A Trip to Cooperstown 30 years ago

School vacation was a time I looked forward to and relished when I was in school. Now that I am out of school and living the life of a stay-at-home-parent, it gives me the chance to sleep in a little and not worry about my Miracles of Christ getting out of bed and being on time for the bus. It also means the chance for a little quality time with the cherubs. Time that could be spent playing a game or hanging out doing something fun, but that will probably not be the case.

Winter of 1994

There was one Winter Vacation that has always stuck out as a memorable one for me. It happened exactly 30 years ago. In February of 1994, my father, brother, and I went to the Baseball Hall of Fame. I remember how excited I was when Dad first told my brother and me about the trip. I couldn't wait for it. Baseball had been my life ever since 1986 when the Red Sox went to the World Series against the New York Mets. Again, this was back in 1994. This was before the Red Sox were considered to be serious contenders. Back then, they were also-rans who were better known for handing out lucrative contracts to players whose better days were behind them. Not a franchise with a deep farm system stocked with legitimate prospects.

Dad with the World Series Trophy

Details are fuzzy, like most things that happened 30 years ago. I think we left on a Monday and spent three days in Cooperstown, N.Y. Dad found a nice bed & breakfast that wasn't far from the Hall of Fame. We were able to walk there every day. When we arrived, our admission tickets came with an apology. Renovations were being made to expand the gift shop, which meant some parts of the Hall would not be accessible. There was also a coupon for the gift shop to thank us for our patience during this inconvenience.

Going to the Hall of Fame in the winter meant not having to fight crowds. A neighbor, who is also a baseball fan and loves visiting the Hall of Fame, has visited Cooperstown during the induction ceremonies and tells me it's a great time. Still, it was nice to be able to walk around and have the whole place to us.

What we saw at the Hall of Fame

There was plenty to see on our trip. One of the things that stuck out to me was Brooks Robinson's glove. Robinson played third base, and it's not called the "hot corner" for nothing, A lot happens over there. Robinson was known for his defense, and his glove didn't look very big.

We went to the room that had the plaques of the enshrined

Me with a sculpture of Ted Williams

members. Believe me when I tell you, you could easily spend an entire day in this room. It is set up almost like a church. Upon entering, you see the plaques hanging on the surrounding walls. The three of us walked around the perimeter of the room, reading the plaques and paying particular attention to our individual favorite players. There is an aisle that runs down the center of the room. At the end of the aisle at the front of the room, are wooden statues of Ted Williams and Babe Ruth. The room was quiet, adding to the hallowed atmosphere.

Another wing of the museum featured locker stalls. Each stall was dedicated to a Major League team. It was odd for me to see the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies in this room. It was their second year in existence when we had visited, and seeing these new teams in a place that was steeped with tradition seemed a little off. My father liked the Marlins, and got his picture taken next to their stall. I, of course, had my picture taken at the Red Sox' locker. As a 16-year-old, I lived and died with the Red Sox no matter how many big games they lost or how many questionable moves the front office made. My dad wanted to get a picture of me with Babe Ruth. I protested this decision since Ruth was in Yankee gear, and being associated with the Bronx Bombers would compromise my street cred. It didn't matter that there was a Reggie Jackson Poster, in a Yankee uniform, hanging in my room. I wasn't sure I could do this without angering the baseball gods. Anyway, I got my picture taken with Babe Ruth.

Me standing by the
Red Sox' locker stall

Beyond the Exhibits

To this day, I still have "Tell Me Your Life Story" etched into my forehead.

We saw Doubleday Field. Being February, it was obviously closed for the winter, and we could only get so close to it. There was snow on the grass and tarp on the infield dirt. Little did we know my brother would play a game there three years later when his high school baseball team took a trip to Cooperstown

Doubleday Field

to play a local high school.

We stopped at the gift shop for some souvenirs. I remember buying a magnetic standings board. It was on clearance because it had the old setup of two divisions in each league, and 1994 was the first year of the expanded playoff format with the wild card teams. No problem. I just took some masking tape and created a third division out of the bottom of the American and National Leagues on the standings board. The board was updated every morning before I left for school.

I also remember sitting in the lobby after my purchase. A security guard approached me and correctly guessed I was from Massachusetts when he saw me wearing Boston Red Sox gear. He proceeded to bend my ear about his team, the New York Yankees, making some bad free agent signing and how it added to the problems in his life. I just sat there and listened. To this day, I still have "Tell me Your Life Story" etched into my forehead.

Looking Back at 1994 and Beyond

The 1994 season never finished, though. The infamous strike cancelled the remainder of the season, including the World Series. A season without the World Series was something that hadn't happened in 90 years. It was an incident that jaded me to the point where I refused to watch baseball for the entire 1995 season. I was mad at everyone in Major League Baseball. Like I said, I was a teenager, and that angst had to be directed somewhere. Keep in mind this was the 1990's, and labor disputes weren't as common as they are today.

I still look back on that trip with my dad and brother. Sports, not just baseball was just something you did in my neighborhood.

My brother and I checking out an exhibit.

Baseball in the spring and summer, football in the fall, and basketball in the winter. As I've mentioned before, my children were never bitten by the sports bug, and this makes me appreciate the games I played with my friends and the trip I took in February of 1994 even more today. There are other memories I can create with my children, just like My dad, my brother, and I created some memories during that week in February thirty years ago.