Organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown New York, it's an impressive collection, and some might say, 'Well, if you're a fan, you'd really like it.' And of course, you probably would. With actual seats from Wrigley Field and The Polo Grounds, television monitors playing game highlights, plus all the baseball jerseys, hats, cleats, bats, balls and memorabilia you could possibly want, it must make for a rich and exciting experience for baseball fans.

But what about the non-fans like us? Those persons who need help knowing the difference between Abner Doubleday and Lil' Abner. Between Yogi Berra and Yogi Bear. [right]

For those of us not as well-versed in baseball, wouldn't it be neat if the museum curators could have set up a reason for viewing? A sense of historical significance of the game? So that we can fully appreciate the 'Blacksox Scandal' or 'The Shot Heard 'Round the World'? Nothing like that here.

You open the door, and just start in.

We walked briskly past the various uniforms, posters, artifacts {even the San Diego chicken costume] and literally didn't stop until we reached the gift shop on the other end of the building. Megan's comment: "Why would anyone want to look at baseball stuff?" So much for grabbing the interest of your standard 8-year old. The only mention of the World Series bound Anaheim Angels were some T-shirts for sale.

As Harry Caray used to say "Holy Cow!"

In short, both the Dogs and Baseball exhibits have taken an integral and special part of the American experience, and presented them like a good, clean encyclopedia.

Maybe this isn't the venue for them.

The Museum of Natural History dates back to 1913. It features those old, dusty limestone walls, dark mahogany woods, highly polished floors, echoing corridors, and peculiar musty smells, that isn't exactly welcoming and friendly. In certain areas it's downright creepy. It makes everything seem formal and serious. Not necessarily the place to be talking baseball and dogs.

Along with rooms displaying gems, historical artifacts, and dinosaur bones, we happened upon 'African Mammals' -- a series of darkly lit, naturalistic dioramas with what we presume are dead, mounted, stuffed animals. This did not bode well with animal lover Megan, who rather enjoyed the Dogs exhibit and could not understand why these rhinos, hippos, musk ox, and cheetahs were displayed in such a way.

I didn't have a very good explanation. The animals are dead, mounted and stuffed, so that we can walk by and look at them in a re-creation of their habitat. Did I miss something? Pretty barbaric, really.

And, in retrospect, maybe even more barbaric than a photograph of a dead kid and his dog.

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90007

http://www.nhm.org/index.html