Cooperstown visit
I’m supposed to be on vacation this week, but as is often the case, I’m having difficulty making a clean break. Worked today and yesterday, but Tuesday we took off for Cooperstown. I have always wanted to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Cooperstown is a delightful old lakeside village with much in common with CNY and Fingerlakes gems like Cazenovia, Penn Yan, Watkins Glen, Hammondsport, Skaneateles and Geneva—classic architecture, restored houses, not too wide streets, quaint shops, flower beds and boxes, and places that just make you wonder what stories they could tell if they could only speak. It is also blessed with more places to eat – including good ice cream—than most towns its size.
Two sections
The Hall of Fame has two sections, the Hall of Fame itself with a formal plaque for each one recognized; and the museum part where the clothes, bats, lockers, etc. of all the inductees are displayed and where stories of famous players are told via posters, videos, print and displays. Of course everyone was drawn to the story of one of the most famous players of all time, Babe Ruth; but I found myself fascinated by a side story. The museum had a display that focused on the black leagues or “colored leagues” as they would have been called. I viewed that story and then took special note of early black players who were instrumental in breaking the color barrier in baseball; men like Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron. Their courage, patience, character and humility, were just as essential to their success as was the overwhelming athletic talent that propelled them to baseball greatness.
Another interesting section was the comparative stats area; it answered questions like who has the most hits; the best batting average, the most hits in a row, the most strikeouts, the most home runs, etc. I also enjoyed the room that told the story of the Cooperstown museum itself and also the movie theatre baseball theme presentation. Outside the building was a hand kept major league standings scoreboard up-to-date for that day. Baseball souvenir stores are abundant – a ball autographed by Hank Aaron – about $350 – I didn’t buy it.
I highly recommend it!
It took me about 3 hours to go through the Museum and Hall of Fame and I could have spent longer. I highly recommend it to any baseball fan.
I wore my Syracuse Chief’s hat and one person even noticed and mentioned that they had recently seen the Chiefs. Unfortunately, I haven’t been to a game yet this year but hope to attend soon. However, I follow them on the internet several times weekly to keep abreast of their season.
