What makes baseball so riveting is its history. In the YouTube Series called Hall of Fame Connections, produced by MLB Network and made possible by a grant from I LOVE NY/New York State’s Division of Tourism, the Hall of Fame focuses on how Albert Spalding connects to the 2020 Dodgers.

The series, driven by Camping World, looks at the Hall of Fame’s collection from a new and exciting angle, with each episode telling a different story of how two seemingly unrelated artifacts in the museum’s vast collection connect to each other, crossing through generations of baseball history.

Each two-part episode features a narrative storytelling element that weaves through the history of some of the museum’s most iconic artifacts and the Hall of Fame’s curators conversing about those artifacts and stories with MLB Network personality Carlos Peña, a former MLB All-Star, and sports journalist Lindsay Berra, Yogi’s granddaughter.

The series consists of 13 episodes, all available to stream for free through the Hall of Fame’s YouTube channel. New episodes will be released each Wednesday through September, and will also be featured across MLB Network’s studio programming.

The sixth episode, titled “From a World Wonder to World Champs” is available now.

Whenever a great play is made in baseball, the Baseball Hall of Fame makes sure it gets a piece of history. Here is what to expect for the sixth episode.

Spalding’s baseball tour
After his playing career ended in 1877, Albert Spalding became an executive. He ended up running a successful sporting goods business. Spalding is also known for creating an All-Star team and it went on a barnstorming tour during the offseason of 1888. The team, which included Cap Anson and Ned Hanlon, traveled to New Zealand, Australia, Italy, France and Egypt, where they played in front of the pyramids.

The Hall of Fame has a photo of the players posing in front of the great sphinx. Infielder George Wright, who played on the tour, donated the ball to the Hall of Fame in 1942. The seams on the ball are flat.

The birthplace of baseball
In 1905, Spalding wanted to prove that baseball was an American game. To prove his point, he formed the Mills Commission. During the investigation, a native of Cooperstown, N.Y., named Abner Graves wrote a letter to the commission and claimed he saw Abner Doubleday invent the game of baseball in Cooperstown in 1839.

The commission ran with the story, and Cooperstown is now considered baseball’s birthplace. The Hall of Fame currently has the ball that Doubleday created in 1939. The ball is leather wrapped in twine. The letter that Graves wrote to the commission is also displayed in Cooperstown.

Mathewson quits tour
Twenty-five years after Spalding’s world tour, the New York Giants and Chicago White Sox toured the world after the 1913 season and faced each other in places such as Japan and Sydney, Australia. Right-hander Christy Mathewson was part of the tour, and the Hall of Fame has the jersey that he wore on the tour. But Mathewson decided to quit the tour. The teams were traveling by boat and Mathewson didn’t want to get seasick. Mathewson went on to have a brilliant career on the mound, winning 373 games with a 2.13 ERA. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936, 11 years after passing away from tuberculosis.

Playing in Sydney
In 2014, the D-backs and the Dodgers faced each other in the Sydney Cricket Ground in Australia, the same place the Giants and White Sox played 100 years earlier. Arizona and Los Angeles were managed by former big leaguers. Kirk Gibson managed the D-backs, while Don Mattingly piloted the Dodgers. The teams played two games, with the Dodgers sweeping the series.

Gibson becomes Roy Hobbs
Gibson is best known for his playing career with the Tigers and Dodgers. His biggest hit was as a member of the Dodgers in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. Gibson, ailing with hamstring and knee injuries, took a page from Roy Hobbs of “The Natural” and hit a game-winning home run off Athletics closer Dennis Eckersley to end Game 1 with a 5-4 victory. The Dodgers went on to beat the A’s in five games.

Short-season champs: 2020 Dodgers
The 2020 season was only 60 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first time since 1878 that a baseball season had so few games. That year, the Dodgers won their first World Series title since 1988, defeating the Rays in six games. Corey Seager was named the Most Valuable Player, while Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw won two series games and struck out 14 across 11 2/3 innings.