Hello sports fans Err... collectors! Welcome to the 20x200 World Series of Art, Part the First. Today we have a double header of arty baseball goodness from San Francisco's very own Mark Ulriksen.

With Stars and Stripes and The Babe in the Negro Leagues, Mark lovingly celebrates our country's national pastime. His distinctive style is likely familiar to readers of The New Yorker which has graced many a cover with his work. Those collectors who (like me) aren't able to keep up with that very fine publication probably recognize Mark's work from our Monk edition earlier this year, released as a benefit for SFJAZZ.

I admittedly come to my baseball fandom very indirectly, but (seriously) some of my best friends are total baseball freaks. Me? I'm grateful to the sport since it's been the training ground for Nate Silver, every election junkie's favorite baseball statistician. His amazing site Five Thirty Eight is a must read for anyone who's similarly obsessed with that other contest in the news these days. The fact that he's honed his skills an inning at a time is what sets him apart from all of us armchair political oddsmakers. (And yes, it doesn't hurt that we're rooting for the same team.)

And yes, it's true I love New York and I love Babe Ruth. Mark's hypothetical portrait of The Babe in one of his last games (scroll down), played against, and lost to, the New York Cubans in 1935 seems particularly timely. Sure, they're crediting another guy for the new Yankee stadium, but The House That Ruth Built has a much nicer ring to it. Doncha think?

I'm back tomorrow with Part II of 20x200's World Series, and it's another double header. See you then.