This past August I took a much needed vacation to Cooperstown, New York to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame. I had previously visited Cooperstown in 2000 and 2001 when I was 11 and 12 years old, far too young to truly appreciate the awesomeness of the Hall of Fame. Needless to say, I was excited to return as an even bigger fan of the game of baseball. Cooperstown is an amazing place and is a must-see for all baseball fans. However, as an Indians fan, the trip can be a little disappointing for a number of reasons.
First, the Hall of Fame Museum itself. Since I last visited in 2000 & 2001, the museum has undergone renovations and significant reorganization which turns the focus of the museum on the timeline of baseball. It begins with a very interesting area devoted to the beginnings of baseball in America in the mid-19th century and ends at present day, with the primary focus throughout being the World Series Champions and the greatest stars in the game’s history. This is an almost criminal over simplification of the contents of the Hall, but I’d rather not go into detail as to every corner of the museum for those who may wish to experience the Hall for themselves.
It was this focus on World Series champions and a select few greats which really upset me as a tribe fan, because as you can guess, the Indians, with only two World Series victories and very few of the game’s biggest names, are not showcased nearly as much as many other teams. In fact, other than a few pictures of some of the Indians’ early greats, there is really only one display devoted to our Tribe and this is merely a reference to the 1948 and 1954 teams breaking up the Yankee dynasty of the mid-40’s and early 50’s.
The first two times I visited the Hall there was an entire area devoted to individual accomplishments. This area showcased the gold glove winners, members of the 500 HR club, pitchers that have thrown no-hitters, the holders of all major and minor baseball records, etc. Present day, this area is condensed in a manner I found very unappealing. Most of the area is now digital and in order to look up a specific record holder, such as the lowest career WHIP (Addie Joss), you have to stand at one of a handful of touchscreen video boards and sort through the provided for categories while the other Hall visitors wait for you to finish. This was the area I expected to see Lonnie Chisenhall‘s bat from his record-setting game against the Texas Rangers on June 10. Unfortunately, as of August 3, it was nowhere to be found.
The most disappointing aspect of the Hall of Fame for me was the gift shop. If you go to the gift shop expecting to be able to select unique merchandise that is not available in typical Indians team shops like I did, you will be extremely disappointed. While I was walking around the museum I noticed a number of guests wearing shirts of their favorite teams that listed the Hall of Fame members from each team and the year they were inducted. I was particularly interested in buying the Indians’ version of this t-shirt. However, as the summer intern that I asked so snobbishly told me, “they do not carry Indians t-shirts.” I inquired further to find that the Hall only carries merchandise from a few teams each year because they simply do not have enough room for all of the teams (admittedly reasonable, but still infuriating). This left me with very few options to choose from if I wanted Indians’ merchandise, the coolest of which was this 1948 World Series ticket replica (which can be purchased outside the Hall). I’m a big fan of hats, particularly old school ones, so I hoped to find a new hat that I could not purchase at Lids, again to no avail. There were only three styles of Tribe hats to select from (the Brooklyn Dodgers alone had 5 or 6), all of which could be purchased at any corner store in Northeast Ohio. The only team I saw that had fewer options was the Miami Marlins, and I assume that’s because they haven’t had their new logo long enough to develop any variety of styles.
The next area of Cooperstown that disappointed me was the shops on Main Street. For those that have not visited and are not familiar with Cooperstown, it’s a small town with shops lined down one street of the town, the vast majority being baseball memorabilia shops. This is heaven on Earth for memorabilia and merchandise collectors. You can purchase just about anything you want at these shops, autographed balls, pictures, cards, game-used bats, jerseys, shirts, old game programs, locks of Mickey Mantle‘s hair (probably). Anything related to baseball can be purchased at these shops, unless of course you are looking for Indians merchandise. I was able to buy a Bob Feller T-Shirt jersey, or Shirsey as some call it, but there was not much else to choose from. This is New York, so as you can imagine Yankees and Mets gear covers the town. The Cardinals, Red Sox, Phillies, Dodgers, Giants, and Tigers are all heavily represented as well. This leaves more than 2/3 of the MLB out of most stores’ inventory.
I understand that Cooperstown is a small town that lives off its baseball merchandise sales, but the sheer amount of Yankees, Mets, and Red Sox merchandise in the city was nauseating. It certainly makes sense from a business standpoint that these shops carry only the most popular teams, as those are the ones that will bring in the most revenue. But the Indians after all are the seventh winningest team in MLB history, with a .509 winning percentage. No the Tribe doesn’t have any of the big-time names that can compare to the star power of Babe Ruth, Ted Williams or Mike Trout, but they deserve much more respect than they received. I guess this is the price you pay being a fan of a small market team that hasn’t won a World Series since 1948.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Cooperstown is an awesome place to visit for baseball fans. You can spend three or four days there and still not see everything the town has to offer. For those that are interested in the history of the game, you will absolutely love the Hall exhibits. Perhaps it’s the baseball nerd in me, but there are few things in life cooler than having just a few inches of glass separate you from Babe Ruth’s jersey.
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