The Baseball Hall Of Fame

[Yankee4Life]

Summer is coming, and that means all the good things associated with it. Among that is great weather, summer vacations and trips and baseball, just to mention a few. Maybe a few of you are considering taking a trip to New York State to visit the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. I'll try to answer some questions about going there and what to do when you are there.

1. Beginnings: Let's start off by giving you the Hall of Fame website. This basically lets you know what is going on at the Hall, the events that are going on and are being planned, news about new exhibits being put in the Hall including newly donated artifacts, a list of the Hall of Famers and their bio's and, of course, shopping.

2. Hours and Admission: The Hall of Fame is open year round, seven days a week with the exception of three days: Thanksgiving day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Summer hours Daily, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (From Friday of Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Monday.)

Off Season hours Daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (From the day after Labor Day through the Thursday before Memorial Day Weekend.)

Admission fees

Adults: $16.50

Senior Citizens and members of veterans organizations: $11.00

Children (ages 7 -12) $6.00

Children under the age of 7, retired career military or active career military: FREE

Also, check the HOF website for discounts if you are a AAA auto club member.

3. Once I am in the Museum, is there a time limit to walk around it? Not at all. If you go in the summer you can conceivably spend all twelve hours of the day in there if you choose. You will not be rushed at all. An announcement will be made prior to closing time informing you that the museum will be shutting down for the day.

3a. Most people don't know it, but there are actually two museums dedicated to baseball in Cooperstown. There's a wax museum there on Main Street that you will not want to pass up. You'll see lifelike figures of Yogi and Babe and Lou Gehrig that you'll swear are real.

4. Closest Airports to Cooperstown For those of you who have to fly to get to the Museum, the two closest airports are in Syracuse, New York (north of Cooperstown) and Albany, New York (east). Both are 90 miles away from the village.

5. Are there any other things to do in Cooperstown? The answer to this is yes. You may be traveling to a place that the main focus is baseball, but there are other things to do there in case you are going with someone who happens not to be a big baseball fan like yourself. Here's a few.

The Fenimore Art Museum As the name of it says, it's an art museum. . Women love this kind of stuff. It attracts them like flies to honey. I went here in 2003 and I had mixed reviews. The place was beautiful. What was in it I wasn't really interested in. But that's just me. I didn't know what to look at when I was in there. The exhibits or the girls looking at the exhibits. All in all, not a bad place. And this place is right across the street from...

The Farmer's Museum A historical museum detailing America's past. I went there in 2003 and it was not a bad way to spend a few hours. Here is the website for you to check out.

The Clark Sports Arena Here is the website for this. If you feel like going to do a workout or taking a swim, you can purchase a day pass here and you can do this and many more things. It's a fun place to be.

The Glimmerglass Opera I didn't know this was even there until I was researching the area for this post. I'm glad my wife didn't know about it or else I'd of had to go here. Here is their website.

Howe Caverns This is located about a half hour's drive from Cooperstown and it is a fun place to go to and see. You take an elevator down to the caverns and you end up taking a short boat ride while you are down there. Check out the website for more information.

6. Ok, I'm sold. I want to see some Hall of Famers. The best chance for you to see Hall of Famers is on the weekend of June 20 and 21 when the Inaugural Classic will be played at Doubleday Field on June 21st. A seven inning game will be played that day featuring many former ballplayers.

If you can't make it at that time, you can go to induction weekend which is the weekend of July 24, 25 and 26, 2009. You will literally see Hall of Famers inside and outside the museum and on Main Street of Cooperstown.

One word of caution Yes, you will be seeing these guys but you will also be in a huge mob of people. Cooperstown is a very, very small town and during induction weekend it bursts at the seams. People overflow in the streets. Back in 2001 we made an impromptu trip to Cooperstown when we were in Binghamton for the weekend. Big mistake. We went on induction weekend and it was a madhouse. It was a hot day and there was a lot of people. But the plus side was that I saw people like Willie Mays, Willie Stargell and Pete Rose there. Rose and Stargell had a table set up on the sidewalk and were signing autographs. So, if you can deal with crowds, then these are your two opportunities to see the Hall of Famers. I just wanted to let you know of this in advance.

7. Where can I eat something? Right on Main Street there are a few restaurants for you to go to. One is a sports bar. There's also an Italian place. There's a restaurant that is right nearby the Museum that stays open late. It's the closest thing to night life they have there. If you just want to get a bottle of water or something, there's a CVS pharmacy on Main Street too. Also, there is a bakery. These are all in walking distance of the Hall of Fame and all on Main Street. And by walking distance I mean only a few minutes.

8. I want to buy something The good thing about buying souvenirs there is that you can get a lot of nice stuff without going overboard. But if you have the money, you can do that too. At Mickey's Place for example they have autographed collectibles. An Ernie Banks signed baseball? That'll be $275 please. Thank you, come again. But in the same store I was able to pick up a couple of nice fitted hats and a T-Shirt and I didn't break the bank for it. The one I was most impressed with was called The Seventh Inning Stretch. I got lost in this place. Both of these places are also located on Main Street. There are also many other stores too which you will see for yourself.

9. Here is the Google map of the area.

10. I hope this answers some questions about Cooperstown and what there is there, what to do there and what they have there. If anyone has anything they want to add, please go right ahead, but keep things on topic. Thank you.

[MarkB]

Very nice post, Y4L.

[JOHN3057]

Also try Brooks Barbque. Its about 20 minutes south of Cooperstown heading towards Oneonta. Great food!! It was a fave for guys like Mantle and Martin way back when. They have a great selection and alot of memorabilia to check out while there

http://www.brooksbbq.com

[Yankee4Life]

Also try Brooks Barbque. Its about 20 minutes south of Cooperstown heading towards Oneonta. Great food!! It was a fave for guys like Mantle and Martin way back when. They have a great selection and alot of memorabilia to check out while there

http://www.brooksbbq.com

John, thank you very much! That's the kind of information this thread needs. And I'm glad you brought something like that up. Not everything worth seeing is going to be on Main Street in Cooperstown. And with everything being so nearby around that area, people won't get lost finding this place.

FYI, Oneonta New York was a former home of the Yankees NY-Penn league team. Bernie Williams played there on his way up.

[JOHN3057]

No problem. Also if anyone cares the Soccer Hall of Fame is in Oneonta. Dont know why but it is. Now the NY Penn League team in Oneonta is the Tigers. But Y4L is right it was the Yankees affiliate for a long time.