By Craig Muder

Paul Pettit leaned forward in his chair and smiled. After a baseball career that seemed destined for greatness from the start, he had finally made it to Cooperstown.

"I guess I got in through the back door," said the man acknowledged as the first $100,000 bonus baby in big league history. "Not bad for a guy with one win."

The 78-year-old Pettit visited the Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday and recounted his career as part of an ongoing oral history project at the Museum. In town with his grandsons - who are playing in a local baseball tournament - Pettit shared his career story with Hall of Fame cameras, then toured the Museum.

It was not his first brush with fame.

In 1950, Pettit signed a contract worth the then-otherworldly sum of $100,000 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound left-handed pitcher had struck out 945 batters in 545 innings of amateur ball from 1947-49 - including six no-hitters - and was considered a can't-miss prospect.

"I felt like I was ready (in 1951) when the Pirates brought me up," said Pettit, who - by rule - had to be placed on the major league roster that season. "But I had hurt my arm, and it never really responded."

Pettit pitched in just two games in 1951, then went 15-8 with a 3.70 earned-run average for Hollywood in the offensively charged Pacific Coast League in 1952. The next year, Pettit appeared in 10 games with the Pirates, going 1-2.

He would never return to the big leagues, despite changing his focus from pitching to hitting and posting 102 RBI with Hollywood in 1957.

"I thought I could help the Pirates at that point, but they never called me up," Pettit said.

He retired following the 1960 PCL season.

"I think if I had known that I wouldn't have made it as a hitter that I would have tried to stay a pitcher for a little longer," said Pettit, who remains at 78 a robust figure with a keen memory. "I wish they had some of the surgeries then that they do now so they could have worked on my arm.

"But I loved baseball. I was just a regular guy who worked hard."

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Julie Wilson

A Girl Scout is Honest: Girl Scouts never steal… unless they are on base during a baseball game. Lou Brock made a career out of stolen bases. How many bases did Brock steak in his career?

After a tour through the Baseball Hall of Fame, a girl scout should be able to tell you the answer to this question, and other questions that connect baseball to the most fundamental tenets of scouting.

Thanks to the efforts of the local scouting officials, the Girl Scout Discovery Tour now joins the Hall of Fame’s Boy Scout Discovery Tour as a permanent fixture for visiting troops, as well as individual scouts that travel to Cooperstown with their family. Originally conceptualized by Gail Sacchi, a Cooperstown troop leader, and her daughter Lisa Maticic, a lifelong scout, the patch is now available through the Girl Scouts of NYPENN Pathways.

Troop 286 from Cooperstown, N.Y., worked with the Hall of Fame’s Education team to design the tour, and became the first troop to earn the patch during a trip to the Museum this past May. The Cooperstown Scouts traveled around the Museum searching for answers to questions about courage, loyalty, kindness and other virtues exemplified by those involved in Scouting.

Sacchi spoke highly of her troop’s experience saying that “all of the girls had a great time at the Hall of Fame” and expressed her feelings of pride that the girls (then 4th graders) were “the first troop to earn the award.”

Although many of the Cooperstown Girl Scouts were repeat visitors to the Hall of Fame, they had to work hard to find the answers to each question. The Girl Scout Discovery Tour is designed to help a scout look at an exhibit or an artifact in a different way and discover something that they may not have otherwise learned if they had just breezed through the exhibit space.

This is such an important opportunity to provide to young girls who are passionate about scouting, baseball and American history, and is another great way for young fans to connect to the game. We look forward to seeing many scouts follow in the footsteps of Cooperstown Troop 286.

Julie Wilson is the manager of school programming for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Brad Horn

New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan was very happy Wednesday after his team's morning practice in Cortland, N.Y. Ryan's sunny disposition could have been the result of the Jets' play on the football field, but Ryan was also thrilled to receive a special artifact from the home of baseball in Cooperstown.

Cortland is just 80 miles west of Cooperstown, and I had the chance Wednesday to hand-deliver a specially made green and white, personalized bat – complete with the Hall of Fame logo – to the Jets' head coach, whose team trains for three weeks each summer at the State University of New York's Cortland campus. The bat was a thank-you for his visit – along with several members of the Jets' team, front office and coaching staff – during Training Camp 2009.

My visit was prompted by a last-minute personnel meeting on Aug. 8 of this year, the team's lone off day at Training Camp, after which plans for a return visit to the Hall of Fame had to be canceled.

"Where's my Cooperstown Day?" Ryan asked, thoroughly bummed that he missed the chance to visit Cooperstown and the Museum once again during Training Camp 2010.

With only two days remaining on the Jets' Cortland schedule, Rex's visit may have to wait until 2011. But his desk will have a special Cooperstown treasure throughout the football season to remind him of the great trip through baseball history he and his team shared in 2009.

When Rex first saw his new bat, he noted that it wasn't quite as heavy as the 35-ounce Babe Ruth model he held at the Museum last year.

"It doesn't have notches like the Ruth bat, either," said Ryan, referring to the 28 notches representing home runs Ruth hit with the bat that now resides in Cooperstown.

With that, Ryan slung the bat over his shoulder – looking a little Bambino-esque – as he headed back to his office and toward the 2010 season.

Brad Horn is the senior director of communications and education for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

For baseball fans born between 1960 and 1980, his story was the first you committed to memory.

“The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!”

On Monday, that story ended with the death of Bobby Thomson. But the legend lives forever.

I can still see the pages of my dog-eared copy of the David S. Neft & Richard M. Cohen World Series encyclopedia. A Christmas gift from my parents in 1979, it provided my first taste of the baseball statistics that would one day fill my mind. In that book, each Fall Classic from 1903 through 1978 is preserved – along with season stats from the two Series teams.

But as a bonus, Neft & Cohen provided box scores and play-by-play of season tiebreakers, including the most famous of them all: The 1951 three-game classic between the Giants and the Dodgers.

It was like finding a dollar in the couch cushions – something extra to be devoured. I poured through those box scores over and over, dreaming of becoming Thomson while agonizing over the fate of Ralph Branca.

No matter what the future holds for baseball, the past will always remain king. That time, that city, that moment, that comeback… It was all too perfect – a scene never to be repeated.

The Autumn Glory exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame serves as a monument to Thomson’s pennant-winning homer with an exhibit dedicated to the Oct. 3, 1951 Shot Heard ‘Round the World. Thomson’s bat, cap and spikes from that day are on display, as well as a rosin bag used by Branca. They serve as a reminder of the greatest homer ever struck in major league competition.

The Museum’s Library also contains a copy of that Neft & Cohen chronology, a book that started so many on the path to baseball adoration.

In so many ways, that path began with a home run by Bobby Thomson.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

The two-state drive was longer than any other coast-to-coast flight Jim Tracy will endure as manager of the Colorado Rockies.

But the destination was worth it.

Tracy and a crew from FSN Rocky Mountain made the trip to Cooperstown on Monday - an off day for the Rockies. Following Colorado's 8-4 win over the Pirates in Pittsburgh on Sunday, Tracy and crew jumped in the car at about 6:30 p.m. and drove more than nine hours - construction delays included - through Pennsylvania and New York to Cooperstown, arriving at about 3:30 a.m.

