Category: Hall of Fame

The National Soccer Hall of Fame

Considering the fact that my in-laws live in Oneonta, it’s rather peculiar that it took Carol and me nearly eight years to visit the National Soccer Hall of Fame in the small city. Carol and I, with baby Lydia, made it to the Basketball Hall of Fame in the summer of 2004 in Springfield, MA; I think Lydia was unimpressed.

Anyway, one might ask, why the heck is the Soccer HoF in Oneonta anyway. On the very first display in the Hall, that question is addressed. The colleges there, the State University College at Oneonta and Hartwick College both had had successes in the 1970s in soccer. OK, but still, why Oneonta? Because of its approximation to Cooperstown, some folks expected that they could make it another destination in the region.

Yes, I don’t know soccer, but my wife doesn’t really know basketball, either. While she loved that hall in Springfield, she and I were pretty bored with this place. At least until we got to the second floor, when we got to compete in some interactive games. Still, if it wasn’t for the fact that she got in free (it was Mother’s Day weekend), and I got in at 10% off with an AAA card ($11.25 instead of $12.50), it would have been an EXPENSIVE boring visit.

Of course, it can’t compete with the charm of Cooperstown. My father-in-law and I, as usual, went to the game last month, between the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays. Here’s a description of the game, where minor league Brian Boch got 2 HRs, one a grand slam, and a double to lead the Orioles over the Blue Jays. My best recollections: off-key renditions by a barbershop quartet of BOTH O Canada AND The Star-Spangled Banner; four of the eight homers landing in our section, including one that hit just to my right, hit a concrete facing, then careened to the left in front of me.

Our favorite sport, though, is begging the center fielder for the ball. This is an annual event, where after the warm ups between half innings, the sections make as much noise as possible so that the player will toss the ball to their section. No one played this as well as Toronto outfielder Vernon Wells, who really knew how to milk the crowd. One time, he hid one ball while taunting the crowd with another. When he threw it to the one section, the other section moaned, until he produced the second sphere. Great theater for the three innings he stayed in the game.
ROG

ROG

3 Ramblin’ ?s-Baseball

I was going to give you even more statistical stuff, but the hot weather precludes it.

Rafael Palmeiro was suspended for 10 days for failing Major League Baseball’s steroid use policy. Allegations about use by Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds have also been made.

Palmero is only the fourth player, after Hank Arron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray, to hit 500 home runs (he has 569, in 9th place all-time, passing Reggie Jackson and closing in on Harmon Killebrew) and get 3000 hits.
McGwire had 583 career home runs, and practically saved baseball in 1998 with his exciting home run race with Sammy Sosa in 1998, after the disasterous strike of 1994.
Bonds not only has 703 homers, but the 7-time MVP was intentionally walked more last year than some teams; he’s been out with injuries all of this season.

Every eligible person (retired five years) who has hit 500 or more home runs has made it to the HoF.

So, I’d like to know:

1. Will Barry Bonds make it to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and should he?
2. Will Mark McGwire make it, and should he?
3. Will Raphael Palmiero make it, and should he

Bonus question:
And what about the chances for Sammy Sosa, who is now #5 on the HR list, behind only Aaron, Ruth, Bonds, and Mays, passing McGwire and Frank Robinson this year?

ROG

Cooperstown: 1 is good. 2 is better?

For many years in Cooperstown, there was a Hall of Fame weekend. It featured a parade, an exhibition game between two major league clubs, a regular season game between the Oneonta minor league team and an opponent, and of course, the induction ceremony, along with plenty of opportunities for the retired players to make a some money signing autographs on pictures, baseballs, bats, caps, any semi-flat surface.

Then a few years ago, someone had this bright idea: why doesn’t Cooperstown have TWO Hall of Fame weekends? One would be in late May or June, the other in the end of July or early August. The first event would feature the exhibition game. The second event would feature the minor league game. EACH event would feature a parade, and there would be TWO chances for the old-timers to make a few bucks. The merchants would be able to rake in some extra dough as well.

This year, the exhibition game was early, May 24, and one of the participants was the WORLD CHAMPION Boston Red Sox. My father-in-law, Richard, stood in line for 8 hours in February, but failed to get any tickets. So I didn’t go to the game for the first time in five years. He seemed destined to miss his first game in about fifteen.

On May 24, which was his birthday, Richard and his wife Joyce went to Cooperstown anyway; it’s only about 20 miles from Oneonta, where they live. He asked off-handedly whether there might be seats available, and there were! Some of the teams who had gotten an allotment of tickets had returned them. So that was a very nice birthday gift to him.

Richard has a book where he keeps a record of each game; he’s a season ticket holder of the Oneonta Tigers. For a regular season game, scorekeeping is not too hard, though we saw a 7-2-5-1 pickle earlier this year. (That means the left fielder threw home to the catcher who threw to third base who threw to the pitcher covering home and got the out.) But in the exhibition game, it’s almost impossible. For one thing, both teams bring up a bunch of minor league players, especially pitchers, just for the day. Also, the stars usually play only an inning or two. Also, one can leave the game, then come back in the game, which is not generally allowed in professional baseball.

This weeekend, Richard and I are going to the second 2005 Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown. Then we’ll walk through town picking out the old pros. “Hey, there’s Yogi.” “That’s Mudcat Grant.” “I think that’s Ferguson Jenkins.” Then we’ll see the Oneonta Tigers play the Tri-City Valley Cats (of Troy, NY, near Albany) in, as it’s always called, “historic Doubleday Field.” It’s a real thrill for the young players.

There is usually a Q & A with some of the inductees and/or other Hall of Famers. But this year, that’s been pushed back to Monday, featuring the new inductees, Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg.

Cooperstown is a pretty, idyllic place. But if you want to come just to to see the Baseball Hall of Fame, I MOST DEFINITELY recommend that you come some time other than the HoF weekends, some time when it isn’t a madhouse.

ROG
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