Touching 'em all
The main event is Wade Boggs' upcoming induction into the Hall of Fame, but there is much more to do and see in this baseball city.
By JANET K. KEELER
Published July 17, 2005
Times Staff Writer
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - Wade Boggs would love this place, and not just because he's headed for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame here in two weeks.
If Boggs wants to slip away from the festivities, he can fish on lovely Otsego Lake, just a few blocks from the hall and coincidentally shaped like a baseball bat when viewed from the southern tip. Bass, salmon and lake trout swim in the clean, chilly water.
A trip back in the fall and Boggs can pursue his love of hunting. It's not big game like he's stared down in Africa; this is deer, turkey and grouse country.
Boggs' famous superstition - having chicken before a game - can be satisfied in several restaurants, though we recommend the Doubleday Cafe on Main Street: Order the cheesy chicken salad on wheat berry bread.
He could even get a lesson in raising chickens, at the Farmers' Museum, a collection of buildings and barns that showcases the Empire State's agriculture history.
And every afternoon, weather permitting, Boggs could take in a game at Doubleday Field. The field's baseball provenance may be slightly exaggerated, but the action is free and the view strictly small-town Rockwell. High school teams from the Northeast play exhibitions at Doubleday; any home runs are sure to end up in the back yard of a Colonial or Victorian house just beyond the fences.
Doubleday is homefield for the Cooperstown High School Redskins, who've had an oddly middling program given their proximity to the epicenter of baseball history. But things are looking up: The starting shortstop's father, Dale Petroskey, is president of the Hall of Fame. Boosters see that connection as a good thing.
During his time here, we recommend that Boggs, the former Red Sox-Yankee-Devil Ray who's lived in Tampa since he was a boy, stay out of the baseball souvenir shops, to avoid a bruised ego. His rookie card is a mere $20 at Extra Innings; Cal Ripken Jr.'s is more than $500.
At Pete Rose Ballpark Collectibles, a Boggs-signed bat is $110 and there is an ample stock of baseball cards, $1 to $2 each. Nobody expects a run on Boggs' memorabilia during induction weekend. Hawkers are hanging on for 2007 when Ripken, Mark McGwire and Tony Gwynn are eligible to enter the hall. Those players sell, the vendors say.
But that's then. For now, it's Boggs' bronze plaque that's headed for the wall.
Baseball townCooperstown seems to exist because of baseball. Since the Hall of Fame opened in 1939, the village has become a mecca for baseball lovers who nearly weep when they see the tattered gloves and splintered bats of the game's greats.
A walk through the three-story, newly renovated hall can be, indeed, a near-religious experience. The spirits of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb and other legendary players seem to guide you through room after room of memories, statistics and ephemera.
There's the bat that Hammerin' Hank Aaron swung for his 3,000 hit. Behind glass is a 1909 Honus Wagner card, the Holy Grail of baseball collectibles. A Willie Mays glove that made an untold number of basket catches still looks ready for action.
Is that really Curt Schilling's bloody sock?
The stately series of brick buildings honor baseball with a nostalgic reverence not found in the dozen or more souvenir shops outside. Logo-emblazoned T-shirts, hats, bibs, beer mugs and, it seems, anything signed by anyone who ever played pro ball are on sale.
Inside the hall, a case of World Series rings is one of the few displays that traces the evolution of sports economics:
Early rings held precious stones such as rubies and emeralds. Now, diamonds are the bling du jour and become bigger every year, with the most ostentatious ring belonging to the Florida Marlins, 2003 World Series champs. Hall tour guides call the blinding square of 240 stones, 228 of them diamonds, "the doorknob."
Surprisingly, the Hall of Fame may not be as fascinating to young kids, even budding players, as it is to their parents. This is mostly baseball history, and after a two-hour tour, the minimum needed to see everything, most kids will be bugging to play catch. (Parents: Don't forget to pack gloves and balls.)
The renovated Sandlot Kids' Clubhouse exhibit is a must-see if you're bringing children. There are interactive games, plus a wall of monitors that show short videos such as Players in Pigtails, narrated by All-American Girls Professional Baseball League veteran Terry Donahue, and Abbott and Costello's legendary comedy routine, Who's On First. That's some baseball history a kid can get into.
Visitors who need to work off energy should head for Lakefront Park, a couple of blocks northwest of the hall. On the way, stop by Danny's Main Street Market, for picnic fixings.
At the park, kids can run or play catch, while adults enjoy the lakeside scenery and eat a baguette smeared with goat cheese or olive tapenade.
On one recent spring day, visitors got a show from a buffed European tourist who stripped naked and jumped into the frigid water. He must have been Norwegian.
If you build itCooperstown's population of just 2,100 swells in the summer when youth baseball teams, mostly 12-year-old boys, come from around the country to compete on the finely manicured fields of Dreams Park. During the 10-week tournament season, about 800 teams - 10,000 players with their own Major League dreams - pass through town.
Players and coaches eat and sleep baseball in on-site bunkhouses. It's not just the players that come. Their parents, willing to travel anywhere to watch them play, also need accommodations. To satisfy the demand, Best Western, Howard Johnson and Holiday Inn Express have recently opened hotels close to the fields.
