Ballston Spa, NY to Cooperstown, NY (Hwy 67 to Amsterdam, Hwy 5 to Nelliston, Hwy 80 to Cooperstown)
Avoiding the Albany, NY, metropolitan our path veers southwest through rural New York. The road weaves up, down and around across the Mohawk Valley in waves of rolling hills that separate the Adirondack Mountains to the north from the Catskill Mountains to the south.
Fall colors are beginning to decorate the forests that blanket the landscape.
At the southern edge of Otwego Lake lies the town of Cooperstown. William Cooper founded the village of Cooperstown in 1786, originally named Otwego after the lake but changed to Cooperstown in 1812. His son, James Fennimore Cooper, grew up in the frontier town and later became a noted novelist who wrote tales of the frontier, including “The Last of the Mohicans.” The small village, home to less than 2,000 yearlong residents, hosts a short main street lined with historic buildings just south of the lakeshore where a small marina shelters pleasure craft.
But today there is no mistaking that the main business of Cooperstown is tourism and the name of the game is baseball! Legend has it that Abner Doubleday invented the game of baseball in 1839 in Cooperstown and the rest, as they say, is history. However, in this case, history is based on a scam!
The legend of Abner Doubleday was actually invented in 1905 by Albert Spalding, a businessman who specialized in sports equipment. He decided to “prove” that baseball was an American original and found a man who provided written testimony that he had first-hand knowledge of that day in Cooperstown when Abner Doubleday allegedly invented baseball and even had a purported “first” baseball. How do I know this? Because I read about it inside the heart and soul of present day Cooperstown, The National Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame.
National Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame
Virtually every business along the main street of Cooperstown is associated with baseball tourism in one way or another and the center of that focus is the National Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame. Spread across three floors the museum displays the history of baseball in the United States in a complete and fascinating display, even for someone like me who is not particularly a fan of baseball but clearly a mesmerizing experience for the rest of the crowd who clearly were more devoted fans than I. One enters and is sent up to the second floor where the entrance to galleries is a walk through a baseball locker room with one locker devoted to each major league ball team and decorated with artifacts from significant moments in their past.
For example, the New York Yankee locker contains the jersey that Alex Rodriguez wore on May 21, 2012, when he hit his 500th double.
Once in the museum proper the displays evolve in somewhat of a chronological order, documenting the rise of baseball from roots in the 1800’s to its self-described present day status as America’s pastime. Baseball teams are called clubs because in the mid-1800’s teams actually were clubs, groups of young men who had clubhouses, charged dues and threw parties. The clubs evolved, developed uniforms, fixed rosters and devoted fan bases. After the Civil War baseball began to spread across the nation. This display documents the history of the Baraboo, Wisconsin, baseball club, including an original 1866 jersey.
A large alcove is devoted to Babe Ruth, an iconic figure in the first half of 20th Century baseball.
The actual locker that Babe Ruth used in Yankee Stadium during his last season in baseball is on display and contains various artifacts used by the Babe during his career.
The museum goes on and on for two floors as it develops the evolution of baseball, including areas that emphasize contributions of African-Americans and women.
Many cases hold memorabilia from significant milestones in baseball’s history. This case contains artifacts used by players who hit 500 home runs, including the bat that Mickey Mantle used when he hit his 500th home run and the ball that Jim Thome hit for his 500th homerun. It also has an actual ticket stub from Cleveland’s League Stadium dated August 11, 1929, when Babe Ruth became the first major league player to hit 500 home runs.
Another case contains memorabilia from the great pitcher, Cy Young. It includes his glove and the actual ball that he used on July 19, 1910, when he beat Washington for his 500th career win.
Team mascots even have their moment in the spotlight. In 1974 the San Diego Chicken (starting out as an advertising gimmick for a chicken restaurant) debuted the presence of a fuzzy mascot.
There are many, many more displays but I can’t print pictures of them all! After viewing the two floors of galleries the visitor descends to the first floor to pay one’s respects in the ‘Holy of Holies”, the Baseball Hall of Fame. A stunning architectural masterpiece, the atmosphere is similar to that of a cathedral and visitors, if they talk at all, do so in quiet whispers. Black marble pillars reach towards a towering ceiling and the hall ends in a dome lit by a skylight above baseball’s greats.
The hall is lined with bronze plaques that memorialize each member of baseball’s Hall of Fame.
The Baseball Hall of Fame was founded in 1939 and just behind the museum is Doubleday Field, built at the same time by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
Cooperstown is in the middle of central New York, a rolling land creased by waves of tree-lad hills and small farms. Just outside of Cooperstown is Fly Creek, home to another New York icon, Fly Creek Cider Mill.
Fly Creek Cider Mill
John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, was a pioneer who roamed the interior of Ohio, Pennsylvania and western New York planting apple nurseries in the early 1800’s. Apples flourished throughout the area, including the Fly Creek Valley of central New York, and in 1856 Hosea Williams built the Fly Creek Cider Mill on the banks of Fly Creek. He later added a wood-working shop to enable year-round utilization of the water wheel. Today the Fly Creek Cider Mill is a big draw for visitors, even in the middle of the week in early October the parking lot is full and a large over-flow parking lot across the road is half full.
Today the business not only makes various kinds of apple cider but also many other food items. The building houses an apple press, powered by a water wheel and used since the early 1900’s. The press runs for visitors on the weekends in the fall but, since I was here mid-week, the press was silent.
A history of the evolution of apple peelers/corers lines a wall.
The main area is a store, full of delicious samples…
An interesting (and tasty) little stop in central New York. A plug for them – you can also buy their products online.
Next up: Gentlemen, start your engines…
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