After a short night, Tracy received a tour of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum from Erik Strohl, the Hall's senior director of exhibits and collections. Clad in a golf shirt and jeans, Tracy took his time in the always-crowded Museum - enjoying his moment with history. Fans poured past Tracy, pausing when they saw the FSN cameras but largely unaware their brush with the big leagues.

After his tour, Tracy - a veteran of nine seasons as a big league manager - jumped back in his car and headed for New York City and a Tuesday date with the Mets, another four hours on the highway.

But while he could have made the trip from Pittsburgh to New York in just over an hour via the air, the two-day car trip gave Tracy a chance to experience the game's most historic moments at the Hall of Fame.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

Their baseball careers have taken them coast-to-coast, with a stop at nearly every outpost in between.

But until Wednesday, Greg Booker and Mike Warren had never spent any significant time in Cooperstown.

“I just didn’t know this all existed,” said Warren, the strength and conditioning coach for the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs and the son of former Oakland A’s pitcher of the same name. “I just thought it was the Hall of Fame, not the artifacts or the Library.”

Booker, the Chiefs’ pitching coach and former big leaguer with the Padres and Giants, brought Warren with him to the Hall of Fame Wednesday on a day off for the Chiefs. Booker had been to Cooperstown before as a Padres coach when San Diego played in the Hall of Fame Game in 1997.

“We didn’t get too long to see the Museum that day,” said Booker, who at 6-foot-6 looks every bit the former major league pitcher. “This time, I’m going to get the chance to look around.”

Booker and Warren each had the chance to stop at the Hall of Fame’s A. Bartlett Giamatti Research Center, where they both found files of interest. Booker is one of more than 17,000 men who have played Major League Baseball, and each one has a clippings file at the Hall of Fame.

Warren, meanwhile, had a peek at his father’s file, which documents former right-handed pitcher’s three-year big league career with Oakland from 1983-85.

But Warren also found his father in the Museum itself. On Sept. 29, 1983, the elder Mike Warren no-hit the Chicago White Sox in his final start of the season. A ball from that game is on display in the Museum’s no-hitter exhibit.

“Look, he’s right there next to Nolan,” said Warren, pointing to his dad’s picture adjacent to Nolan Ryan’s – commemorating Ryan’s 1981 no-hitter with the Astros. “Wow, look how young he looks.”

“You look just like him,” Booker told Warren. “It’s easy to see.”

Booker, whose big league career ran from 1983-90, coached with the Padres through 2003 before becoming a scout with the Rockies. But when the chance to return to the field presented itself with the Washington Nationals’ top minor league team in Syracuse, he couldn’t say no.

“I live in Elon, N.C., and we love it down there,” Booker said. “But I thought it was time to get back in the game.

“Coming here, it makes me glad I came to Syracuse (about 90 minutes from Cooperstown). We don’t get many off days, but this one was special.”

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Bill Francis

Joshua O’Reilly was just one of the 10,000 or so fans in attendance at this year’s National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, but his story might be unique. You see, he had to travel half way around the world, all the way from Iraq, to get to Cooperstown.

O’Reilly, who has lived in nearby Schenectady, N.Y., for three years, is currently on active duty in the Navy, in the middle of one-year orders serving in Iraq. The Intelligence Specialist second class was a long way from base when outfielder Andre Dawson, manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey gained entry to the game’s most exclusive club.

After Sunday’s Induction festivities were over, he explained why it was so important for him to be here.

"I got my two weeks R & R and I was deciding whether or not to come home because it's difficult to reintroduce yourself for two weeks to the family and then pull back out because I still have another four months," said O'Reilly only minutes after the Ceremony had ended. "But Dawson has been my favorite player ever since I was a kid."

O’Reilly explained that when he was five his parents divorced. His dad eventually moved to Chicago and would take him to Wrigley Field around the time that Dawson signed with the Chicago Cubs after 11 seasons with the Montreal Expos. The Hawk would win the 1987 National League Most Valuable Player Award that first season in the Windy City, leading the circuit with 49 home runs and 137 RBI.

“It’s one of the earliest memories I have and I love the Hawk,” O’Reilly said. “He was my favorite. I’ve followed him through his career.

“I lived with some friends in Iowa for awhile and they were huge Cardinals fans and the one thing that we shared was our respect and love for Andre Dawson. They drove all the way out from Iowa to be here with me. And my brother came up from Tampa.”

After it was all over, O'Reilly called Dawson's Induction speech "spiritual" and compared it to being in a church.

“It was an absolutely wonderful speech, getting down to the basic fundamentals of what it means to be an American, what it means to be into baseball,” he said. “It fits back into what the American dream actually is, that if you pay attention to detail, if you do things right, you get rewarded in the end. If you love the game, the game will love you back.

“Every generation has to define what it means to be an American and I think he just spoke for what my generation believes. It was fantastic.”

O’Reilly’s trip to the home of baseball is only a short reprieve from a grueling tour of duty, but one that he hopes will recharge his batteries as he’s about halfway through his 350 days in Iraq.

“I started Dec. 22, they gave me two weeks, now I head back Aug. 1 and I’m there until Dec. 8,” O’Reilly said. “I’ve been there for 6 months – seven days straight – 12 hours on, 12 hours off. So this two weeks was the main thing that I’ve been looking forward to, to get that time off and to get to spend it with my friends and my family.

“There’s no way people would have gotten two weeks off back in World War II or in Vietnam to come and do this. But this is going to totally charge me. It’s going to make me a better sailor for the next four months.”

After being stationed in Japan for four years as an electrician, before he switched over to Navy intelligence, O’Reilly returned to Schenectady in 2007 where his affection for the Hall of Fame truly blossomed. In fact, it eventually led to him becoming a participant in the Hall of Fame’s Membership Program.

“Probably my first year back from Japan I did eight trips here. The family hadn’t seen me for four years so everyone kept coming to see me and I would take them to the Hall,” he said. “It was a constant going back and forth between Cooperstown. Actually it was an hour and seven minutes from my front door in Schenectady to the Hall. I had it timed out.”

O’Reilly’s current locale doesn’t allow him to visit the Hall of Fame, but that doesn’t mean the national pastime is ever far from his thoughts.

“Sometimes we get one hour a day of the MLB Network and you plan your schedule around it. It’s a nice escape,” O’Reilly said. “It’s something very simple that people take for granted here, but can make or break your entire two or three days when you get a chance to catch that little glimpse.

“My last summer in Japan I went to 13 baseball games. That was the way I got over my homesickness because every time I stepped inside a ballpark, I felt like I was home. That’s what baseball has been able to provide for me.”

Due to his intelligence work, O’Reilly is not allowed to talk about where he’s stationed in or what his work entails. But when he’s back in Iraq he will take his Cooperstown memories with him.

“This trip has been exactly what I needed,” he said. “There’s vacation and then there’s R & R – which is rest and relaxation - and this is rest and relaxation.”

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Samantha Carr

Winning a World Series is the goal of every major league player from the time they enter the big leagues. Luis Gonzalez not only has a ring, but helped his team in dramatic fashion with a walk-off hit in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the premier closer of his generation, the Yankees' Mariano Rivera.

