HOF Induction Weekend advice

[BradH]

Russ--
I've made 10-11 trips to Cooperstown -- at ALL times of year and as recently as this past October with my son. I was there last July for the induction, which was my fourth induction weekend.

In my opinion, the "it's so crowded" argument is very overrated. Are the crowds big? Sure. But with that said, it's not hard to get around at all. The village is easy to walk around. Yes, you might have to pick your spots to eat lunch or dinner, but it's really not a big deal.

The one thing that is tough to do on induction weekend is to actually go into the HOF and spend time looking around comfortably. I've seen that the lines are long and heard it's packed (I don't really go into the HOF on induction weekend because of this). I understand that this could be a big deal for you if you've never been and you want to see the museum.

And I don't think staying in Albany or another similar place will be a problem at all for you. I've known many people who have done it and not had any issues.

My advice is to go this year for the induction -- you're right that you won't likely see another Brave in a while. Do it and enjoy the memories.

And make sure to check out the baseball card show at the VFW!

Regards,
Brad

[BradH]

Russ -- I've told a few people this and they've had great success with it if you can swing it...

If your calendar is pretty flexible AND you don't really care about seeing the parade or the other activities on Saturday (or the VFW card show), then this is a good strategy: Make Sunday (induction day) your first day there. Drive to Cooperstown on Sunday morning, go to the induction in the afternoon, then stick around for dinner on Sunday night. Then spend Monday and/or Tuesday looking around town and visiting the museum.

The crowds are virtually gone by Sunday night and Monday is way less crowded. Plus, you can see the inductees' plaques on the wall in the museum.

A lot of the Hall of Famers do autograph signings on Main Street on Monday, with fairly short lines.

It's just a thought - you can avoid most of the crowds and still get to see a lot of the cool stuff.

I'll be there again this July -- Hope to see you there!!

[Marchillo]

Solid strategy but I like the VFW card show. Also the environment is cool with all the people. But the museum experience stinks. So being there earlier in the week or through Mon/Tue is a good plan.

Originally Posted by BradH

Russ -- I've told a few people this and they've had great success with it if you can swing it...

If your calendar is pretty flexible AND you don't really care about seeing the parade or the other activities on Saturday (or the VFW card show), then this is a good strategy: Make Sunday (induction day) your first day there. Drive to Cooperstown on Sunday morning, go to the induction in the afternoon, then stick around for dinner on Sunday night. Then spend Monday and/or Tuesday looking around town and visiting the museum.

The crowds are virtually gone by Sunday night and Monday is way less crowded. Plus, you can see the inductees' plaques on the wall in the museum.

A lot of the Hall of Famers do autograph signings on Main Street on Monday, with fairly short lines.

It's just a thought - you can avoid most of the crowds and still get to see a lot of the cool stuff.

I'll be there again this July -- Hope to see you there!!

[BradH]

Originally Posted by Marchillo

Solid strategy but I like the VFW card show. Also the environment is cool with all the people. But the museum experience stinks. So being there earlier in the week or through Mon/Tue is a good plan.

Stephen -- I agree with you about the card show -- I don't want to miss it. The people that I've suggested this strategy to in the past had zero interest in the card show or the Main Street shops in general. They simply wanted to see the induction and tour the museum, so they found it to be helpful.