Baseball Trip - Day 4

On Sunday our destination was Cooperstown, the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. We started out early, with our usual discussions and trivia questions, then settled back to watch 61, a movie about 1961 and the attempt by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris to break Babe Ruth’s single season home run record of 60, which had stood since 1927. It’s not a spoiler for me to tell you the outcome. If you’re reading this you already know that Maris hit 61 homers and Mantle reached 54. The movie was very effective in portraying the 1961 season, with all the pressure, the excitement, the ups and downs of an incredible year. It took me back to my days of running out to get the morning paper each day to see who had gone deep the night before. What a year!

This would be my third trip to Cooperstown, but I could go every year and never get tired of seeing the Hall of Fame. Some exhibits stay the same, but each year there are updates and new additions. Just seeing the little sleepy town of Cooperstown is awesome. It is like stepping back in time to see a simpler lifestyle, with Mom and Pop businesses and friendly people. The residents take great pride in preserving the lifestyle and making visitors feel welcome. It is a million miles removed from the image that most people associate with New York. The upstate area is pastoral - beautiful rural countryside. When you get into the village of Cooperstown, you see that it is the perfect location for a shrine for America’s pastime.

I could write page after page detailing the things you can see in the Hall of Fame. It is a museum which portrays the history of the game from its inception to the stars of today. There are artifacts, bats, balls and gloves used by the players and amazing visual portrayals of their accomplishments. Each year there are special displays dedicated to the newly elected members, along with recent accomplishments. A person could spend several days there and not see everything.

Of course for me anything relating to the Texas Rangers was a treat, especially the 2023 World Series ring displayed with all the other championship rings. I also enjoyed seeing Cool Papa Bell’s shoes. It was reported that Bell was so fast he could turn out the lights and be in bed before it got dark. There was a new larger than life statue of Hank Aaron which was very impressive. There was a new display of classic baseball cards titled “The Cards Your Mother Threw Away”. Painfully true. There were several new works displayed in the HOF art gallery. Be sure to check out this awesome collection, and look carefully at the huge Babe Ruth portrait painted by Ross Rossin. It is so lifelike it is stunning! I could go on and on, but hopefully I’ve given you an idea of the experience, and fueled your desire to go to the Hall if you get a chance!

The Plaque Gallery is the reward for the best of the best. You go into this section through an arched entryway with marble columns and see bronze plaques lining the oak walls. They are organized in chronological order of election. You can learn more about the legends of the game or look for your favorite players. For me, I always take time to pay respect to my all time favorite Brooks Robinson, my Dad’s favorite pitcher Warren Spahn, the great Ranger battery of Nolan and Pudge, and for the first time this year my favorite player of this generation Adrian Beltre who entered the Hall in 2024. Visitors treat this gallery like a sanctuary, speaking in quiet, reverential tones. It is a wonderful, even emotional experience, and it is a perfect way to finish your day’s visit.

We got back on the bus and headed to Springfield Massachusetts for a night’s rest. The featured movie was “A League of Their Own”. It is a fun show, with the classic line “There’s no crying in baseball”. Whoever wrote that has obviously never been into the HOF Plaque Gallery.

That’s one man’s opinion - what’s yours?