The 2001 World Series was special because it was the Diamondbacks' first and the first ever to be played in Arizona - but more so because it came two months after the September 11th attacks.

"There was so much going on in the world at that time that baseball was a release for people. Especially being played in New York where the attacks took place. They could forget about all the trouble and enjoy America's Pastime," said Gonzalez, who is in Cooperstown this week coaching his son Jacob's travel team at Cooperstown Dreams Park.

"Gonzo" donated the bat he used from that 2001 game to the Hall of Fame, and it is on display in the Autumn Glory exhibit on the third floor of the Museum.

"It was dramatic, in Game 7 and definitely a memorable World Series," he said.

Gonzalez's team is 5-1 so far this week - and the players visited the Museum on Wednesday after meeting Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson, who gave them a sneak peak at one of the newest Hall acquisitions - the cap Arizona's Edwin Jackson wore during his June 25 no-hitter.

Gonzalez retired in 2009, and he will have his number retired by the Diamondbacks on Aug. 7 - the first player to receive that honor.

"I've been enjoying my time coaching my son and taking the team to Cooperstown," Gonzalez said. "It is great to take them through the Museum so they can dream - just as I did as a kid."

Gonzalez will be eligible for Hall of Fame election in 2014 and with five All-Star appearances, 354 home runs, 596 doubles (15th on the all-time list) and a lifetime .283 batting average over 19 seasons he is likely to get some consideration.

"The Hall of Fame is every kid's dream when you start playing baseball," said Gonzalez. "You just hope that I did as much as I could in the game, that I helped with community service and that I did enough on and off the field."

Samantha Carr is the manager of web and digital media for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

It was his first full day as an inducted Hall of Famer, and Andre Dawson looked relaxed and refreshed in his red polo shirt before Monday’s Legends Series event in Cooperstown.

But Dawson also appeared sorry that the weekend was almost over. The Hawk clearly enjoyed the process as much as the result.

“I really wanted to do this weekend right,” Dawson said. “This is a privilege, and I didn’t want to screw it up.”

Dawson, along with fellow Class of 2010 members Doug Harvey and Whitey Herzog, gave the fans a perfect weekend in Cooperstown – capped off by Monday’s event. The three newest Hall of Famers shared stories and laughs for the crowd in Cooperstown and the MLB Network cameras, which will turn Monday’s show into a program to be broadcast at 2 p.m. Wednesday on the network.

George Grande and Peter Gammons moderated the event, which was followed by the traditional “ring shot” where the newest inductees show off their Hall of Fame rings.

And with that, baseball’s best weekend came to a close.

Memo to the Class of 2011: Cooperstown is calling.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

The gesture was so touching, it was easy to forget that these were two of the toughest umpires ever to don chest protectors.

It was fifteen minutes after Sunday’s Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Cooperstown, and Doug Harvey was headed to the post-induction press conference.

Suddenly, a man came running up behind Harvey, calling “Doug, Doug!”

Enter Joe West, Major League Baseball umpire and former colleague of Harvey.

“I am so happy for you,” said West. And then – with an awe-like respect for the umpire known as “god” – West kissed Harvey’s hand.

A Cooperstown-only moment, to be sure. And there were others.

How about John Fogerty’s appearance at the Hall of Fame? The rock-and-roll legend donated his bat-shaped guitar “Slugger” to the Museum for display Sunday evening. Earlier in the day, Fogerty got to spend time with one of his idols – Hall of Famer Willie Mays – before performing his baseball anthem “Centerfield” live at the Induction Ceremony.

“I don’t even feel like I should be here with these guys,” Fogerty said. “That was Willie Mays!”

For Fogerty – himself a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer – the Cooperstown experience was like that of any baseball fan.

“I felt like I was eight years old all over again.”

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Samantha Carr

There is one voice that lets you know you are in Cooperstown for Hall of Fame Weekend – and it belongs to George Grande.

A crowd of thousands gathered on Main St. in Cooperstown Saturday evening for the first-ever Hall of Fame Parade of Legends. Grande, the retired announcer for the Cincinnati Reds and emcee of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Induction Ceremony announced each Hall of Famer, many with their wives and children, as they waved to fans from the back of Ford pickup trucks on their way to the Museum steps.

Grande’s familiar voice introduced each legend with career statistics, a story from their career and even a personal greeting. As Twins legend Rod Carew was announced, Grande commented that Carew looked like he could still hit .300.

“I wish,” said Carew.

But I wouldn’t bet against the career .328 hitter, who spent 19 years in the big leagues, or any of his Hall of Fame teammates. The new parade format allowed fans to get a wave, say hello and get a photo of their heroes from the longest-tenured Hall of Famer Bob Feller to the most recent – of the Class of 2009 – Rickey Henderson.

But the final spots in the parade were reserved for the newest additions to the greatest team ever assembled, the Class of 2010.

Doug Harvey, Whitey Herzog and Andre Dawson made up the caboose of the line of legends and will be honored Sunday on stage with their Hall of Fame Plaques during the 2010 Induction Ceremony.

The ceremony will begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday on the grounds of the Clark Sports Center, and admission is free. Forty-seven Hall of Famers will take the stage to welcome the Class of 2010 as well as Ford C. Frick winner Jon Miller and J.G. Taylor Spink winner Bill Madden. The ceremony will be broadcast live on MLB Network and Sirius/XM Radio.

Samantha Carr is the manager of web and digital media for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

They were teammates on the baseball diamond, working toward a common goal and sharing good times in the clubhouse.

Today, they are friends in retirement – enjoying a history that only they share.

It all comes together in Cooperstown.

The annual Hall of Fame Invitational golf outing was played at Leatherstocking Golf Course in Cooperstown on Saturday morning, with more than 20 Hall of Famers and dozens more distinguished guests launching drives and dropping putts on the picturesque course next to Otsego Lake. Andre Dawson and Whitey Herzog, who are set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday with Doug Harvey as the Class of 2010, got their first taste of Hall of Fame Weekend golf and loved every minute of it.

Dawson invited former Montreal Expos teammate Tim Raines to play with him, and Raines wowed his fellow golfers with some prodigious tee shots. But for Raines, the real excitement was just being in Cooperstown with his friend.

"He was a quiet leader, who led by example and I was one of the guys who jumped on his shirttails,” Raines said. “You think about how to play the game right, and you think about Andre Dawson.

“I am so happy his day has come."

Herzog played the round with family members, while other power foursomes included a group with Frank Robinson, George Brett and Brett’s former teammate John Wathan and another with Gary Carter, Paul Molitor and former umpire Bruce Froemming.

"Whitey was a pain in the butt," Carter joked when asked about Herzog. "We had some good battles. When you played Whitey's teams, they were always tough."

Their time on the diamond may be passed, but the camaraderie they created appears to be everlasting – especially at the home of baseball in Cooperstown.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

With his career’s ultimate moment a mere 48 hours away, Andre Dawson showed he is still one of the game's top clutch performers.

"Come Monday, I'm going to look in the mirror and know I'm a Hall of Famer," Dawson said on Friday and he prepared for Sunday's Induction Ceremony and celebrated with family and friends in Cooperstown. "I'm very excited, and my family is very excited."