Villagers are getting in on the action, renting homes and converted garages for up to $1,000 a week. The extra income is welcome in an area whose economy relies on dairy farming.
The weekly Saturday Farmers' Market in the center of town is a reminder of agricultural roots. Boggs might want to stop here for organic poultry and eggs.
More than baseballYou'll notice that Cooperstown is not called DiMaggioville or Babe City. In fact, there is no Cooper in the Hall of Fame.
The village is named after founder William Cooper, father of author James Fenimore Cooper, considered to be America's first great novelist. It was at the foot of Otsego Lake, where the four seasons are keenly felt, that Cooper found inspiration in the 1820s for his Leatherstocking Tales, the most famous of which are The Deerslayer and The Last of the Mohicans.
The history of the Cooper family is told at the Fenimore Art Museum, across Lake Road from the Farmers' Museum, both just a few miles from the hall with a trolley stop located nearby. An impressive permanent collection of American-Indian artifacts, Hudson River School paintings and folk art is housed there.
For 30 summers, opera has been performed at the renowned Glimmerglass Opera House, a modern edifice on the shores of the lake. Glimmerglass was James Fenimore Cooper's nickname for slick-calm Otsego. The opera season brings even more visitors to Cooperstown.
Other than summertime opera, the nights are slow in Cooperstown. Don't know how that'll be to Boggs' liking. The bar at the classy and pricey Otesaga Resort Hotel is the likely hangout for professional baseball players when they are in town. Rooms are $200 a night and up.
There are a couple of bars on Main Street and a tavern underground at the Tunnicliffe Inn, which offers somewhat dowdy accommodations but is only a two-minute walk to the hall. On a recent night, long after most of Cooperstown had gone to bed, a young woman who'd enjoyed herself mightily at the subterranean tavern tangled with a friend in the middle of the street. There were impolite threats of butt-kickings and other such hurtings.
Finally, a cooler, or more sober, head prevailed. "That's enough, Tina," he said firmly.
Thankfully, Tina was one of the few people in town who didn't have a baseball bat.
- Janet K. Keeler, no relation to Baseball Hall of Fame legend Wee Willie Keeler, can be reached at 727 893-8586 or krieta@sptimes.com
IF YOU GOWade Boggs of Tampa, who played for the Red Sox, Yankees and Devils Rays, and Ryne Sandberg, who played second base for the Chicago Cubs, will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 31. The ceremony is free and open to the public; it will also be televised.
Special activities, including appearances by Hall of Famers Ozzie Smith, Carlton Fisk, Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal and Willie Mays, begin July 29. For a schedule of events, click on www.baseballhalloffame.org or call toll-free 1-888-425-5633.
GETTING THERE: Albany International Airport and Syracuse Hancock International Airport are both about 90 miles from Cooperstown. One-stop flights to both cities are available from Tampa International Airport. Car rentals are available at Albany and Syracuse. Nonstop flights are available to Newark, N.J., or New York airports, which are four- to five-hour drives from Cooperstown.
GETTING AROUND: The village of Cooperstown is highly walkable with restaurants, B&Bs, souvenir shops and the park on Otsego Lake no more than a 10-minute walk to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Parking may be more of a problem. During the summer, the Cooperstown Trolley operates from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The trolley stops at three free parking lots as well as numerous locations throughout the village. Unlimited daily passes are $2 for adults and $1 for children 12 and younger.
The Hall of Fame Web site also includes tips for a visit to Cooperstown during induction weekend or at other times.
THE SITES: The Hall of Fame, 25 Main St., is open daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Summer hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., with a 5 p.m. closing the rest of the year. Tickets are $5 to $14.50.
Three-way tickets for admission to the Hall of Fame, Fenimore Art Museum and Farmers' Museum are $29 for adults, $12 for 7- to 12-year-olds and free to younger kids.
Fenimore Art Museum is on Lake Road, Route 80 , a 1-mile trolley ride from the hall. For information for the Fenimore and Farmers' Museum, call 607 547-1500. On the Web: www.fenimoreartmuseum.org Farmers' Museum is across Lake Road from the Fenimore. There is ample shared parking. On the Web: www.farmersmuseum.org
STAYING THERE: The Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce has a free visitor's guide that lists many accommodations, restaurants and other information about the village and nearby Oneonta. Call 607 547-9983 or click on www.cooperstownchamber.org On the Web, www.cooperstownstay.com connects visitors with private lodging in homes and apartments. Call toll-free 1-866-547-6260.
Some accommodation suggestions in Cooperstown:
- Lake Front Motel, 10 Fair St; 607 547-9511;. www.lakefrontmotelandrestaurant.com
- The Inn at Cooperstown, 16 Chestnut St; 607 547-5756; www.innatcooperstown.com
- Tunnicliffe Inn, 34-36 Pioneer St.; (607) 547-4063.
- The Otesaga Resort Hotel, 60 Lake St., Route 80; toll-free 1-800-348-6222; www.otesaga.com