HOF Exterior: The National Baseball Hall of Fame is on Main Street in the tiny village of Cooperstown, NY. The Hall was formed in the mid 1930s and the facility was dedicated in 1939. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Yesteryear: This exhibit in the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum features gloves, bats and other equipment used by professional players in the early 1900s. The museum features thousands of two dimensional and three dimensional items and documents from the game beginning in the early years up to the present time. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
In our travels we are able to roam about our country and see and do many things which we just dreamed about before we bought our RV and began traveling. Places and things affect everyone differently due to several variables such as our own history and where we lived especially in the earlier years, location of family and close friends, personal interests, hobbies, climate, and many other factors.
We generally plan our extended trips based on our interests and things we would like to see or do. Occasionally we plan trips around events which we want to attend. Such was the case earlier this year when we traveled from Colorado to Pennsylvania to attend a wedding. If not for the wedding, this trip probably would have never shown up on our radar as a travel destination given most of our travels are in the west and southwest U.S.
Since we were traveling to Pennsylvania, why not visit some other places in the east while we were “in the neighborhood”. Two places of interest popped onto our radar right away, Niagara Falls and the National Baseball Hall of Fame. From southwest Pennsylvania they were just a “few hundred miles away” so away we went!
The National Baseball Hall of Fame is in Cooperstown, NY. I knew where the Hall was located but I knew nothing about the town or even its surroundings. We soon discovered that Cooperstown is a small village located in upstate New York on the south shore of Otsego Lake in the foothills of the Catskills Mountains. If you envision a “Norman Rockwell small town Americana” that just may be Cooperstown, New York.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame was just as fulfilling. Baseball is my favorite sport and seeing the Baseball Hall of Fame was a dream since my childhood days when I played the game. If you have any interest in baseball, Cooperstown, NY should be on your travel list. The Hall of Fame was formed in the mid-1930s and in 1936 the first Hall of Fame Class was honored. A permanent facility was built and opened three years later.
The Hall of Fame Class of 2020 was not inducted due to COVID. The 2020 class was scheduled to be inducted this year in July, but it was again postponed until Sept. 8, 2021. Finally, the four new inductees will receive their honor. The total number of Hall of Fame members will be 337 after Tuesday’s ceremony.
The Baseball Hall of Fame museum consists of “all things baseball” from the history of the game, the equipment and uniforms used by players, the great moments from games past as well as some not-so-great moments in baseball history but the number one priority of the Hall is the players, umpires, executives, and others who make this game so great.
Bottom line, the National Baseball Hall of Fame is the “Holy Grail” of all things baseball!
It is impossible to even list the various exhibits in the museum without writing a book but the volume of game items, memorabilia, documents, artwork in various media, etc. is overwhelming. It would take days or weeks to attempt to see the museum and the Hall of Fame Gallery in detail. This is one place that will forever be on my list of places to visit anytime we happen to be “in the neighborhood”.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Aaron Memorabilia: Famous Braves player Hank Aaron was featured in an exhibit in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Aaron played for the Braves for 22 years and held the MLB home run record for many years following his retirement. The Hall exhibit featured his entire career. This part of the exhibit features game balls and memorabilia in Aaron’s historic home run timeline. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
HOF Gallery: The extensive museum is just part of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. The Hall of Fame Gallery features each of the members. As of today there are 333 members honored including 263 former players, 38 executives and pioneers of the game, 22 managers and 10 umpires. This Tuesday, four new members will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame bringing the total number of members to 337. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Member Plaques: Each member of the Hall of Fame is featured on a plaque in the Gallery. The Hall of Fame Gallery is a more formal area of the Hall of Fame complex which features marble flooring and hardwood paneling. A round rotunda is the centerpiece of the gallery with the original class of five featured in the center panel. The plaques are arranged in groupings and hung by the year the member was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