Fighting off a cold but looking like he could still throw runners out at third base from the right field corner at Wrigley Field, the ever-relaxed Dawson put the finishing touches on his Induction Speech on Friday in preparation for Sunday's Class of 2010 Induction Ceremony. Dawson will join Whitey Herzog and Doug Harvey as members of the Class of 2010 when they are inducted at 1:30 pm EDT on Sunday in Cooperstown. The ceremony is free and open to the public and will be broadcast live on MLB Network.

On Saturday, Dawson will participate in the annual Hall of Famers golf tournament in Cooperstown - with former Expos teammate Tim Raines as his guest on the links.

On Sunday, another former teammate - Warren Cromartie - will come to Cooperstown with busloads of Montreal fans to celebrate Dawson's induction.

Yet with all the commotion, Dawson remains rock-solid and ready to roll.

"Lot of Expos fans in town, lot of Cubs fans in town," said Dawson, who played for Montreal and Chicago as well as Boston and Florida. "It's amazing to look down Main Street and see all those fans."

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

Ozzie Smith leaned back in his chair and gazed out upon idyllic Otesgo Lake on Thursday. After arriving at his hotel in advance of Hall of Fame Weekend 2010, The Wizard seemed to have a permanent smile on his face.

Ozzie may live in St. Louis, but Cooperstown remains his home.

"This place is very special," said the 2002 Hall of Fame inductee upon returning to Central New York. "I'm fortunate enough to come back three or four times a year, and I love every minute of it."

Smith joined more than 40 other Hall of Famers in Cooperstown on Thursday in preparation for Sunday's 1:30 p.m. Induction Ceremony for the Class of 2010. Andre Dawson, Doug Harvey and Whitey Herzog will be enshrined then, and the returning Hall of Famers will help thousands of baseball fans celebrate the moment.

Many of those Hall of Famers will also ensure that Dawson, Harvey and Herzog appreciate the experience.

"(Hall of Famer) Johnny Bench always sits the new class down at the hotel and has them just look out on the lake for a while," Smith said. "He tells them to take time to understand what this all means.

"Coming back year after year, enjoying all the laughter... I always look forward to it."

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Bill Francis

The brotherhood of big league knuckleball pitchers is relatively small, but one of its former practitioners could be seen floating through the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Monday.

Steve Sparks made a name for himself tossing a baseball with no spin to bewildered hitters during a nine-year big league career spent with the Milwaukee Brewers (1995-96), Anaheim Angels (1998-99), Detroit Tigers (2000-03), Oakland A’s (2003) and Arizona Diamondbacks (2004). The right-hander made the trip from his home outside Houston in Sugar Land, Texas, with his 14-year-old son Blake.

“Blake and I have talked about coming to the Hall of Fame for four or five years now,” Spark said. “He’s going into high school next year and just thought with his schedule this might be our last chance for awhile, so we decided to make the trip this year.

“His sisters are in camp for the month of July so this is a chance for him and me to get out and do something by ourselves.”

This was Sparks’ first trip to the Hall of Fame.

“I’d never been here before, so I was very anxious. It’s a dream come true just seeing all the artifacts. I’ve always been enthralled by the game’s history,” Sparks said. “I grew up reading books about the history of the game, and I work with Fox Sports in Houston doing the pre- and post-game shows for the Houston Astros, so I’ve stayed in it and I’ve always enjoyed it. So for Blake and me to enjoy this together has been a lot of fun.”

Sparks, who turned 45 on July 2, ended his major league with a 59-76 record, highlighted by a 14-9 mark with the 2001 Tigers, and a 4.88 ERA.

“I was in my 40s and I just felt like I was ready to be home with my family,” Sparks said. “And the hitters let me know it was time to get out of the game, too.”

While the Hall of Fame boasts two knuckleball pitchers – Hoyt Wilhelm and Phil Niekro – the game has seen at least 250, but fewer than 90 who threw it regularly. This year, only Boston’s Tim Wakefield, R.A. Dickey of the Mets and Los Angeles Dodger Charlie Haeger are regulars at it.

Sparks was your regular fastball, curveball, slider, changeup pitcher before the Brewers approached him about making a radical change.

“I played professionally for 19 years but my first five or six years I was a conventional pitcher,” Sparks said. “I was kind of stalling out at the Double-A level, and the Milwaukee Brewers, the team I was with in the minor leagues at that point, felt like I might be a good candidate for the knuckleball because being shorter in stature helps (he’s 6-feet tall) and also I had pretty clean mechanics.

“They gave me a three-year plan and I started back over in Single-A, and by the end of that three years I was knocking on the door.”

According to Sparks, it was a lot of trial and error in the beginning, but eventually a coach hooked him up with big league knuckleballer Tom Candiotti.

“I had about five pages worth of questions to ask him over the telephone,” Sparks said. “And then actually got a chance to meet him at the Houston Astrodome at the tail end of one of his seasons with the Dodgers and that was very beneficial. It’s a very close fraternity of knuckleball pitchers, and Candiotti, for myself, was probably the most helpful. He was kind of a hybrid knuckleball pitcher, where he threw a lot of curves and sliders and fastballs, and that’s what I did a lot.

“The biggest luxury for me at the major league level was the bounce back factor. You didn’t have to rely on velocity three or four days after you pitched. You could go out there, and as long as you had good feel and took the spin off the ball you had a chance to be successful.”

And while Sparks played with and against a number of Hall of Famers over the years, he grew up in Tulsa, Okla., with fellow pitcher Tom Seaver as his favorite player.

“In 1969 I was five years old and my father taught me how to read the box scores,” Sparks said. “That was the year the Mets had their miracle season, Tom Seaver was the best player on that team at that time, and that’s who I stuck with.”

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Bill Francis

Brian McCann has been to Cooperstown before. But now, the 2010 All-Star Game MVP will have a little piece of himself in Cooperstown forever.

“It's a moment I'll never forget,” said McCann only moments after the final out was made in the 81st Major League Baseball All-Star Game on Tuesday. “You are lucky enough to be playing in one of these things and to be put in a spot to come through and actually do it ... you just dream about stuff like this. This isn't supposed to happen.”

McCann, the Atlanta Braves' 26-year-old catcher, was selected the 2010 Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player after he went 1-for-2 with a bases-clearing three-run double in the seventh inning to give the National League a 3-1 lead that would remain intact throughout the remainder of the contest.

As important as the hit was for McCann, a five-time All-Star, the Senior Circuit's first victory since 1996 also means home field advantage in the World Series.

Afterwards, McCann graciously donated the bat he used for his memorable Midsummer Classic hit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

“No way,” said McCann when asked if he thought about not parting with a bat that might still have hits left in it. “I was thrilled that they wanted it.”

There were no artifacts from the short professional career of McCann in Cooperstown when he played in the Hall of Fame Game as a Braves minor leaguer in 2004. That fact has now changed.

“Brian was overwhelmed when I approached him right after he was presented with the MVP Award on the field minutes after the game had ended,” said Hall of Fame Senior Director of Communications and Education Brad Horn. “I introduced myself and told him it was the time to add a piece of Brian McCann to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“He was very excited and very honored by the opportunity. He immediately said we could absolutely have his bat,” Horn added. “And to show the dedication that he had, when his bat wasn't at his locker in the National League clubhouse when he first walked in, he ran back out to the dugout to try and find it.”

