The Trek to Mecca

I made my way over to Cooperstown, NY this morning to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum. And there is a bit of a distinction there. I'd heard my Dad say that when he visited the hall some 30 years ago, his reaction was, "This is IT???" Apparently they've done a good job building the number & quality of exhibits in the museum portion of the edifice. And I certainly didn't come away wondering if "this was it." Rather, I began to boggle my mind trying to fathom the amount of money in the form of baseball memorabilia is stored in that place. From bats, balls, & uniforms to EVERY World Series Championship ring, there's some money in that place.

Also, in the museum portion of the structure they do well to recognize Pete Rose & his accomplishments. They have one of his jerseys, and he is recognized as the all-time hits king. He's just not celebrated with a plaque in the Hall. And I think that that's an appropriate way to deal with the quagmire he created for himself.

I spent about 3 hours at the Hall, making my way through each & every section. They start from the beginnings of baseball & go all the way through to present day happenings. They have one section dedicated just to Babe Ruth. And another section over, they have a section dedicated to segregation & the Negro Leagues. They even have copies of hate-mail that was sent to Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron, filled with insults & peppered with "n***er boy" references. On the third floor of the museum, they have a whole section dedicated to the all-time stats leaders. On one wall, they have a dedication to all the no-hitters ever thrown. And within that section, there is recognition of Nolan Ryan's 7 no-no's. And I didn't even know that he had 5 other no-hit bids broken up in the 9th inning. Amazing...

The Hall of Fame itself is sort of bland. Its just a bunch of plaques. But I made a point to spend time in front of the ones that meant something to me: Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle (my Dad's boyhood hero), and Wade Boggs (my boyhood hero).

Of course there's plenty of ways to waste money. The Hall has a bookstore & a memorabilia store with all kinds of things. I was even looking at a Wade Boggs HOF jersey until I saw the price tag -- $300.

Once I got there, I was happy that I came on a Sunday. The Hall is near the middle of town, and it does NOT have its own parking. You can only park on the street for two hours at a time EXCEPT on Sunday -- so I was able to park near the Hall for free as long as I wanted. If you want to park longer than 2 hours Monday through Saturday, you have to go about a half of a mile away and pay ten bucks to park. Ridiculous, I say! If you're going to have a Hall of Fame, don't fleece the fan. It's already in the middle of nowhere so that most of the nation has to pay good money to get up there. They charge an exorbitant amount of money for a museum entrance fee. OUTRAGEOUS that you have to pay for parking at the Hall of Fame...

Not only that, but hotel prices in Cooperstown are outrageous. About $200 for a two-star hotel. NO thank you. I'm a couple hours away in a town called Kingston. I drove through Catskill State Park to get here -- a very nice, scenic drive.

To the tab...

Gas
$38.50 @ $4.19/gal.

Lunch at McDonald's
$4.80-something

(Man am I sick of fast-food)

Ticket into the Hall of Fame
$16.50

Taco Salad at Taco Bell
$4.50ish

Starbucks Tea
$4.54

(I got two. Man have I missed my tea. Maybe its more British than it is American, but I say baseball parks should sell tea!)

Courtyard by Marriott in Kingston, NY
$59.99

(ATTN Cooperstown Best Western & Holiday Inn Express: Go stick it! $220 for a room?! You didn't get my business)

Assorted Tolls along Mass Pike
$2.00ish

So the Pilgrimage Tab now stands at $1,341.31

And the Pilgrimage Odometer is at about 2,030 miles.

Tomorrow, I get to see a day game at Yankee Stadium. Royals @ Yanks. Since I've never been to NYC, I'm nervous. I'll admit it. I certainly won't be wearing any Red Sox regalia, I can tell you that. ;)