Couple kicks off retirement with baseball stadium tour
WYNANTSKILL, N.Y. » What will you do when you retire?
When Bill and Joy Bassett retired, the couple packed their bags and took off for a series of trips that what most baseball fans dream about - attending a big league game in every major league ballpark.
“We’ve been busy people since we retired,” Bill said. On July 29, a month before their 50th anniversary, the Wyantskill couple will be inducted into the Sports Travel and Tours Baseball Hall of Fame. Their names will be engraved on a plaque located in the Bullpen Theatre in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
According to STAT President Jay Smith, the Massachusetts-based company created the passport program 15 years ago and has inducted four classes (87 members) to date. The Bassetts will be in the class of 2017, which includes 39 other people.
It started five years ago when the couple was in Cooperstown to watch the Valley Cats play the Oneonta Tigers during Hall of Fame weekend. As season ticket holders they follow the team often and there they learned about the stadium passport program. “For me, a baseball player from way back when, this is the only way to get inducted into the hall of fame,” Bill joked.
Both are avid Red Sox fans. Their daughter Ginger tells how she and her brother spent much of their childhood engaged in activities surrounding the great American past time.
Perhaps that is why it seemed the perfect retirement project, Joy said. STAT arranges the tours and gives every Hall of Fame contender a pass-
port, which Joy has filled with photographs from each visit, along with the stamp they receive once they’ve completed the visit.
Their first venture was a five-day trip started in Pittsburgh and ended in Baltimore. Over the next few years they would make memories and friends as they travelled up and down the coast. Joy got to thank her favorite player, Dave Roberts, not once, but twice, for helping “her team” win the World Series. They’ve talked retired Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee and former Dodgers catcher and co-MVP of the 1981 World Series, Steve Yeager. “Once you meet the players they remember you,” Bill said.
Joy said she also learned some practical lessons along the way, such as the importance of using a thicker marker for autographs because the thin ones fade over time.
“I specifically retired to travel,” she said. They’d been to Italy, Ireland and California.
This seemed like an exciting challenge. “When in you are in your late 60s or 70s it’s nice to let someone else do all of the planning.”
The experience is more than watching the game, there’s the sense of comradery. “I love meeting people and Bill’s the one who remembers their names for me!” Joy laughed. “We’ve made quite a few friendships and keep in touch with one another after the trips.”
The achievement has earned the couple some local praise from Valley Cats Assistant General Manager Michelle Skinner, who said “Bill & Joy have been avid ‘Cats fans for a very long time, and we enjoy having them as part of our family each summer. They are a pleasure to see every night, and always have a great story to share or kind words to express. You’ll often find them traveling with us to playoff games, and on our fan bus trips to see the ‘Cats on the road. What an amazing feat and congratulations to them!”
The Bassetts have completed their visit of every major league ballpark, so what’s next?
There’s an upcoming trip to watch a Red Sox versus Yankees game with the whole family, a 50th anniversary gift from their two children.
And after that, both say without hesitation, “golf,” the PGA tour.