According to Horn, the Hall of Fame tries to commemorate every All-Star Game with an artifact from the contest's MVP.

“It allows fans the chance to come to Cooperstown during the second half of the season,” said Horn, “and see something from the season's most memorable game and a timeless exhibition.

“Brian played in the Hall of Fame Game and here, just a short six years later, he's a part of history,” he added. “And part of him is now in Cooperstown forever.”

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Bill Francis

Marcus Giamatti was a participant in the All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game held at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., on Sunday night. And not only is he an actor, having appeared in numerous movies and television series, but he also shares a surname familiar to fans of the national pastime and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Marcus Giamatti's father was the seventh baseball commissioner, A. Bartlett Giamatti. A former president of Yale, he became president of the National League in 1986 before ascending to the game's top position in 1988. After less than a year on the job, he passed away in 1989 at the age of 51. After his untimely death, the Hall of Fame honored his legacy with the naming of the A. Bartlett Giamatti Research Center.

"I can't believe as big a baseball fan as I am that I've never been to the Hall of Fame," said Marcus Giamatti, best known  as a series regular on television's Judging Amy (1999-2005), after the softball game. "I've always been working in different places and I've never gotten up to that part of the country, but my wife is from Corning, which is nearby, and we're going to try to plan a trip so she can go see her relatives and we're going to try and go to the Hall of Fame. I hope that happens within the next year or two."

And the Giamatti Research Center is on the itinerary, too.

"It's a great honor to him to because he was a great baseball historian and poet himself," said Giamatti, 48, who grew up in New England. "So it means a tremendous amount to me. It's really too bad he never knew about it. I really need to get up there to see it. He'd be so flattered and moved by it."

Wearing the cap of his beloved Boston Red Sox, Giamatti said baseball was a love he shared with his father.

"He had a huge influence on my love of baseball. That was basically our connective link that we had, our love of baseball and the Red Sox," Giamatti said. "I used to listen to them every night on the radio with him. I'd do my homework while he was correcting papers at the dining room table.

"He basically taught me the parallel lessons of the quest and the journey and the process of things through baseball. The adjustments you have to make, the game of failure, and sometimes the rewards, just like in life."

Giamatti, a catcher through high school ("But I couldn't hit"), is currently writing the afterword for a 2011 re-release of his father's 1989 book "Take Time for Paradise: Americans and Their Games."

And according to Giamatti, it looks like the family's next generation will continue with a fascination for the game.

"I have one daughter, she's 14 months old, and she watches baseball with me all the time. She calls it ballball."

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Bill Francis

It has been a decade since Hank Conger visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. His bat is staying for good.

Conger came away with Most Valuable Player honors for the 2010 Futures Game held at Angel Stadium on Sunday afternoon. He donated the bat he used to club a three-run home run with two out in the fifth inning off of Henderson Alvarez that gave his U.S. Team a 5-1 lead on the way to a 9-1 victory over the World Team.

Conger, a switch-hitting Angel farmhand playing catcher for the Triple-A Salt Lake City squad, finished the game batting 1-for-3. 

“It's awesome,” said Conger in the winning team's clubhouse after the game, referring to being asked to donate his bat. “It's a great honor. I wasn't really expecting it, to be honest.”

The Hall of Fame has made it a point over the years to ask for an artifact from the game's MVP honoree.

“The Futures Game showcases the greatest minor leaguers,” said Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson, “and by being able to represent them and document them in Cooperstown before they make that final step in a lot of ways talks about the journey of all major league players.”

It was Idelson who first approached Conger, who grew up 15 miles from Angels Stadium in Huntington Beach, Calif.,about the possible donation.

“I was like, 'Really, you want my bat?'” said Conger with a laugh. “This whole event has been great, so to have that be in the Hall of Fame is just unbelievable.”

Conger knows of the Hall of Fame firsthand, having visited back in the summer of 2000 as a 12-year-old when his travel baseball team from California played in one of the Cooperstown-area baseball camps.

“I loved Cooperstown,” Conger said. “I was really expecting something different. You think its going to be in a big city, but there was just so much green. Even for me as a little kid I thought it was an awesome view.

“The Hall of Fame, just looking at everything that was in there, the jerseys, the plaques, for any baseball fans it's a must.”

Asked if had any more hits left in the bat, Conger smiled and said: “For the Hall of Fame, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to give that one up.

“And I'll get to tell everybody for the rest of my life that I have something in the Hall of Fame.”

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By Bill Francis

Prior to Sunday afternoon's All-Star Futures Game of minor league talent, Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg, a coach for the World Team, was looking forward to his trip to Central New York in two weeks to welcome an old teammate to the game's most exclusive fraternity.

Currently the Triple-A manager of the Iowa Cubs, Sandberg talked in the visiting team clubhouse of Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., prior to the U.S. Team's 9-1 win over the World Team.

"I'm looking forward to coming to Cooperstown. Andre Dawson's election was well overdue," said Sandberg of his Cubs teammate from 1987-92. "I'm looking forward to seeing him take his spot there."

The last time Sandberg saw Dawson was during this past spring training.

"I was just touching base, seeing how busy he had been. He'd been very busy doing things," Sandberg said. "That's always part of that first year. But he's loving every minute of it, so I think that's the key thing.

"And he's looking forward to that day. So I'll be there pulling for him. And I'll be right there sitting behind him."

Sandberg used part of his induction speech in 2005 to plead Dawson's case for enshrinement. 

"So that makes it somewhat gratifying to see a fellow teammate go in," Sandberg said. "A guy that is very deserving, worked hard, maybe a little bit overshadowed through the steroid era, and now he's right where he should be."

Sandberg then talked about the kind of teammate that Dawson was. 

"Just his work ethic. He was team-first, he played the game hard all the time, gave it his best, and at times he really overdid what he had to do to be able to play," he said. "He was the first one at the ballpark working on his body and working on his knees to be able to play a game. And he was the last one to leave.

"And with that being said, he was in the lineup every single day, never complained about anything, played hard, never took anything for granted, and really played the game the right way, even with two sore knees. I was very impressed with that and just the Hall of Fame quality of play that he'd bring year to year. Very impressive."

Sandberg was also eyewitness to Dawson's historic 1987 season with the Cubs, leading the National League with 49 home runs and 137 RBI en route to capturing the senior circuit's MVP Award while playing outfield for a last-place team.

"That was one of the most impressive seasons I watched first-hand like that," Sandberg said.

As for Sandberg, he has attended every Induction Ceremony since his induction and has no plans to end the streak any time soon.

"I haven't missed one yet. I'll try not to miss one as long as I can help it," he said. "It's a big thrill every time and it's great to see the new guys go in and reflect back what that felt like. It was just like yesterday. I don't think I'll ever forget that feeling of the year going in 2005."

And so far, the team's he has been managing have been more than accommodating when the last Sunday of July rolls around.

"The organizations have been all for that. They're very understanding about that. Not only that, they tell me to go. Sometimes it's hard to leave the team, but it's a good getaway and it's for the right reasons and I'm looking forward to it once again this year."

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Samantha Carr

The new book "Silver Seasons and a New Frontier: The Story of the Rochester Red Wings" set out to show that Rochester, N.Y., has the deepest, longest and richest baseball tradition of any minor league city.

