Baseball HOF

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Last September I had the chance to spend five days in Cooperstown during the annual HOF Film Festival. It was a wonderful trip with my now grown daughter and my first trip since 1989.

It took three different flights, a rental car and we stayed at the Otesaga Hotel. It was a VERY expensive week that I wouldn't trade for anything.

The folks at the HOF were very friendly and the Hall is beautiful. The only complaint I have is the lack of material being displayed, no where near the amount displayed in past decades. I asked about the baseball cards and they said they have chosen to no longer do a card display or room. I would guess there are 40-50 great cards incorporated in the exhibits. I also asked to tour the library and was told it is no longer available to visitors.

The construction of 100 plus youth league baseball fields just south of town guarantees thousands of daily visitors to Cooperstown each Summer day which is great for the HOF! I do feel that the exhibits are now geared to a younger crowd. I do think the staff understands the needs/wants of the majority of their visitors.

In 1989 I toured the College Football Hall of Fame then in Kings Island, OH, the Pro Football Hall in Canton and then spent four days in Cooperstown. After seeing the Baseball HOF I wondered if the staff at both the College and Pro Football Halls had ever visited Cooperstown, they were light years behind.

I just toured the Pro Football HOF again and I have to say they have surpassed Cooperstown in their displays in many regards and of course I was fortunate to see the Hunt-Casterline card collection which is beyond nice. Different sport, different customer.

With that said I loved Cooperstown and the HOF! I would add for travelers, the Otesaga is nice at $545 a night but the Holiday Inn Express ten minutes south of town is new, clean and a bargain at about $135 a night in the off season. We spent our first night there.

I appreciated Bruce, Shirley, Sarge and whole staff at the Baseball HOF, great folks. My one regret is not purchasing a t-shirt at the Dugout Cafe just a few doors down from the Hall. It read "Cooperstown, a drinking town with a baseball problem." Also a must visit is the Ommegang Brewery just outside of town, great beer and food.