In a land far far away, named Cooperstown

Sorry for the absence of posts the past few days, as it is registration time for the next semester of school (Yay, more school!). I've tried to put together a fun post in honor of my weekend trip up to Cooperstown, New York to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. It had been close to 10 years since my last trip up to the holy land, and this visit did not disappoint. After a tumultuous 5 hour bus ride, we arrived to 3 floors of pure heaven. The NBHOFAM, was opened in June of 1939, and has 295 baseball related personalities inducted into its glory. Baseball has been around for over 150 years, and as you can imagine there is quite a bit of history behind it. The museum displays game used items, such as jerseys, caps, cleats, balls, bats, warm up attire, lineup cards, and trophies. Additionally, it houses multiple lockers of notable players such as Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, and Hank Aaron. There were some new additions since my last visit, such as the Viva Baseball! area, which has interactive video displays featuring such players as Alex Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero incorporating baseball in the Caribbean. There was also a women in baseball section, which featured some artifacts and history from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which was featured in the 1992 film A League of Their Own. The beauty of this museum is that it incorporates everything that represents baseball; MLB, Negro Leagues, AAGPBL, minor leagues, and international baseball. It truly is an interactive history book of sorts, as you can experience hands on learning in its most effective form. The Museum plays host to over 350,000 visitors a year, which truly is amazing if you haven't ever been there. Why you ask? Because the town is TINY. From June to August the town must be packed, let alone induction weekend. The museum only displays a relatively small amount of "the goods", as it has additional storage areas, which houses over 35,000 pieces in the collection. For a mere 20 bucks, you can really treat yourself to a weekend retreat of some interesting history, an authentic experience of Americas pastime, and a quaint little town in upstate New York with a beautiful lakeside view in the summer. The cap above, which was purchased this weekend, features the Hall of Fame's logo on the front, and the words 'Cooperstown, N.Y." on the rear. A clean cap, which represents so much more than words. It represents a century and a half plus worth of history, and the hard work that the sports founding fathers exuded during the dark days of wooden stadiums and dead balls. The official website of the hall is http://baseballhall.org/ where additional info, and the cap can be found. If you live in America, and you love baseball as I assume you do, do yourself a favor and take a trip to Cooperstown, New York. You won't regret it.