Since 22 Hall of Famers have a connection to Rochester, the book makes a pretty good case.

Authors Jim Mandelaro and Scott Pitoniak were in Cooperstown Friday for an Authors' Series event at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and participated in a book signing following their talk. Mandelaro has covered the Red Wings for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle since 1991, and Pitoniak is the author of 10 books.

"We've known each other for a quarter of a century, and what keeps our friendship going is our love for baseball," said Pitoniak.

The authors set out to compile a definitive history of the Red Wings, retrace the careers of the players and managers who called Rochester home. Rochester has been named "Baseball City, USA" by Baseball America magazine. Among the many great ballplayers who have been a part of the Red Wings are Hall of Famers Stan Musial, Cal Ripken Jr., Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, George Sisler, Billy Southworth, Jocko Conlan, Bob Gibson, Earl Weaver and Frank Robinson.

Each has a different connection with Rochester. Sisler came down to Rochester to play after his career in the big leagues. It was the only time the Hall of Famer spent time in the minors and was also the only team he was on which won a pennant. Hall of Fame umpire Jocko Conlan took the field as a player in Rochester, and Cal Ripken Jr. first came to Rochester as a boy in 1969 because his father managed the Red Wings for two seasons.

Cal and Billy Ripken would move to Rochester from their permanent home in Maryland for the summer and play ball in a lot near their rented home.

"The year Cal was inducted (into the Hall of Fame, 2007), I tracked down a few people who were neighbors during that time and they said the Ripken boys always played in their perfect full Oriole uniforms," Pitoniak said.

Cal Ripken Jr. returned to the Red Wings as a player, earning International League Rookie of the Year honors and placing second in MVP voting in 1981. He also took part in the longest game in the history of professional baseball that season - a 33-inning affair against the Pawtucket Red Sox.

"How fitting that the man who symbolizes the Iron Man, Ripken played in all 114 Red Wings games (he was eligible for) that season and also played 33 innings in one game - of all the people who could have played in that game," said Mandelaro.

Samantha Carr is the manager of web and digital media at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Samantha Carr

After 34 successful years as head coach of the Stanford University baseball team, it’s still all about the dream for Mark Marquess.

“When you are in the backyard and playing ball pretending to by Mickey Mantle or A-Rod, you dream to be a major league player – and I get these kids on their path to that dream,” Marquess said Thursday during a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Marquess and his wife, Susan, were visiting their youngest daughter, Maureen, in Manhattan, and they decided to make their first trip to Cooperstown.

“If you are a baseball fan, and even if you’re not, it’s just so American,” said Marquess. “The Museum is a special place, and the town is so quaint, we could stay here for a week.”

A Stanford alum, Marquess played baseball and football during his college days. An All-American first baseman, he was drafted by the White Sox and spent four seasons in their system before returning to his alma mater as an assistant coach. Five years later, he took over the team and since has posted a 1,356-694-7 record. That puts him in the top 10 in NCAA Division-I baseball history in wins.

He has led the team to two NCAA Championships and is a member of the Stanford University Athletic Hall of Fame and the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame. He is a three-time NCAA Coach of the Year recipient. He has also served as President of USA Baseball and earned a Gold Medal as the head coach of the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team.

“Baseball is still our National Pastime, but it is very much becoming a world game,” said Marquess. “You travel to Latin American countries and some of those kids don’t have much, but they are playing baseball.”

Susan Marquess is a counselor at St. Francis High School in Palo Alto, Calif., and each year sees kids that dream of being a major league player, but are taking the steps of going to college and getting an education too.

“I think the exposure of the College World Series is helping a lot,” she said. “It becomes part of the dream.”

Division I baseball is very competitive, but unlike at the professional level, a coach’s job is not just win games.

“The difference is teaching,” said Marquess. “These kids are bright and can do so many things, but their focus is to be a major league player. I need to make sure they are getting an education and on track to graduate.”

Marquess has taught players like Mike Mussina, who achieved their dream that began as a kid on a diamond. But the percentage of players who see that kind of success in the game is small.

“It is just as rewarding for me, and sometimes more so when a second-string player who is now a successful heart surgeon comes back and donates money to our program because of his memories at Stanford. They don’t make their dream, but it is a different kind of reward.”

Susan is already making plans to come back to Cooperstown and bring their four grandkids with them. And after 34 years of coaching, I don’t doubt that Marquess will pass on his passion for the game to the next generation.

“Being here,” Marquess said, “reminds you of the dream.”

Samantha Carr is the manager of web and digital media at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Cody Eding

Coming to baseball's home in Cooperstown is an unforgettable thrill - even for someone who experienced and starred at the game's highest level for over a decade.

For former major leaguer Dante Bichette, Tuesday afternoon's visit to the Hall of Fame left a lasting impression on both him and his family.

After learning about the dead-ball era, viewing his personal file in the Giamatti Research Center and doing everything else in between, the four-time All-Star said his group enjoyed their first visit to the Hall.

"I didn't know what this place was like ... It's kind of overwhelming when you see so much history," said Bichette, who was in town coaching his son in a local baseball tournament. "(Seeing) some of the greats I grew up watching, and to see their things."

Bichette spent 14 seasons in the major leagues with the Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, California Angels, Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds. A career .299 hitter, he also totaled 1,906 hits and 274 home runs.

The right-handed slugger's best season came in 1995 while a member of the Rockies. He finished second in the National League MVP race that year after hitting .340, smashing a National League-leading 40 home runs and topping both leagues in hits (197) and RBIs (128).

Bichette used the visit to the Hall of Fame to teach his 12-year-old son Bo and his teammates more about the history of the game.

"The kids loved it," he said. "They were in awe."

And Bichette was awestruck, too.

One article in his research file recounted a breakfast Bichette once shared with Ted Williams. The former outfielder remembered the breakfast well and even has a CD recording of the day -- complete all the way down to the sound of sizzling bacon.

His tour included seeing one artifact he donated to the Hall himself: The bat he used to hit his first career home run. The collections department brought the bat upstairs from storage so Bichette could show his son and others his contribution to baseball history.

It was the end of a tour which Bichette said could have gone on much longer.

"I'd imagine you'd need a week to see all of this stuff," he said. "It's really awesome."

Cody Eding is the public relations intern in the Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program Class of 2010 at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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By Gabe Schechter

The Library staff is used to hosting visits from Hall of Famers, their children, and even grandchildren. But a record was set this week with a visit from the great-great-great-great-grandson of a Hall of Famer.

William “Buck” Ewing, the pioneering 19th-century catcher, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939, but when the Museum opened that summer he was not represented. He had died in 1906 at the age of 47, and there is no record of contact between the Hall of Fame and Ewing’s family – until Tuesday. That’s when 10 family members spent a day at the Museum and Library, getting acquainted with their celebrated ancestor.

The visit was organized by Dawn Schaffner, Ewing’s great-great-granddaughter. A Syracuse native, she moved to Florida at the age of seven, and had no idea of her connection to Ewing until just a few years ago. Her father, facing his own mortality, informed Dawn that her mother was the great-granddaughter of a Hall of Famer.

