Baseball Hall of Fame

July 20, 2010
Cooperstown, NY

Today was the scheduled day for a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the primary reason for our stop here. Since Geri had already been when she was young (and isn't highly interested in sports or my "Hall of Fame Tour" approach to sightseeing), I headed out early and got to the Hall just after it opened. It being summer, there were already school bus loads of kids with parents in tow in the area, but it wasn't too bad as far as crowds went.

Like many museums, this facility has undergone several renovations and expansions since it was opened in 1939. It's a three-story building done in a very professional and accommodating way. Why Cooperstown? Well, one of the disputed stories about the origin of baseball in the first place has Abner Doubleday "inventing" the game in the summer of 1839 in Cooperstown. Almost a hundred years later, Stephen Clark, owner of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, concocted the plan to boost Cooperstown's economy (devastated by the double whammy of the Great Depression and Prohibition - the area was known for growing hops) through tourism by creating a National Baseball Hall of Fame. Commandeering some space in the Village Hall, memorabilia started flowing in and inductees were designated beginning with the class of 1936. The Hall moved to a new building in 1939 and that facility, expanded and renovated over the years, remains today.

The Hall has exhibits on a variety of facets of the game: history (people have been playing games with balls and sticks since ancient Egypt), amateur and professional versions, women's leagues, Negro Leagues and integration, and individuals (most notably Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson. It was interesting to see exhibits on the history of the rules (the first team to codify "New York Rules" was the Knickerbockers, long before the basketball team took the name), and of the current franchises. Some things I didn't know:

• The Dodgers were originally called the "Trolley Dodgers" because teams playing in the streets had to get out of the way of the streetcars of the time.
  
• The Yankees were originally formed as the "Baltimore Orioles" in 1901.
  
• The Braves played in Boston under eight different names, starting as the "Red Stockings" before moving to Milwaukee in the 1950 prior to Atlanta in 1966.
  
• The A's played in Philadelphia for 50+ years before moving to Kansas City in the 1950s and then Oakland in 1968.
  
• More teams played in Washington as the "Senators" or "Nationals" before moving on than any other place.
  
• The current Washington Nationals are the only team to not recognize the retired numbers of their predecessor team, the Montreal Expos.
  
• Jackie Robinson's number 42 is retired by all teams.

I learned a couple of other things I should have known, like Yogi Berra's name is Lawrence ("Larry" on his 1951 AL MVP award), Pete Rose is barred as an inductee but his memorabilia is featured in several exhibits, and Manny Ramirez (just being Manny) is among the top ten active players in almost every major category (games, runs, hits, homers, doubles, RBIs).

Click here for more pictures, including several plaques from the "Grand Hall" exhibit.

Things are picking up in Cooperstown, as this year's induction ceremonies will be held this coming weekend. By the time I headed home in the afternoon, the entry line was out the door and down the sidewalk, fed by more busloads of kids on summer vacation. Glad I went early!

All in all, it was a great visit and I'm glad I stopped by.