The Parade of Legends (Baseball Hall of Fame)

Happy Tuesday! Welcome to part 3 of my 4-part Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Weekend recap! Missed parts 1 and 2? Look no further!

• Cooperstown - Getting There
• The Baseball Hall of Fame
• Awards Ceremony/The Parade of Legends
• Induction Ceremony

Today's recap includes information on both of the events that take place on Saturday of induction weekend, the Awards Ceremony that's held at Doubleday Field and the Parade of Legends that takes place down Main Street.

Saturday's schedule of events during the Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown usually looks like this:

Hall of Fame Awards Presentation - 4:30 p.m., Doubleday Field (Gates open at 3 p.m.)
The awards ceremony includes the presentation of the Ford C. Frick Award for baseball broadcasting excellence and the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for meritorious contributions to baseball writing.

Parade of Legends - 6:00 p.m., Main Street, Cooperstown
Hall of Fame members ride down Main Street in trucks provided by Ford Motor Company, concluding with a red carpet arrival on the Museum steps as Hall of Fame members make their way to the Museum for a private reception.

Again, my tip for you is to arrive EARLY! We made our way into Cooperstown around 8:45 a.m., found a place to park (in one of the trolley lots), then headed for Main Street. Our goal for the day to was to re-visit the Hall of Fame, explore the town, grab lunch, then find a spot for the Parade of Legends.

Even at 9 a.m., the crowds were already forming for the 6 p.m. parade. Most people purchased folding lawn chairs ahead of time and scoped out their spot for the parade. 

Throughout the day on Saturday, baseball legends were located all along Main Street for autographs. I overheard someone say that although they were charging for autographs, the proceeds went to charity.

A little off topic, but I have to share this really awesome story that happened to us on Saturday during lunch....

For lunch, we found a spot at a local cafe at an outside table. Before long, we knew something was up because a caravan arrived on the curb. Several Navy personnel walked out, followed by Ray Mabus, the Secretary of the Navy! 

We soon discovered that he was there to greet two Wounded Warriors who just happened to be at the table right next to us! We also heard that the Wounded Warriors were in Cooperstown as Randy Johnson's personal guests. Randy, a 2015 Hall of Fame inductee, spends a good bit of his time on USO tours and volunteering with Wounded Warrior! Not long after that, Randy's mom, sister, and brother walked up and BOY could you ever see the family resemblance! Talk about being in the right place at the right time!! It was awesome!

Ok...back on topic...

Although we didn't plan to attend the Awards presentation at Doubleday Field, we did walk over there after lunch to check it all out!

An afternoon treat of ice cream was in order as we sat and waited on the parade. We didn't have folding chairs and although we staked out our spots around 2 p.m. (for the 6 p.m. parade), we still were no where near the front of the line! This is serious business, people!

Many Houston favorites were spotted along the road such as Adam Everett, a former Astros player...

Bill Brown, Astros current television announcer...

and Larry Dierker, former Astros player and manager!

Even Jeff Foxworthy was spotted along Main Street! 

Lots of fans filled the Main Street of Cooperstown...it was estimated around 20,000 fans were in attendance to catch a glimpse of their favorite baseball legend!

The wait for the parade didn't seem terribly long as we mingled with fellow Astros fans around us!

Thankfully, we were somewhat near the announcer, so we could hear what was going on during the parade! My best tips for the parade are to arrive early, stake out your seats early, and stand somewhere near the flag pole on Main Street so you can hear the announcer!

Tom Gage (JG Spink Award Winner) and Dick Engberg (Ford C Frick Award Winner) were there - each of them were honored at the awards ceremony that afternoon!

"Casey at the Bat" even managed to mosey his way into Cooperstown!

This is where my baseball fan heart completely geeked out....

Hank. Aaron. Y'all...we were literally steps away from Hank Aaron. I die.

Frank Robinson

Johnny Bench

Texans fans were happy to see Nolan Ryan!

Ozzie Smith

Wade Boggs

Cal Ripken Jr

Greg Maddux

Frank Thomas

Joe Torre

The highlight of the entire parade for me...B-G-O! Craig Biggio

The sea of orange and navy was exciting to see!

Randy Johnson

Pedro Martinez

John Smoltz

In total, I read that 44 baseball legends rode in the parade that afternoon. As we said goodbye to Cooperstown for another day, I felt like a kid all over again.

This place just has a way of doing that to you.

Stay tuned for the 4th and final installment of my Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Weekend recap!

The Baseball Hall of Fame

Continuing with the Cooperstown/Baseball Hall of Fame series I began last week, part two takes off with the Baseball Hall of Fame itself!

• Cooperstown - Getting There
• The Baseball Hall of Fame
• Awards Ceremony/The Parade of Legends
• Induction Ceremony

Craig Biggio said, "It's not easy to get to Cooperstown, but once you do, it's like Candyland!" 