“We’ve been planning this trip ever since,” Schaffner said. It is part of a larger vacation focused around Washington, D.C., a reward to her grandchildren for learning the state capitals and multiplication tables.

After viewing Ewing’s plaque in the gallery, the party of 10 (including Schaffner’s husband, daughter, two grandchildren, and others, two crowded cars’ worth) made a beeline to the Library. There they viewed – and copied most of – Ewing’s substantial clipping and photo files. They didn’t have time to read it all, but know that they have a wealth of information to scour at their leisure once they return to Florida.

Next they explored the Museum, with their first stop the 19th-century exhibit on the second floor. There they saw two terrific Ewing items:  an 1888 woodcut from Harper’s Weekly magazine showing Ewing decked out in his catching gear; and an 1889 beer advertisement featuring Ewing and Cap Anson.

Back in the Library, they also saw several items from the Hall of Fame’s collections which are not on display in the Museum. Those included a medal presented to Ewing in New Orleans in 1885, another medal presented to him in 1895 for being the best fielder, a satin patch from the “New York League,” and an 1889 Old Judge baseball card.

“Oh, we have that image already,” Schaffner exclaimed, showing her joy at earlier finds, “that was on one of the photos we copied.”

Talk about connecting generations!

Gabriel Schechter is a library associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Trevor Hayes

Let's get it out of the way so we can start dissecting what it means: Jamie Moyer has allowed more home runs than any other player in the history of the game.

On Sunday during the bottom of the third inning, Toronto's Vernon Wells hit the first pitch he saw from Moyer into the left field seats - the 506th home run allowed during Moyer's 24-year career. The home run moved Moyer into sole possession of the record and past fellow Philles legend, Hall of Famer Robin Roberts.

In baseball history, 25 men have hit 500 home runs. Only Moyer and Roberts have given up that many, so Moyer is in good company. Roberts held or shared the all-time home runs allowed title for 52 years and 321 days. The Hall of Famer won 286 games, compiled up a .539 winning percentage and finished his 19-year career with a 3.41 career ERA. He was a workhorse with 305 complete games in 609 starts. He pitched 4,688 innings.

Just below Roberts on the homers-allowed list are Hall of Famers Fergie Jenkins (484), Phil Niekro (482) and Don Sutton (472). Among the home runs allowed top ten, there are six Hall of Famers, six 3,000-striekout pitchers, five 300-game winners and no one under 4,000 innings pitched.

The record speaks to the longevity of Moyer's career. In the same game Moyer gave up the record-breaking home run, he threw his 4,000th inning. Just 28 men since 1901 have logged that many innings. Nineteen of them are in the Hall of Fame, and five others are named Bert Blyleven, Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux.

Looking at Moyer's stats, you come to the conclusion that if he's pitched 24 seasons and registered 4,005 inning in the majors, he had to be doing something right. To this point, Moyer has collected 267 wins, 2,393 strikeouts and owns a .571 winning percentage in 682 career games. He's fourth in the National League in wins this season at nine and fifth in shutouts and complete games, despite being the oldest player in the majors for the last three years. He owns a pair of 20-win seasons and he's only led the league in home runs allowed once.

Moyer's age, 47,  shows his ability to re-invent himself to find ways to get hitters out and be effective - and has been an underlying storyline to his career for the last few years. This season he recorded a complete game victory in his 264th career win. The victory was also his 100th since turning 40. Only two pitchers prior to Moyer had won 100 games on the north side of 40, Niekro (121) and Jack Quinn (104). Moyer is now at 103 and still going strong.

Lefties like Moyer have a penchant for hanging on. He's hung on long enough to see his son was drafted (this season by the Twins in the 22nd round). He's hung on long enough to face a 20-year-old rookie who was born in 1990 - Moyer's fifth major league season. Starlin Castro got a hit off Moyer, creating the largest age gap between a hitter and pitcher since 21-year-old Tim Foli got a hit off Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm at 49 in 1972.

One last age note related to Moyer. Since 1901, Only Satchel Paige, Wilhelm, Quinn, Niekro, Kaiser Wilhelm and Nick Altrock pitched at 47 or older. Paige was in a one-game stunt with the Kansas City A's to make him the oldest player at 58, but his last real season was at 46. Hoyt Wilhelm and Quinn both pitched at 49, appearing in 16 and 14 games respectively. At 48, Wilhelm had similar number (20 appearances), while Quinn threw 87 innings in 42 games. Also at 48, Niekro made 26 starts, pitching 138 innings. Niekro, Quinn and Hoyt Wilhelm were all effective at 47.

So the question becomes, how much longer will Jamie Moyer go?

Trevor Hayes is editorial production manager at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Trevor Hayes

This week marked the summer solstice, and the season is beginning to really heat up as records and notable marks continue to fall.

D-Backs and O’s: Arizona’s Adam LaRoche, Mark Reynolds and Justin Upton victimized Yankee starter A.J. Burnett in the first inning on Monday night with home runs. The last time a Yankee starter allowed three first-inning blasts? On June 24, 1987, Ray Knight and Hall of Famers by Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray victimized Ron Guidry.

Century mark in the Capital: The Nationals Josh Willingham went yard on Tuesday against the Royals. Willingham’s lofted shot was his 100th career home run. In 2008, Ronnie Belliard also hit his 100th homer at home. The two Nationals to hit 100 in D.C. city limits match the total both of the previous Washington Senators teams, which played from 1901 to 1971. Former All-Star Mickey Vernon did it in 1953 and Hall of Famer Jim Lemon collected No. 100 in Washington in 1959.

Power from the keystone: Before Thursday, only one Red Sox second basemen had ever hit three homers in a single game. With his 10th inning shot last night, Dustin Pedroia equaled Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr on that short list. Doerr’s three-homer game came on June 8, 1950.

Oakland’s Swignin’ back to the ‘70s: In the 1970’s, Oakland was the place to be. During the decade, the Athletics rattled off a string of success not seen by many in baseball, let alone other major sports. From 1972 to 1974, they were the champs. In baseball, only the Yankees can match the feat. To celebrate the club’s amazing success and talented players like Hall of Famers Jim “Catfish” Hunter, Rollie Fingers and Reggie Jackson, the A’s are turning back the clock this weekend. Fresh off his appearance at the Hall of Fame Classic last weekend, Bert Campaneris will be a part of the festivities Saturday night, but promotions will run all weekend.The Athleitcs will be squaring off against the Pirates and both will be throwing back to the ‘70s polyester. Fans will be able to take their pictures with all three World Series trophies.

Tracking Hall of Famers: On Saturday, the Giants are retiring No. 20 in honor of Monte Irvin. The 91-year-old Irvin was inducted into the Hall in 1973 and after a career in the Negro leagues, he integrated the Giants and starred for them from 1949 to 1955. His number will join other Giants Hall of Famers like Carl Hubbell, Mel Ott, John McGraw and Christy Mathewson. Giants Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry and Orlando Cepeda  - all of whom also have had their numbers retired – will be on hand for a pregame ceremony starting at 3:30 p.m., PT.

Also on Saturday, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of their 1970 World Championship, the Orioles are holding a special luncheon and gala at the warehouse at Camden Yards. Fans can pose with the ‘70 trophy, participate in trivia games and meet members of the 1970 squad including Hall of Famers Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson and skipper Earl Weaver.

