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| Getting ready to watch the Ponies Rumble! |
And on the 8th day God created baseball...……………..OK so that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but walking through the turnstiles at a major or minor league ball park and the nuttiness of the world seems to take a backseat for a few hours. Whoever said "nothing soothes the soul like the church of baseball" was on to something. Baseball has been something that we as a family have enjoyed through the years. Whether it was a Rangers game in Texas, or a baseball road trip, we made some great memories. We still enjoy trips to the ballpark together when we get the opportunity.
It wasn't the entire family, but a week ago Ben and I did an abbreviated baseball road trip. This one was unlike any of the others. Yes, there was a baseball game, but the highlight of this little adventure was a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.
Ben was in Denver and I was in Florida so we met in Albany, NY. Albany is the capital of the state of New York. We didn't spend much time in the city but what we did see looked pretty nice. I'm always amazed at how nice so many of the smaller cities and towns are up north during the summer months. There are tons of colorful flowers, grass that is as green as green can be and huge trees covered with leaves. It's beautiful but it can also be deceiving, because as nice as it looks during the summer I think it can be equally brutal during the winter.
Our first destination was the city of Binghamton, NY to catch a game between the Binghamton Rumble Ponies and the Hartford Yard Goats. First, you gotta love the names of some of the minor league teams. Binghamton is a city of around 50,000 that is located where the Chenango River merges with the Susquehanna River. It is famous for the carousels that can still be found in numerous parks in the area. Years back the horses on the carousels were known as Rumble Ponies, hence the team name. There's a little more on the history of the carousels in the link below.
http://www.binghamton-ny.gov/carousels
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| Along the river walk in downtown Binghamton on a rainy morning. |
The Hartford Yard Goats got their name from a "name the team" contest that drew over 6,000 submissions. The switch engines found in railroad yards are nicknamed "Yard Goats". The team logo has a goat chomping on a baseball, not train engine, Confusing, yes, but it's still a cool team name.
Binghamton was a little over a two hour drive from Albany. Even though the drive was mostly along I-88 it was still a very scenic drive through green, rolling foothills. Along the way we stopped for lunch. We saw a sign for a bbq restaurant in a small town and curiosity got the best of us, so we decided to give it a try. BBQ and NY are not necessarily words that I associate with one another but it was actually pretty darn good. So if you ever find yourself in or around Oneonta, New York and are craving BBQ give Brooks House of BBQ a try.
http://www.brooksbbq.com
We were excited about the Rumble Ponies game for two reasons. First, they are the Class AA affiliate of the New York Mets and they have on their team the most famous player in the minor leagues, Tim Tebow. Unfortunately he broke a bone in his wrist about a week before we were there so he didn't play. Second, we learned a few weeks before our trip that a young man named Josh Allen also played for the Rumble Ponies. Josh is the nephew of my brothers second wife, Kim. Unfortunately Kim passed away in 2004 but her family and my brother have remained close through the years. I had probably met him when he was very young and it was nice to be able to say hello to him and have a chance to watch him play. It was actually a double header that night so we got in two games. It was also dollar hot dog night so it was an exceptionally good day.
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| Josh Allen |
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| Even though Timmy was on the disabled list his T-Shirts were readily available |
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| NYSEG Stadium-Home of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies |
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| Could that be Tebow? |
The next day we drove about half way back to Albany by way of some really scenic back roads to the Village of Cooperstown, the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Cooperstown is about as close to an idyllic small town as there could be anywhere on the planet. As my good friend Steve Liverani accurately described it, "it's straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting". As you would expect, there is a heavy dose of baseball everywhere from Doubleday Field, baseball themed restaurants, souvenir shops and of course the actual Hall of Fame. Ben, who has never met a piece of memorabilia or a souvenir that he didn't like was walking around with a glazed look and kept mumbling "there's so much stuff here". That was before we even made it to the Hall of Fame.
Ben and I would both probably be considered a little more than casual baseball fans so we loved the Hall of Fame. It's a three story building with numerous displays and artifacts on the top two floors. The bottom floor (it's suggested you save this for last) is the Plaque Gallery. It features a plaque honoring all 323 members of the Hall of Fame. If you're keeping score...….. 226 of the members are former major league players, 35 played in the Negro League, 22 managers, 10 umpires and 30 pioneers, executives and organizers.
From what we read most people spend around 3-4 hours touring the Hall of Fame. Our visit was closer to six hours of pure bliss. It was a quick trip but it sure was a great one.
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| Doubleday Field is located just off Main Street in Cooperstown |
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| Doubleday Field |
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| Getting ready to dive into the Hall of Fame |
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| One of the hundreds of displays inside the Hall of Fame |
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The First Class of Inductees into the Hall of Fame
Christy Mathewson (Top Left)
Babe Ruth (Bottom Left)
Ty Cobb (Center)
Honus Wagner (Top Right)
Walter Johnson (Bottom Right)
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That ball is leaving the yard!
James Martin...…...Future Hall of Fame Member, Class of 20??
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