After a night of driving, and night catch in the Doubletree Syracuse parking lot, we headed into breakfast blurry eyed. After we couldn't get a cot the previous night, Genevieve used her negotiation skills to get us free breakfast. With our stomachs full, we set our sights on Cooperstown.
An hour and half later we rolled into the KOA campground, and started getting set up. It had been ages since most of us had set up a tent (with the exception of Andrea- who seem to do it in her sleep). Paul, Genevieve, and I comically try to get one tent up, not quite knowing where some things went- but we got the pegs down. Crucial.
After getting setup, we were back on the road for downtown Cooperstown. We passed beautiful Lake Ostega, and the memories flooded back of my two previous trips here- on the way back from the Boston baseball trip, and with Andrea just months later. Still haven't been in the actual lake but it is a perfect place for a cottage or a lakeside home.
When we got into town, we headed towards the Fly Creek Cedar Mill- my favorite stop on The Cooperstown Beverage Trail. We decided it was good a place as any for lunch, and sat down to a filling meal on the picnic tables beside the snack bar. I had a delicious Pot Roast sandwich, and some apple caramel nut pie and washed it down with some cider- non-alcoholic variety. Too early for the hard stuff.
After lunch, we grab some salsas and sauces in the gift shop, checked out the ducks outside, and headed on to the next stop on the trail. Our next stops were the Ommegang Brewery and Cooperstown Brewing Company. At Ommegang, we were slowed down by a gentleman who couldn't decide what kind of souvenir glass to get, and had to hold up the line while he made this life changing decision. Undeterred, another clerk finally noticed that we had our beer in hand ready to go, and cashed us out. At Cooperstown Brewing, we ran into old friend, the Brewery cat, and grabbed more beer before heading over to the Trolley lot.
We stepped into the Hall of Fame, where we were immediately told that it would be closing early due to the Hall of Fame parade which was only a couple hours away but we could come back the next day for free.
After a taking a quick tour of parts of the hall, we moved our way outside to the parade route. We grabbed a spot right across the street from the Hall- probably the best place since this is where all the Hall of Famers get off their trucks. It was amazing to see so many Hall of Famers in one place. Highlights included Canada's only Hall of Famer- pitcher Fergie Jenkins, Lou Brock, Ricky Henderson's fashion sense, the cocky Wade Boggs- who acted more like a professional Wrestler, Andre Dawson, former Blue Jays Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield, and of course Roberto Alomar. We would later find out that Alomar had inadvertently took a fan's jersey that he was holding up to sign. Another sweet moment was when new inductee, Twins pitcher Bert Blyleven stopped to hug a little girl. Whether this was staged or not, I don't know but it seemed genuine.
At the end of the parade, we headed over to Doubleday Cafe for a quick dinner before going back to the campsite for beers and a camp fire. The stars appear in all their glory out there, no light pollution from the big city, and we stayed up till late- with Genevieve reminding us that we didn't need to be 'connected' with the Internet while we were there. Point taken.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Induction day. After a not so great sleep on the ground of the tent, we woke up and packed up the tents before going for breakfast. We found a greasy spoon in town, and had what Paul referred to as 'dirty breakfast', to get us ready for a long day ahead.
On our way back to the Hall of Fame, we stopped into a store and found three former players signing autographs- Fergie Jenkins, Gaylord Perry, and Jesse Barfield. We got pictures with Jesse and Fergie who were both class acts, and the pictures were free- Paul even got to wear Jesse's batting ring. Since it was for Fergie's charity, David bought an autographed ball, and I bought Fergie's latest book- which he personalized for me. Jesse said we could go get our pictures printed nearby and get them signed but since we were all running low on money, opted not to.
With an encounter with the greats of baseball behind us, we headed over to the Hall of Fame for another look around. The new behind the stats exhibit was entertaining and informative- showing us the stories that come with the numbers. Paul pointed out one exhibit showed side by side the tallest player in MLB history- Toronto's current closer, 6' 11" Jon Rauch v.s. Eddie Gaedel- the shortest player at 3'7". Gaedel was a "little person", and was used for one at bat by the St Louis Browns to gain an advantage due to his small strike zone. Gaedel famously walked in his only at bat. The highlight of the visit was seeing how for once the Blue Jays were the top attraction in the Hall that day, even for non-Canadians, it was truly our day.
Time started to catch up on us, we made a pit stop at the Hall of Fame gift shop, noticing the sudden infusion of a few Blue Jays items to sell to the Toronto fans who were coming. We followed the throngs of people towards the Clark Sports Center for the Induction ceremony. Lemonade and treat stands were set up everywhere by entrepreneurial children looking to do business. We stopped at a cute stand on a corner where we stocked up on some lemonade, brownies, and watermelon for a cheap price. They were even selling baseball to get signed, which Paul bat and much to the girls surprise-Paul wanted their signatures. It was a sweet moment.
The day before Induction was fairly pleasant, but it looked like it would rain that day but this soon gave way to a bright sun and oppressive heat. Any time a cloud would pass by, we would hope for it to stay, just to take a few degrees off the temperature. We stuck it through with the thousands of people who came to watch the ceremony.
Blue Jays and Twins jerseys were everywhere with the occasional Red Sox or Yankees jersey as Cooperstown is close to both of those fan bases. The ceremony itself started with an introduction of every Hall of Famer who made the trip. This was interesting at first, showing video of each and reciting their accolades, but after Hall of Famer number 30- it seemed to be dragging. As soon as Commissioner Bud Selig spoke, the chorus of boos started. For those of you don't know, the commissioner is not a very popular guy, but anyway onto the Inductions!
Pat Gillick was the first to get inducted, and he was well spoken, and memorable for his very personal speech. He referred to each person by their first name, acknowledging their help in getting him where he is now. Hillock's accomplishments are amazing, bringing the postseason to every organization he worked for, including the two World Series pennants for the Blue Jays.
Roberto Alomar drew the largest applause, and a standing ovation from the large Blue Jays fan contingent. I have to admit that some of us got a little misty eyed as the montage or Alomar's career played and during his speech. He talked about his family mostly- his parents, his sister, and his brother Sandy- all of who were in attendance. Also, he talked about the greatest manager he had ever played for- Cito Gaston.
After he finished, a large number of Jays fans left which I felt was a bit classless since if Alomar was last and Twins fans left- they would criticize them as well. Anyway, Bert Blyleven used his well known humor in his speech, and made reference to his Dutch heritage- since he was the first Dutch born player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
After the inductions, we headed over to the Cooperstown Diner for a quick dinner. The place was tiny but the portions were huge. Unfortunately I couldn't eat the massive hot dog I ordered- not knowing it wasn't all beef. So I gave it to Andrea, and ate part of her meal instead.
After dinner, we headed on the road for the long ride home.
Next blog...unknown
