NEW YORK -- Great news for baseball fans everywhere. The Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center, located in Little Falls, N.J., will reopen its doors to the public on May 1, with guidelines in place to ensure the health and safety of visitors, staff and volunteers.

The museum is currently closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The last time it was open to the public was right before Thanksgiving weekend. Like many venues around the country, the museum is taking the necessary measures to make sure fans and staff stay safe. To enter the building, a face mask is required. If you don’t have a face mask, a Yogi Mask is available for purchase. The Museum will be open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only, with two visiting sessions per day at noon-2 p.m. and 3-5 p.m. ET.

“We are just thrilled, because the museum is a space that was meant for people to come visit,” said Eve Schaenen, the museum’s executive director. “We are all about connecting people and in-person connections.

“Yogi was very much about human contact. He was an incredibly approachable person, full of humility, which was some of his greatest qualities. He was accessible to people despite his greatness.”

When one enters the museum, one can learn everything you need to know about Berra, who is arguably the greatest catcher in baseball history. There will be a collection of baseball artifacts centered on his life and legacy. On display, for example, are Berra’s 10 World Series rings that he won with the Yankees and the three American League MVP Award plaques that he won in the 1950s.

“There is no other catcher who has that kind of stuff,” said Berra’s granddaughter, Lindsay, who is also a board member at the museum. “But we are able to talk about the human side of grandpa, his values of diversity and inclusion. We do that through stories from his playing days and post-playing career. It so much easier to tell those stories with the visuals that are presented at the museum as well.”

In addition to enjoying the permanent collection of baseball artifacts centered on Yogi’s life, the museum currently has a great photo exhibit on the Negro Leagues called "Discover Greatness: An Illustrated History of Negro League Baseball." The photo display is on loan from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.

There are 90 photos, including one of Rube Foster, who started the Negro Leagues in 1920, and another of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in the Major Leagues in 1947. There is also a display of all the Negro League players who made it big in MLB, from Robinson to Willie Mays.

All of the photos are in black and white, but viewers can also see some of those images in color thanks to a reality app and tablet put together by the museum. Imagine seeing Satchel Paige throwing that blazing fastball in color.

The exhibition will be open to the public until June.

“We have it for a little while longer. While we put the exhibit online, it is very cool to see in person,” Lindsay Berra said. “I would love to have as many people go through there as possible while we still have it, so people in the [New York/New Jersey area] can see it.”

The museum’s interactive baseball experience, PITCH!, will be open. One-time-use balls ensure safety as participants face off against an animated batter and catcher displayed on a video wall in the museum’s atrium to test their throwing speed and accuracy.

The museum is also keeping Yogi Berra’s legacy alive by continuing to have programs virtually for people who are unable to enter the museum in person. A slate of virtual educational programs and field trips conducted live by the museum’s educational team has provided an engaging remote learning experience for over 6,000 students since the start of the pandemic, including classes from St. Louis, Houston, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

“Even when we reopen in May, we will continue to hold the virtual field trips ongoing. There is a strong demand,” Schaenen said.