This is not Mets related, but I recently spent sometime in Cooperstown, NY, at the Hall of Fame and other sites at that terrific little town.
It had been over 50 years since I had been there so I was very
excited for this trip to happen. Needless to say I was not disappointed. With all the turmoil going on with the Mets, as well as baseball
in general, it was refreshing to get back to the purest form of the game. Seeing the artifacts, and the plaques and realizing how the game
was played really showed me how poorly the game is played today, but more on
that later.
Cooperstown is a tiny little town in upstate NY. As you walk
down the Main Street your mind is absorbed in baseball. From the number of
souvenirs stores, bat stores, cafes, the Wax Museum, and the card and collectibles stores it is all
baseball. As you head toward the Hall,
your anticipation builds and suddenly you are there in front the holy of holies
for a baseball fan.
Step
inside the Museum, your heart is pounding.
Where do I start? Where to I go first?
Not to worry, there is no wrong turn. Start in the Art Exhibit, or go to
the Hall of Fame Gallery, where the plaques all line up in a row and a hush
comes over like you are in a Cathedral. Take the time to look at the plaques ,
read the players bio. Look for your
favorite player or players.
After you enjoy the
gallery, it’s time to explore the rest of the Museum. There is so much history to explore and amaze
yourself with in every corner of this wonderful building.
From the evolution of catching equipment...
...to Babe Ruth’s final uniform
The Museum has it all.
All the greats are there
Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, I could go but their artifacts are
there throughout the museum. And don't forget
to check out the rest of the town. Go to the Wax Museum, the collectible
stores, and you must make a stop at Doubleday field.
There is so much to see
that I can’t do justice in this post.
Suffice it to say that if you love the game of Baseball. You must make a trip to Cooperstown to the Hall
Of Fame and to the beautiful surrounding area.
You will not regret it.
3 comments:
Hi Gary, I went there in 2003 and remember 2 things; 1) smaller than I thought and 2) looking at a map to cut some miles off my drive south, I asked someone if I could take such-and-such route. He said yest it was shorter, but I'd hit a deer, someone does every day. I went the longer safer route.
Ironic that you start out with "This is not Mets related, but I recently spent sometime in Cooperstown, NY, at the Hall of Fame." After 55 years, the Hall of Fame is largely barren of Mets, and only Seaver was at his greatest while a Met. The Yanks, meanwhile, take up half the building.
That is why when they built Citifield with its extremely deep dimensions, my first thought was "they just cost David Wright the Hall of Fame - why would they do that? A lot of former home runs at Shea would now just be long outs."
I second that recommendation. I remember going there as a child and then visited again about 15 years ago. I appreciated it more now because I've become more of a student of history (and I'm old enough that some of the players I'd grown up watching are now enshrined there).
One of the great shrines I have missed in my life. My bad.
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