For a lifetime baseball fan who took in the entire experience with wide-eyes, I'd say that's true!

Everything about Cooperstown resonates baseball, with the Baseball Hall of Fame located right along Main Street.

When you enter the Baseball Hall of Fame, you are greeted with several options. In my opinion, here's how a first timers tour should begin:

•  First, take the stairs to the second floor theater and watch the movie on the history of baseball. It's a cute little film and everyone sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at the end. It's a great way to start your day at the Hall.
• After the movie, begin your tour on the second floor near the theater exit. This floor covers everything from baseball's early beginnings to baseball legends, the negro leagues, and women in baseball.
• Next, make your way up to the third floor for a tour of the history of baseball's "sacred grounds", the ballparks.
• Finally, the first floor holds the plaque gallery where you can find every person ever inducted into the hall of fame.
• Oh yes, and don't forget to swing by the gift shop on your way out...you'll definitely want a souvenir to remember your time by! 

 Where it all began...

Two areas of the Baseball Hall of Fame really touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes. The first was the overall story of Babe Ruth. Oh how he loved the game...and he passed away from cancer. Did you know that his body was kept for viewing at the original Yankee Stadium rotunda until midnight and fans waited for hours outside in the rain simply to pay their respects? Listening to his farewell to baseball speech overhead, his voice severely affected by cancer.....y'all. I lost it.

 
This photo won a Pulitzer Prize!

This bat has 28 notches around the Louisville Slugger brand tag, each notch representing a home run!

 

Here's Mickey Mantle's locker, straight out of the old Yankee Stadium!

My favorite area by far was the Women in Baseball section! This area reviewed everything from the All American Girls Professional Baseball League to the Gold Medal Team USA Women's Softball Team!

I overheard someone humming "Oh we're the members of the All American League..." which instantly brought a smile to my face!

Another story that really touched my heart was that of the great Hank Aaron. I had NO idea that this man put up with so much pure hatred during his career. Samples of hate mail were on display and I can't even repeat the things that people wrote to him...literal death threats, racist remarks...y'all, seriously those people should be ashamed of themselves.

As much as I was repulsed by the horrible things I read, I was glad that the Hall also included samples of "good" mail that Hank received. Actually, the one on display made tears flow freely down my face as I read the words written from a man to his childhood hero. The letter spoke of the impact that Hank Aaron made on the writer's life as a kid. Growing up, he married and eventually adopted a son who he named after his father and his childhood hero. Had I been home alone while reading that letter, I seriously think I would have sobbed. Knowing that someone else's life touched another person's in the manner that Hanks did just overwhelms me. I love hearing positive stories with good outcomes such as that one.

After ALL that Hank Aaron endured, he made a profound statement that blows my mind...he said he not only wants to be remembered as a great baseball player, but as an even better human being. That's pretty incredible.

Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's home run record! 

Throughout the remainder of the second floor, you'll find various pieces of baseball history from Don Larson's perfect World Series game (the only one to date)...

...to a ball from the 1919 World Series where Shoeless Joe Jackson received his nickname! 

Nolan Ryan gear

The black bat pictured here was used by Cal Ripken Jr. in 2001 where he became the oldest player (at age 40) to ever hit a home run in the All-Star game! 

History of the World Series.

The Hall even has a sample of the letter written by the Mayo Clinic to the Yankees, alerting them of Lou Gehrig's unfortunate diagnosis of ALS.

As mentioned earlier, the third floor of the Baseball Hall of Fame includes an entire section dedicated to the ballparks.

You'll even find pieces and parts of old stadiums that have since been demolished! 

After a tour of the third floor, we moseyed on down to the first floor to check out the plaque gallery.

On the way there, we spotted a section dedicated to our favorite new hall of famer, Craig Biggio!

Onto the Gallery!

This room is filled with plaques representing 244 players, 23 managers, 10 umpires, and 33 baseball pioneers!
 

The First class ever inducted into the Hall of Fame is by far the coolest in my opinion (Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, and Honus Wagner)!

Oh yes, and this class of 2015 is pretty cool, too!

I can't say enough great things about the Baseball Hall of Fame. If you're a fan of the sport, you'll love it here!!

I also can't emphasize enough how important it is to arrive for the Baseball Hall of Fame induction weekend a few days early! You see how empty most of my pictures were above? Well, that's because the crowds hadn't jumped to insane proportions yet! See this line in this picture above? That was Sunday's line to enter the Hall of Fame (on induction day). It was at least 45 minutes long. We are Hall of Fame members, so we had the opportunity to stand in a much shorter line but still...CRAZY!

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying these recaps of our fun weekend in Cooperstown! I'm enjoying re-living the fun times we shared as a family! :)

How are you with large crowds? Take it or leave it?