Trip To Baseball's Hall Of Fame

First, as baseball fan all my life, I must say that I’m a little ashamed that it took me this long to get to Cooperstown, but hey, I finally made it.  Nestled on Main Street, in an old, peaceful little town, the Hall doesn’t look like anything special from the outside.  Inside though, the history, present, and future of our nation’s pastime awaits.

Now if I was a cynic, I’d say that blah blah it’s just a building filled with old men’s smelly and dirty uniforms, why would anyone spend time and go out of their way to go there? But hey, I’m not, so no need to worry.

The actual town is quite small, less than 2,000 inhabitants.  So yes, they know who’s a tourist and who’s not.  All along Main Street, on the way to the Hall, there are shops where you can buy all kinds of souvenirs and knick knacks.  One might think to buy things in these stores rather than the Hall of Fame’s gift shop, but I must say, to my surprise, it very fairly priced in there. 

Now, entering the Hall of Fame, you see the glossy waxed floors, not a speck of dust in sight, and you know you’re in a special place.  Once you get in, the choice is yours where to go. We decided to see a short film and then check out all the exhibits.  The great thing about the exhibits is that you can simply walk through, looking at the pictures and memorabilia, or you can read all of the info cards about each station (which could take you all day to do).  The 2^nd floor is more about the history of baseball and the players that turned the game into what it is today.  The 3^rd floor is more about baseball’s present, Including the Phanatic I might add.  From the 3^rd floor, it was time to head back down to check out the 1^st floor, where all the plaques resided.  To be frank, this was the most boring part of the whole place, but yet, the most important.  Every baseball player strives to earn their own real estate in this hall but only 295 have that luxury.

A very impressive/depressing part of the Cooperstown experience was the number of Phillies fans that were united there.  I say depressing because we should have all been home rooting for the Phils in the World Series, but needless to say, I won’t get started on that.  If you are a baseball fan, history fan, or fan of doing something new and interesting, I would highly recommend taking the trip up to Cooperstown, NY, and see what baseball has to offer.