Hallowed halls never get old in Cooperstown
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. >> I’ve always found it significant that in the John Fogerty tune “Center Field,” the singer does not proclaim that he can PLAY center field. Rather, channeling his inner child, he can BE center field. The line conjures up images of countless fresh faces on countless sandlots suspended in timeless space. At its heart, baseball is a children’s game, played by little boys who never grow up.
Peter Pan lives in the heart of every grown man who ever caught a fly ball ... and every little boy who ever visited Cooperstown.
Bucolic Cooperstown, N.Y., is, of course, the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, that most hallowed of hallowed halls. Though the town always appears to be caught in a time warp − somewhere between Abner Doubleday and Kenesaw Mountain Landis − Cooperstown is ever changing, ever evolving, making adjustments to adapt to an outside world that has changed an awful lot since the Hall of Fame was founded in 1939.
The Hall of Fame itself − officially, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum − changes quite regularly.
There are exhibits meant to be temporary, such as equipment used or uniforms worn during recent achievements like nohitters, record-setting games or unusual occurrences in-season or in the last year. Even the permanent exhibits change from time to time, as the Hall attempts to keep up with changing times and shifting attitudes.
Personally, I find some of this a little disconcerting, as there are some aspects of a visit to the Hall of Fame that resonate on a very personal level. In years past, a rest stop could be made at a row of seats from old Connie Mack Stadium (Shibe Park) or Washington’s Griffith Stadium. For seasoned baseball fans, it was like instant time travel. Take a seat and you are transported back to your childhood. Today, those seats have been replaced by more recent former baseball venues. Interesting ... but lacking the emotional impact of a legendary edifice.
Today, Connie Mack Stadium has only a solitary presence in the Hall of Fame − a poignant photograph of a crumbling stadium lying in ruins, taken a few years after it was abandoned and not long before it was finally leveled completely. It’s part of an exhibit called “Sacred Ground.” The photo probably brings tears to the eyes of some old-timers.
However, Philadelphia fans can be heartened by the presence of “Yoyo” at the Hall. Well, not the real Yoyo, of course, but a statue of the former faithful Phillies fan who did the Mummer’s Strut around Veterans Stadium for many years until his death in the early 1980s. Yoyo is part of an exhibit honoring the loyal fans who fill the seats at Major League ballparks.
Of course, one thing that changes very little is the Hall of Fame Gallery, where the bronze plaques honoring all of those inducted line the walls. Every year, a few more plaques are added, and strolling through the Gallery is like visiting an historic house of worship. A certain amount of respect and decorum is in order as visitors seek out and read the information provided about baseball legends from Babe Ruth to recent inductees like Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey Jr.
A self-guided tour of the Hall of Fame can be easily accomplished in as little as a couple of hours. Or, you can spend all day roaming through the three floors of exhibits and artifacts and never quite see it all. For baseball fans, it really is “Sacred Ground.”
Cooperstown, however, is not simply about old baseball bats and gloves on display in a museum. There is much to see and do in this charming town of 1,800 permanent residents and one traffic light located at the south end of lovely Otsego Lake, a long, narrow glacial lake similar to the Finger Lakes in central New York State. Otsego Lake is the headwaters of the Susquehanna River.
At the northeast corner of the lake is beautiful Glimmerglass State Park and historic Hyde Hall, a National Historic Site. A 50-room mansion built in the early 1800s, Hyde Hall is a stunning reminder of a bygone era of English aristocracy in America. The guided tour includes a close-up look at the mansion’s remarkable achitecture, original furnishings and draperies. The state park is home to a myriad of outdoor recreation options, including snowtubing in the winter.
At the very northern tip of the lake is the Glimmerglass Festival, a music venue whose productions run in July and August. For more than 40 years, patrons at
the Glimmerglass Festival have enjoyed a blend of world-class opera in a casual atmosphere amid spectacular scenery − views of the lake, rolling hills and rich farmland.
The west side of the lake is dotted with cozy, quiet motels overlooking the lake. It’s a wonderful retreat, even if you don’t give a hoot about baseball.
The Hall of Fame is right downtown on Main Street, which is lined with baseballthemed shops, restaurants and attractions like the Cooperstown Bat Company, Safe at Home, the Heroes of the Game Wax Museum, the Doubleday Cafe and the Cooperstown Diner.
Historic Doubleday Field − considered the “birthplace of baseball” − is just a block away from the Hall of Fame. Visitors can just walk in and soak up the atmosphere. It is no longer used for a Major League exhibition game during Hall of Fame Weekend festivities, but amateur teams and other groups can still rent the stadium and play baseball where the legends of the game once trod. If there’s a game going on, have a seat and take it all in. No charge.
Right up the road on Lake Street is picturesque Leatherstocking Golf Course, and right beyond that is the Fenimore Art Museum and the Farmers Museum. Both are well worth your time. The Fenimore Art Museum displays an excellent collection of American Indian Art and American Folk Art. The tour takes about 90 minutes. The Farmers’ Museum might take a little longer. It is a living history museum with a village, including a blacksmith shop, pharmacy, tavern and a working farm. You can even try your hand at milking a cow.
If you come on a weekend, check out the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market, which is open every Saturday year-round. It’s a meeting place for both visitors and the locals.
There are also summer concerts at Lakefront Park, down at the other end of Lake Street.
A walking tour in town is not a bad idea, either. There are several historic churches, including First Presbyterian Church (on Church Street, of course), the oldest church in Cooperstown. First Presbyterian was organized on June 16, 1800, and the church was built in 1805 on land gifted by the town’s founder.
Just south of town on Route 28 is awesome Cooperstown Dreams Park, home of the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame, and perhaps the most spectacular youth baseball complex anywhere. Thousands of children, 12 and under, from all over the country come every year to participate in baseball tournaments at Cooperstown Dreams Park. There are 22 fields (lighted, enclosed baseball stadiums) and three large practice fields surrounding the Baseball Village, which has 104 clubhouses. The facility covers 165 acres.
Out on Highway 33 south of town is Brewery Ommegang, where you can take the behind-the-scenes tour of a brewery that produces an award-winning lineup of Belgian-style brews. Afterward, you can head on over to Cafe Ommegang for some authentic Flemish cuisine and a tasting flight of Ommegang’s signature brews
If cider is more your beverage of choice, there’s the Fly Creek Cider Mill and Orchard, west of town off of Route 28. Just follow the signs to the Cider Mill on Goose Street. Built in 1856, they still press fresh apple cider the old-fashioned way. The Mill Store has a wide variety of comfort foods and beverages, including dips, cheeses and fudge.
Incidentally, Cooperstown isn’t the only interesting little town in the area. About 30 minutes south of town, just off Interstate 88, is the little college town of Oneonta, with a downtown that has been described as Bohemian and “funky.” Oneonta is also the home of historic Damaschke Field, a former longtime minor league baseball venue that still sees plenty of action as the summer home of the Oneonta Outlaws of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League. First opened in 1906, Damaschke Field seats 3,700 in one of baseball’s most picturesque settings.
Oneonta was once known as “Soccer Town U.S.A.,” as the National Soccer Hall of Fame was located there. But the facility went out of business in 2010, and the sport’s Hall of Fame is now located in Frisco, Tex.
From an aesthetic point of view, that’s what’s known as a bad trade.