The Baseball Part of Our Cooperstown Trip

 

In  my post yesterday I told you all about the "Bed & Brew" portion of our weekend in Cooperstown, so now it's time to talk about the Baseball part of the trip, as evidenced by the photo you see above.  First, however, let me tell you about how we took in the Pirates Opening Day game against the Marlins in Miami.

We had decided that we would break up our trip to Cooperstown by stopping and staying over in Ellicottville,  NY on Thursday.  It is a lovely little resort town that caters primarily to skiers.  There was still snow on the slopes and we did see some people skiing.  We found this place...

...and settled in for a late lunch, sampled a flight of local brews, and set up our laptop, streamed Sports Net Pittsburgh via FUBO-TV, and watched Paul Skenes handle the Marlins in the manner to which we became accustomed last season.

We made our own sports bar!

We stuck it out at the Ellicottville Brewing Co. until Derek Shelton, in his infinite managerial wisdom, removed Skenes in the sixth inning.  We then went back to the hotel to watch the rest of the game and see the Pirates blow a 4-1 lead and the Marlins walk it off in the bottom of the ninth.  It was a game that was perfect microcosm of the lousy last half of the '24 season, a season that should have gotten Sheltie and most of his bosses fired. However, we will leave the state of the Buccos for another day.

On Friday we arrived in Cooperstown and spent the afternoon visiting the Hall of Fame gift shop, have lunch at a local restaurant, and visited many of the charming little shops that line Cooperstown's Main Street.

This is the card shop where Pete Rose would set up shop every year during Induction Week and hawk his autograph and cheesey "Hit King" merchandise. The guy who owned the store spoke reverently of Rose and how much he will be missed.  I referred to the place as "Pete Rose's Whore House".

We also stopped by Doubleday Field (the place was padlocked so you couldn't go in and sit in the stands), and I paid a visit to the paver stone that I purchased there many years ago,

On Saturday we made our visit to the HOF itself.  First time visitor Linda really enjoyed touring the place. I enjoyed it as well, as I always have,  Here are some random thoughts and photos from our visit.

I found it curious that in the locker that represented the current day Pirates it highlighted two pieces of memorabilia of ex-Buccos John Jaso and Aroldis Chapman.  Couldn't they have done better than that?

It also showcased the cap that Paul Skenes wore when he started the All-Star Game last year, and the players wore those god-awful generic uniforms and caps.

I also noticed a couple of cool things.  In the HOF Gallery, where the plaques are displayed (it feels like you're walking into the Vatican), the plaques are arranged in various nooks grouped by the years of induction.  For example, 1941-1945 or 1993-1996 and so on.  Anyway, one such nook, and I can't tell you the exact years, includes the plaques of Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, and Willie Mays.  That, my friends, is a mighty exclusive neighborhood.  And in a case of absolute serendipity for Yankees fans, the plaques of Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter hang right next teach other.

Ever since I first visited Cooperstown and the Hall of Fame back in 1976 I have loved the place and have always looked forward to coming again at some point in the future.  Now, at 73, I have to wonder if this visit might have been my last.   Mind you, it's not like I'm planning on checking out any time soon, but Cooperstown is a long way away, and seven hours of driving is a lot harder than it used to be.  Whatever the case may be, I have wonderful memories of the place from seven visits over forty-nine years that I will always cherish,  Everybody should visit Cooperstown if they ever get the chance.

I'll close now with a few more photos from our visit to the Museum.

Johnny Mathis

 

I felt bad when I read this week that singer Johnny Mathis announced that he was retiring from touring and performing at the age of 89 due to "age and memory issues".

I have been fortunate enough to see Mathis perform live twice in my life, most recently in 2012 at Heinz Hall with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. (You can read about that HERE.)  Nobody could deliver a love song like Johnny Mathis!

Mathis has been performing since 1956, almost SEVENTY YEARS, and he is entitled to call it quits on his terms.  However, when someone loves his work, as Johnny Mathis so obviously did, it is sad to see that he is doing so for the reasons stated.  Let us all wish that Mathis spends the rest of his years in peace and comfort.

Of course, there are dozens and dozens of Johnny Mathis songs that I could include in this post as a tribute to him. Here is a FILM CLIP from the terrific 1978 movie "Same Time Next Year" starring Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn. Mathis, along with Jane Olivor, sung this song, "The Last Time I Felt Like This", over the titles and throughout the movie.  Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, it is a terrific song, and Mathis made it even better.  It is also a movie that I highly recommend.