it’s because the holiday is the first Sunday after the first Saturday after the first full Moon following the first day of spring. Based on that (admittedly confusing) rationale, the earliest Easter possible is March 22, while the latest possible date is April 25. (Be sure the bunny knows.)
… a town in Ireland is known for matchmaking? No, not the making of fire-starting matches, but of relationship-starting matches. The town is Lisdoonvarna, and every year they hold the Matchmaking Festival. It’s a week-long gathering of single people who enjoy music, dancing, and the odd spontaneous proposal of marriage. (Of course, if a spark happens, it’s definitely a real match!)
… the most-used letter in the English alphabet is “E”? The least-used is “Q”. (Wheel of Fortune viewers already know this.)
… the first human heart transplant was performed in 1967? On December 3 of that year, Louis Washkansky (1913-1967) received the heart of Denise Ann Darvall (1942-1967), a 25-year-old woman who died in a traffic accident. Washkansky was operated on in Cape Town, South Africa, by Dr. Christiaan Barnard (1922-2001). Washkansky lived for 18 days after the transplant, regaining consciousness and talking with his family, before he contracted pneumonia and died on December 22. Additional trivia note: This was not the first heart transplant. In 1964, Dr. James Hardy (1918-2003) had performed a transplant on a man in Mississippi, giving him the heart of a chimpanzee. The recipient lived only an hour and never regained consciousness. (You might say his heart wasn’t in it.  You might, but I wouldn’t.)
… the Nazis never had a majority of support in free German elections? The Nazi party, officially called the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP), scored its highest election win in 1932, with only 37.3 percent of the German vote. When Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) became Chancellor the following year, the Nazis only held 1/3 of the seats in the German parliament, or Reichstag. Hitler became Chancellor because, in a parliamentary system, the leader of the political party with the most seats in the parliament – not a majority of the vote – takes the reins of government. Subsequent elections were controlled by the Nazis, of course, resulting in majority wins, but those elections are not considered “free.”
… the famous “Four Corners” is in the wrong place? There is a spot where the borders of the states of Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico meet, called the Four Corners. It’s a popular site for tourists traveling out West. But because of a discrepancy in the original surveying of the borders, the actual spot where the four states meet is about 2,000 feet west of the place where the marker is. (What’s two thousand feet between friends, though?)
… you may be a sufferer of batrachophobia? If you are, you should avoid swampy areas. Sufferers of batrachophobia fear amphibians of all types. (I guess they never feel … froggy.)
… a Major League Baseball player’s All-Star Game jersey is in the Smithsonian? When Lou Whitaker (born 1957) of the Detroit Tigers reported to the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the 1985 All-Star Game, he realized he’d forgotten something … his uniform. Since he was one of the starters, Whitaker quickly figured out he’d have to do something. While able to get a pair of pants, socks, and spikes from his teammates who were also there, he knew his jersey and cap would be a problem. Whitaker solved the problem by purchasing a replica Tigers cap and souvenir jersey from an in-park vendor, and having his number 1 drawn on the back of the jersey with magic marker. The jersey is part of the Smithsonian collection today. (Good thing they didn’t try to add his name to the back!)
… that indentation at the bottom of a wine bottle has a purpose? Called a “punt,” it strengthens the overall structure of the bottle. (That’s the good news.  The bad news is, it decreases the amount of wine in the bottle.)
… a battle flag captured during the Civil War is still being held by the state which captured it? At the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, the battle flag of the 28th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was captured by the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The flag was taken back to Minnesota, and in 2001 the state of Virginia asked for its return. Minnesota has, as of this writing, not returned the flag. Additional trivia note: The soldier who captured the flag, Private Marshall Sherman (1823-1896), was awarded the Medal of Honor for doing so.
… the average human body contains enough fat to make seven bars of soap? (I am very, very far above average in this regard.)
… pigs are actually very clean animals? They roll in mud to cool themselves because they cannot sweat. As a rule, pigs dislike dirty environments. (Yeah, but how much soap can you make from one?  Huh?)
Now … you know!
Copyright © 2025 Jack Bagley