Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Cooperstown Part Two
Babe Ruth and friends. An original Inductee to the Baseball Hall of Fame
Last week I
noted the names of the inductees for this year, as well as a note or
two about “Doc” Halladay. What I failed to do, miserably, was
capture the essence of the weekend. Now is my chance to rectify that
error.
Cooperstown
is a village that lies in the rambling hills of New York State, on
the shores of Otsego Lake. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and
Museum is in the heart of town, near the Susquehanna River. The
induction ceremony takes place just south of the main village, on a
very large field beside the Clark Sports Center. Large enough to take
care of 70 000 fans, and room for more.
There is a
Farmers' Museum and the Fenimore Art Museum on Route 80, just north
of town. The village gets its name from James Fenimore Cooper, noted
American author, best known for his novel, “Last of the Mohicans”.
Main Street
is the prime focus for the induction weekend. The street is lined
with shops of all description, sports memorabilia and a few craft
shops. There are plenty of food vendors and restaurants, with
reasonably priced fare. After all, a hot dog or two goes with the
territory, does it not? There are several tents as well, and under
the tents and awnings, you will find a variety of baseball
personality.
Most of them
are signing autographs for fans, at a price. But they will also pose
for photos, shake your hand, and take some time to chat. I had a
wonderful chat with Jesse Barfield, who was situated under a piece of
tarp beside Bill Madlock on Main Street. He was delighted to meet
Canadian fans. Despite the fact that Doc Halladay was being inducted,
there were very few Blue Jay hats and jerseys in the village. I
chatted briefly with Tommy Lasorda, who was having a great time
entertaining fans. Darryl Strawberry was also most affable, and
wanted to chat about his days visiting Montreal. He was seated with a
former teammate who was a rookie when Strawberry played. He attempted
to stifle Straw's comments about rookie activities on Ste. Catharine
Street.
Lou Piniella
strolled by while we were having lunch at an outdoor patio. He was
taking care of an important call on his cell phone. Ferguson Jenkins
was signing his book in one of the shops. Rollie Fingers sat in the
shade, scribbling his name for those who wished to pay.
The second
most important event of the weekend is the parade of inductees. More
than fifty Hall of Famers participated in the parade. Beautiful Ford
trucks carried the players, and their families. Unfortunately, there
was a storm on the horizon. All of the players and their families sat
in the cabs of the vehicles, even though we did not experience one
drop of rain. I am pretty sure I saw Roberto Alomar's left hand. We
were situated on the wrong side of the street. There were some angry
fans on our side of the street, having waited four hours or more for
the procession.
There were
activities at Doubleday Field, named after Abner Doubleday, the
American who founded the game in the United States. There are folk
around Beachburg, Ontario, who have other thoughts about the location
of the first game ever to be played. Last May, the field hosted the
11th edition of the Hall of Fame Classic game. That would
have been a treat to watch. The game was a match between Team Rollie
Fingers and Team Goose (Gossage). Coaches for the game were Alan
Trammell, Bert Blyleven, Trevor Hoffman, and Tim Raines. The game
ended in a tie, after seven innings.
Orlando
Cabrera won the Bob Feller Player of the Game award. “I can't
believe it! I hit a home run!” he announced after the game. He
ended his career in 2011, and this was the first occasion his
daughters, now 7 and 5, were able to see him play. “It was nice for
them to see me in uniform. They hear people talking about me, so it's
nice for them to see it”.
I recommend
visiting the Museum and Hall of Fame during the year, especially if
you are not fond of crowds.
And now it's
time for tennis, as the Rogers Cup is underway in Toronto and
Montreal. Lucky for us, the best tennis players in the world make a
trip to Canada, but once a year.
James Hurst
August 5,
2019
# posted by James Hurst @ 9:14 AM 
