Month: June 2012

My Trip to Cooperstown: Part 1

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — The last time I was at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum I was all of about seven years old. I don’t remember anything except Doubleday Field — and even that is a cloudy recollection.

This weekend, I’ve at last returned to a place that has been on my list of things to do since I started following baseball when I was eight or nine. Like that last visit, I’m here with my Dad and brother — all of us more than 30 years older. In fact, the reason for this visit is to celebrate my Dad’s 80th birthday (which occured in February, an inhospitable time to visit upstate New York) and have a fun, guys-only roadtrip* along with my two brothers in law.

*A word of advice for anyone making the haul from Detroit to Cooperstown: stamina. We left my parents’ house in St. Clair Shores at 10 a.m. and pulled into our hotel at 10:15 p.m. We thought we were saving time cutting across Canada from Sarnia to Niagara Falls. Ha. Two hours of our journey were spent idling on bridges into and out of Canada. I will say this about the roads in Ontario: they’re immaculate. Nary a pothole or bump along the way. And the service plazas!

Our plan is to spend two days here and that’s going to be a end up being wise. After several hours at the Hall I think I’ve seen about 10 percent of the exhibits, displays and artifacts. Granted, I’m spending lots of time looking at everything they’ve got, especially if it’s Tigers related. Speaking of which, I’ve been posting photos of Tigers artifacts on my other site, TigersHistory.com. I haven’t uploaded everything yet, but it’s coming.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about the volume of Yankees and Red Sox everything in the Hall, but for crying out loud. The artifacts and displays seem to lean heavily toward the northeast (in order: Yankees, Red Sox, New York Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers) with a good chunk of Cubs and Cardinals stuff. After that it’s a smattering of Tigers, Indians, White Sox and Pirates history. Want a Tigers hat or shirt? Good luck finding one — at least in the Hall gift shops. God forbid you’re a fan of any team West of the Mississippi (excluding the Dodgers, Cardinals and Giants) … or any team that entered the league after 1969.

But I didn’t come here to see and learn about Tigers history. I came to immerse myself in baseball history and, as hokey as it might sound, there’s no better place than Cooperstown. It’s not just the Hall and Museum; it’s the shops up and down Main Street that are filled with baseball books, memorabilia, bats, art and other goodies. And the people are so friendly. Well, except for the guy in the red Yukon.

It’s an incredible experience — and I’ve got about 90 percent still left to see.

Top-5 Magglio Memories

I’ll admit it: I wasn’t the biggest Magglio Ordonez fan in 2006. After an injury-riddled debut season with the Tigers in 2005, I was ready to see the Ordonez that seemed to crush Detroit at every opportunity while with the White Sox.

But he just didn’t seem to deliver as often as I expected him to, and I don’t remember if it was based on gut feeling or cold-hard stats.

Whatever. When he stepped to the plate in the ninth inning of the 2006 ALCS, I didn’t expect him to come through. And from that point on I shut my mouth about Magglio Ordonez.

Here’s my Magglio Top Five list:

  1. 2006 ALCS Homer. Of course.

     

  2. 2007 Batting Title. After the Tigers faded in the standings Magglio’s march to a league-leading .363 average was all we had – and fun to watch.

     

  3. 2011 ALDS Performance. With good reason, people scoff at the term “professional hitter”, but how else can you describe what Magglio did against the Yankees? He hit .455 (5 for 11) and a 1.045 OPS.

     

  4. 2005 Return Homer off Randy Johnson. On July 1 Maggs returned from an extended stay on the DL thanks to a sports hernia – and we worried about his creaky knee – and went yard to deep left center off Johnson. The season was a loss at that point; the Tigers were 37-39 and 15 games behind the White Sox. But oh the long-term possibilities with Ordonez in the Tigers lineup. He finished that year at .302 with five homers.

     

  5. February 7, 2005. The day the Tigers signed him was another step toward making baseball relevant again in Detroit.

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That’s my list. What’s yours?

For a broader look at Magglio’s career, checkout this excellent piece by Chris Jaffe in The Hardball Times.