For Love of the Game

(Sorry this post was delayed but had problems uploading photos to the blog site!)

It may surprise some of you that going to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum (http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/) in Cooperstown was my dream. I’m not really sure why other than my love for the game and to experience the history of America’s national pastime. As I read somewhere “It is every fan’s “Field of Dreams” with its stories, legends, and magic to be passed on from generation to generation.” It’s just someplace I’ve always wanted to visit. And though Russ is a big sports enthusiast, it wasn’t that big a deal to him whether we went or not. Perhaps that’s because his half-brother played pro ball so he was around it so much. In any case another dream was realized on this journey of ours.

Cooperstown was only about 20 min. from the campground, and the drive there with Lake Otsego on one side and hills and forests on the other was beautiful. Along the way nestled among the trees up on a hillside we could see an incredible mansion, and at either side of the drive leading up to it were wrought iron entry signs, one with the name Aug. A. Busch, and the other with Louis Busch Hager. As I later discovered, Louis passed away in 1988, was a theatrical producer, great-grandson of Adolphus Anhesuer Busch (founder of Anheuser-Busch Brewery), and on the board of directors of the St. Louis Cardinals. Never know what we’ll find on our drives!

This time of year parking in Cooperstown is at a premium, and there are 3 lots at various locations outside of town where one can park and take the trolley in. But we were fortunate enough to find free parking spaces right on Main Street both days we went into town. Even though Main Street in Cooperstown is basically a tourist trap, the town itself is picturesque and quaint with many beautiful homes and would seem like a great place to spend time. Thurs. afternoon we walked along Main Street going into many of the shops, most of which have baseball memorabilia for sale. At one of the stores, there’s a door that several Hall of Famers have signed, and the owner obliged by taking a picture of us by it. We have some of our memorabilia from storage with us in the RV, and initially Russ had planned to check out the prices in Cooperstown, and then see if anyone had interest in buying what we had. But in the end we decided that we’ll just sell our stuff on eBay.

Hoping to avoid the huge crowds anticipated for Induction weekend, we arrived about a half hour before the Hall of Fame (HOF) opened on Fri. Once inside we headed straight for the Plaque Gallery since most seemed to be going to the 2nd floor first. On our way we walked through Inductee Row, which showcases artifacts from the 2008 inductees along with a painting of them in their prime, and photos of many HOF induction memories from past years. For those who may not know, the Class of 2008 consists of owner Barney Dreyfuss, commissioner Bowie Kuhn, outfielder/manager Billy Southworth, owner Walter O’Malley, manager Dick Williams, and relief pitcher Rich “Goose” Gossage. Broadcaster Dave Niehaus and writer Larry Whiteside were also honored, while player/manager/coach Buck O'Neil took home the inaugural O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Plaque Gallery is impressive with its oak-lined walls supporting bronze plaques of the game’s greatest players, managers, umpires, and executives. Only 1% of former Major Leaguers have earned a spot in the HOF. One wall is dedicated to the 1936 class of the first five inductees which included Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Perry Johnson. Of course we searched for all the St. Louis players as we walked along the walls taking in the 281 plaques honoring these great men. Also on this floor is an exhibit called Baseball at the Movies which lists the 172 baseball movies that have been made by Hollywood since 1915!

A glimpse of every baseball era is preserved at the Museum. On the 2nd floor we watched a 13-minute multimedia presentation called The Baseball Experience that sets the stage for your journey back in time as you make your way through rooms dedicated to Baseball’s Time Line starting in the 19th century through to the present, including a room dedicated to Babe Ruth. In the room called Today’s Game are 30 major league lockers, each representing one of the current teams.













At the top of the 3rd floor is a fun exhibit featuring several famous fans from various ballparks crafted from papier-mâché. This floor showcases, among other things, old ballparks (i.e. St. Louis’ Sportsman’s Park and Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field), charts of the all-time and current leaders in virtually every statistical category, the Negro leagues, women’s role in baseball, and a room celebrating the postseason with artifacts from every World Series.

After leaving the museum, we walked along Main Street where many former players were set up at tables signing autographs (for a fee of course). But there was no fee to take pictures! So I got shots of Rollie Fingers, Frank Robinson, Orlando Cepeda, Gaylord Perry, Juan Marichal, and several others. Plus signing autographs in the back of one of the stores was Pete Rose! They had several “packages” of items offered including one that would include a signature of “I’m sorry I bet on baseball”.

The huge crowds never really seemed to materialize. Perhaps it was a combination of only one major league player being inducted and high fuel costs that kept the crowds away. We had heard that last year when Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn were inducted that there were record numbers of people, and one could hardly walk down the street. In fact the day of the Induction Ceremony Main Street was closed off because there were so many people. But we certainly didn’t mind the lower numbers this year!

Sunday it was time for the Induction Ceremony, which is held a mile south of the HOF on the grounds of the Clark Sports Center. Held outdoors, it is free and open to the public, but the area closest to the stage is fenced off for family and invited guests. This year was special as a record number of living Hall of Famers were in attendance…56 of 62. We set up our lawn chairs about 3 rows behind the back fence, and thanks to the jumbo screen, we were able to see everything onstage. The program started with a gentleman dressed in a Mudville uniform reciting "Casey at the Bat", followed by a men's quartet singing the American and Canadian national anthems. Then all 56 HOFers were introduced, and the speeches and presentations began. The weather cooperated with no rain, overcast at times, but warm there among the crowd. Eventually we moved up on the hill, and though much further back, the breeze was wonderful and constant. At the base of the hill, people played catch or took batting practice with whiffle balls. We didn’t stay for the whole ceremony, but it was great to have had the opportunity to attend.

The KOA campground in Richfield Springs where we stayed is very nice and well kept. Owners Bruce and Patty are great hosts and have put a lot of hard work into the place. Bruce still has to keep his fulltime job as a lobster fisherman in RI a few days a week, so one person they have helping them is Sam, an Amish gentleman who rode his horse and buggy to work everyday right past our site. There’s a barn in the field behind the campground where he would stall his horse for the day.

As we’ve traveled across the state of New York, we’ve been amazed at the amount of farmland. Over the years having lived in or near big cities, we never really thought much about those areas outside the bright lights. Of course we always knew about the Midwest farms, but upstate NY was not where we pictured seeing acres and acres of corn fields and dairy farms. We’ve taken the back roads knowing it would take longer but would take us through many of those small towns (and avoid all those NY tolls!) One thing that has struck me is the number of American flags, not those flown by business or town councils, but flying from the homes of the average citizen. American pride is alive and well in America.

And had we traveled the interstate and not taken those back roads we would have missed the antique car caravan of about 50 cars driving towards us, passing through Seneca Falls where in 1848 the first Women’s Rights Convention in America was held, passing through Waterloo which is the birthplace of Memorial Day, an interesting building known as Ye Olde Landmark Tavern (http://www.yeoldelandmark.com/) in Bouckville, or Six Flags Darien Lake situated, it seemed, out in the middle of nowhere, and so many more places and things that most people miss because they’re in a hurry.

Mon. we hit the road for Niagara Falls, another place we’ve never been and always wanted to see. Our cat, Jo (aka Jo-Jo), has gotten more comfortable with traveling. In the beginning she’d stay in the back for quite awhile before coming up front with us, but now within a few minutes of starting down the road she’s up in the front window checking things out or napping. Guess you could say this lifestyle has grown on all of us.