National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Cooperstown, NY

July 6

I have been a baseball fan since before I was born. Literally. I have a picture of my dad and my 8 month-pregnant mom at one of the games of the 1974 World Series between the Dodgers and the A’s. As a lifetime fan of baseball, it’s only fitting that my bucket list should contain a trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

When planning our summer getaway to New England, I suggested to Brandy that we stop for a visit in Cooperstown, to which she was agreeable.

After a drive from Iowa that included stops in South Bend, IN, and Niagara Falls, NY, I arrived in Cooperstown a little too early on July 5. Thankfully, the AirBnB host let me check in a little early, then, after a rather uneventful night, I was up bright and early on the 6th.

The original plan was for Brandy to stay with Ash while I went to the Hall but now that she wasn’t with me, that meant I’d have to leave Ash all alone for the day. He’d be fine, I figured, his recent history indicates that he didn’t even need to be in his kennel while I was gone.

I headed down the road to a lot where the Cooperstown trolley would pick me up and drop me right in front of the Hall. The website mentions the trolley begins running at 8:30 each morning. At 8:20, the trolley pulled up and let me aboard. We made the drive to the Hall, having a pleasant conversation along the way. I dropped the last $2 I had in cash into his tip box and I hopped off right in front of the museum.

I was the first one there, but not for long. Soon, a small family arrived, then a solo man, then more families, and before you knew it, I was in the middle of a quite large crowd.

From the sidewalk is a short stairway up to a small courtyard right in front of the museum. There are three sets of glass doors that were not locked and led into a narrow foyer where three sets of locked doors kept the crowds out until opening time (9:00). When it was time to open, my position in front of the first set of doors had been usurped but when the docent came to announce the opening, the crowd in front of me parted and let me enter first, since I was the first one there.

I was first through the doors, first to the ticket counter and first into the museum where I was met by additional staff suggesting that we start our tour on the second floor, then up to the third floor before returning to the first floor for the plaque gallery. I told him I really REALLY wanted a picture of the plaque gallery with no one in it so I defied his suggestion and went straight to the hall where another staff member tried redirecting me to the second floor. When I told him my desire for the picture of the empty wing, he let me take the picture, then INSISTED on taking a picture of just me in the hall. As I do not feel I photograph well, I reluctantly agreed. He took many (like, 15) pictures of me and remarked several times about how handsome and photogenic I was.

Alright, I’ll take your word for it.

Anyway, I then made my way up to the second floor, browsed the first exhibit for a bit then went to the nearby theater for the film Generations of the Game. As I settled in to my seat and as the movie started, I couldn’t help but to be completely overwhelmed with emotion. I was finally here.

The film was short, only 16 minutes. We exited and I headed back into the museum to check out the rest of the exhibits.

I was only about a third of the way through before my phone suddenly told me that the battery was low. Sure, I had taken WAY too many pictures up to that point, but I tucked my phone into my pocket to try to conserve the battery. That didn’t work. I found myself thrilled with the things I was seeing and insisted on taking more pictures. Soon, my phone died completely.

I finished up the museum then made my way downstairs to the first floor to check out the plaque gallery in detail. With my phone dead, I didn’t collect a single picture of a plaque at the Hall of Fame. Talk about disappointment!

I did go and look at every one of the plaques that are currently hung, and saw the granite bases reserved for this year’s four inductees: Jim Leyland, Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer. Each of the white bases upon which the plaques will be secured was signed by their respective inductee which got me to wondering, how many of them are like that? Obviously, anyone that wasn’t alive at the time of their induction couldn’t sign theirs, but did this practice date back to the first class of Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson? Are their current plaques in the hall the original plaques that were inducted in 1937? Somehow I doubt that, but am still interested to know how many hidden autographs are contained in the gallery.

Also notable were the stands in front of and small wreaths around Willie Mays’s and Orlando Cepeda’s plaques honoring their recent passings.

Anyway, after I’d made my way around the hall and viewed every plaque (touching a few that meant a lot to me), then headed into the gift shop. I was very worried about how much I was going to spend here, but in all, it was around $100, which was way less than I was expecting to spend.

I left the Hall and waited at the trolley stop to head back to Clyde. I got back to the truck at around 2:00 or so, plugged in my phone to get as much charge as I could on it then headed to Upstate Bar & Grill which had come highly recommended by dad during his visit in May. I was seated promptly and my server took my beer order. When she brought it to me, I ordered the Maple Bacon Bourbon Burger:

Caramelized onions, bacon, cheddar, maple bourbon jam

Upstate Bar & Grill menu

The burger came and I was pleased to see the bun had been branded with the establishment’s brand. I’d never had a burger marked in such a way.

The only way I can possibly come close to being able to describe the sensation when I took the first bite of that burger is when Homer ate the Ribwich in the Simpsons:

This was, far and away, the best burger I’d ever eaten. It was cooked to perfection, topped wonderfully, not too dry, not too juicy… it was, in short, perfect.

The fries were fantastic too. They were nice and crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and seasoned just right.

I took my time eating it, being sure to savor every bite and enjoying a second beer with it.

When I was done and the bill was paid, I headed back to the AirBnB where Ash was exceedingly excited to see me. We sat up for a bit watching The Bear and, knowing I had an early checkout the next morning, headed to bed.

Conclusion

As I wholly expected, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was nothing short or phenomenal. Seeing the relics of the National Pastime and learning more about the history of the game than I ever thought there was truly warmed my heart and definitely watered the eyes on more than one occasion.

I understand they have rotating exhibits so I will definitely have to make a trip back when some of the displays I saw are swapped out for new ones. Next time I go, I will make sure my phone is fully charged and will carry a portable charger with me.

ALL of the pictures I took are, as always, in my Photo Diary, make sure you head on over there to check it out.

There is so much more to come from our Summer Tour, see what’s next!

-Phil