From 1916 to 1963 Norman Rockwell illustrated 322 covers for The Saturday Evening Post. Rockwell captured the American way of life through his artwork and illustrations. Each telling a story that cannot be told with words. It was only fitting that a number of covers featured the National pastime, baseball. Here are Norman Rockwell's SEP baseball theme covers.

The first Norman Rockwell cover, was issued on May 1916. The illustration, "Boy With Carriage" featured two other boys wearing their baseball uniform. One boy sporting a "Full web" baseball glove was common to the day. In 1916 The Saturday Evening Post covers were printed with the two-color process: black and one other color, usually red. It was not until 1926, when the Post’s first color cover was done. Also illustrated by Norman Rockwell.

 The July 8, 1939 issue of The Saturday Evening post cerebrated the 100th Anniversary of Baseball with this Norman Rockwell illustration. The cover features a pitcher in a 19th century uniform along with great looking ankle high athletic shoes. The glove with the 1 inch web was common to the 1910 - 1920s era, and goes against Rockwell's reputation for attention to accurate detail. In the early days of baseball the umpire did stand behind the pitcher so that makes sense for this painting.

Featuring the Chicago Cubs, "The Dugout" cover was issued on September 4, 1948. This was the only Rockwell Saturday Evening Post cover where the published painting was rendered in watercolor on paper. Nearing his deadline for the assignment Rockwell realized that the oil on canvas painting he was working on would not be dry in time.

 Rockwell abandoned the oil on canvas illustration, and, instead, used the faster drying watercolor medium for the painting that was published on the cover. He then finished the oil on canvas and gave it to a friend. Norman Rockwell used photography to create his paintings. This picture used to paint the bat boy, features Frank McNulty who was the Braves bat boy, and he received $5. to pose.
 
 Perhaps the most popular of Norman Rockwell's works, "The Three Umpires” AKA "Game Called Because of Rain," "Bottom of the Sixth," "Tough Call," was published on April 23, 1949. During the 1948 season, Rockwell visited the Brooklyn Dodgers Ebbets Field, with a photographer. The photographer took pictures of the umpires, some players, and the ballpark, which Rockwell used for reference in painting.

 The Brooklyn Dodgers are trailing the Pittsburg Pirates 1-0 in the sixth inning. If the game is called the Pirates win the game. The two managers behind the umpires are also discussing the situation as it did stop raining, all but a few drops remain. The original painting is in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, where I was checking for rain.

 "The Rookie" published on March 2, 1957 shows the Red Sox locker room, as a rookie shows up at spring training, indicated by the palm trees in the window. The model for the rookie was local high school star Scotty Stanford. Rockwell asked Red Sox management to borrow 4 players from the teams starting line up; Jackie Jenson, (tying his shoe) pitcher Frank Sullivan behind Jensen, catcher Sammy White looking on in the left corner and infielder Bill Goodman holding a smile in amusement of the new kid.

  The player on the far left, identified as John J. anonymous by the post, was a stand-in posing as a Redox player. The same model posed for Ted Williams who was not available to pose for the cover. Rockwell then painted Williams' face from his baseball card photos. The original painting, "The Rookie," Sold for $22.5 Million in a 2014 Christie's auction. There would only be one more baseball theme SEP cover panted by Norman Rockwell, "Knothole Baseball," published  on August 30, 1958.