Finally on Wednesday, Mr. Tiger Al Kaline will be signing copies of his new book "Six: A Salute to Al Kaline” in Rochester Hills, Mich. The line begins at 5 p.m., ET.

Trevor Hayes is editorial production manager at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Trevor Hayes

It sometimes seems that things here in Cooperstown are just destined to go right.

Don’t get me wrong, the staff at the Baseball Hall of Fame is extremely dedicated, very knowledgeable and good at what they do – executing plans to make the Hall of Fame perfect. But some stories take an extra little bit of chance to become truly special. My most recent example came Monday in the form of a donation by my mother of some photos of two current Royals stars, including 2009 Cy Young winner Zack Greinke.

As a native Kansas Citian, it takes a holiday or other big event to see my family. But after last year’s Hall of Fame Classic, I knew I had to get my parents to Cooperstown for the 2010 event. Not just to celebrate Father’s Day with my dad – sharing a game we both love – but to reconnect that baseball bond with my mother too, who played countless hours of catch with me in the backyard while waiting for dad to get home form work and take me to practice.

At every opportunity, I pestered them about a trip out. In late September, I went to a wedding and on the Sunday after, my family went to Kauffman Stadium. Greinke was starting and I hadn’t seen him in person all season. I’d followed his year from the scoreless streak in April to his 1-0 complete game loss in Anaheim when he had pitches touch every speed from 66 to 96 mph. I tuned in early to the All-Star Game to make sure I didn’t miss a second. I wished people at work “Happy Greinke Day” on the days he started. It was can’t miss TV and I shared it with my parents, chatting about my hometown team throughout the season.

On that warm September day, Greinke was his usual self. He went seven innings and allowed just one run. He struck out eight, including eventual batting champ and MVP Joe Mauer twice. During the game, my mom snapped some photos with her new camera.

Before leaving Missouri over the holidays, she slipped an envelope into my bag. Inside were photos she’d printed of family and my girlfriend and I. The last couple were photos of Greinke and 2008 All-Star Joakim Soria. I was surprised. My mother has always been creative, knitting and doing flower arrangements. I’d even seen her still-life and nature photos. But her action shots were exceptional, especially since they were from Row Double-S.

Just before the start of the 2010 season, I got my parents to commit to a visit during Father’s Day. At the same time, our staff updates our  Today’s Game exhibit, outfitting the lockers with artifacts from the previous season. Shortly after the update I was reminded of the photos when I saw hanging in the Royals locker a powder blue jersey – the team’s staple attire for home day games. Greinke gave the Hall of Fame his jersey from his final home start, which turned out to be the last win of his Cy Young campaign.

It had crossed my mind that my mom should donate the photos,  and now I was sure. Her photos are of Greinke wearing the same jersey that’s on exhibit. I called and told her that when they came for the Hall of Fame Classic, she should donate the photos. Worried about the quality, she wasn’t so sure.

On Monday, my mother, father and myself presented her five prints – three of Greinke and two of Soria – to photo archivist Pat Kelly. Pat gushed. The quality was professional level and they filled a void in the archives – neither player had hard copy files. The fact that Greinke is wearing the same jersey that’s in the collection sweetened the deal.

A bit of chance played into my trip in September happening in the same weekend of the Royals final home stand. Luck let the rotation fall just right. And by coincidence or fate, my family is extremely proud of my mother and we now have a special moment to cap a great weekend in Cooperstown.

Trevor Hayes is editorial production manager at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

Seven Hall of Famers, heroes all.

They range in age from 55 to 91, but they remain kids at heart. And on Saturday – the day before the Father’s Day Hall of Fame Classic – they were all thinking about their dad.

In front of a capacity crowd of more than 500 fans at Cooperstown High School, the seven Hall of Famers who will appear at Sunday’s Hall of Fame Classic reminisced about their playing days and told stories about one another.

Bob Feller, Harmon Killebrew, Goose Gossage, Ozzie Smith, Rollie Fingers, Phil Niekro and Gary Carter brought the house down several times with one-liners – and drew applause when remembering their fathers.

“I think all of us on this stage remember when we played catch with our dads,” Smith said. “To be here in the Mecca of baseball on this weekend is very special for me.”

Just being around their former teammates and opponents was pretty special, too. The jokes flowed quickly from the stage – much to the delight of the audience.

“Phil, you better get some rest,” said Carter to Niekro when Knucksie was told he’ll be starting in Sunday’s Classic.

“Why?” deadpanned Niekro. “I never did when I played.”

After an hour, it was over – the legends were gone. To be continued on Sunday at Doubleday Field. Where the legends live forever.

“I’ve always loved it in Cooperstown,” said Gossage. “To be elected to the Hall of Fame and to play in this game, I still can’t put into words what it means to me.”

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

With about 48 hours until Sunday's Hall of Fame Classic, Cooperstown acquired a certain buzz on Friday.

The arrival of one of the legends of the game didn't hurt, either.

With a backdrop of blue skies, sunshine and a gentle breeze, the man in the black polo shirt walked up Main Street. It could have been any baseball fan, any tourist, any Cooperstown resident.

But one look told you it was Bob Feller.

Eventually... inevitably, the fans recognized him. The 91-year-old Hall of Famer obligingly cut short his walk to stop and talk, spinning tales about his career. Few have ever loved the game - or their role - more than the former Cleveland Indians fireballer.

On Sunday, Feller will captain his team at the 2 p.m. Hall of Fame Classic at Cooperstown's Doubleday Field. He'll emerge from the dugout to cheers as fervent as those he received as a player. A national treasure deserves no less.

And yet on Friday, he quietly strolled Main Street - soaking in the beauty of Central New York and this idyllic setting.

Only in Cooperstown... where history lives.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Bill Francis

During a May 29 visit to Syracuse to catch a Syracuse Chiefs home game at Alliance Bank Stadium, I ran into former big league pitcher Steve Grilli. Though fireballing phenom Stephen Strasburg was pitching that night, Grilli seemed more excited about the news he had recently received.

"I just got my invitation to play in this year's Hall of Fame Classic," a smiling Grilli said. "If I didn't, I was going to beg to go back because I had such a wonderful time with my family there last year. It's a great weekend. I just think Cooperstown is a Norman Rockwell city. You can't help but have a good time over there."

Grilli, who calls Syracuse home now, pitched for the Chiefs for four seasons (1978-81) and broadcasts their games on TV and radio. A frequent visitor to Cooperstown over the years, he pitched a scoreless fifth inning to help Team Wagner to a 5-4 win over Team Collins in last year's Hall of Fame Classic at historic Doubleday Field.  

"I can always say I relieved Bob Feller, which I did last year," said Grilli, referring to the Hall of Fame hurler. "I was on the same team with Bob and I was one of the relievers that relieved him, so I can always say I pitched with Bob Feller."

Grilli admits to enjoying the change in format from the previous Hall of Fame Game, in which two big league teams played.

"I think this new way of doing it is exciting because you're getting to see the Hall of Famers, and the guys that I played with that are in the Hall of Fame had a ball, as well as some of us serviceable players like myself," said Grilli, the father of major league pitcher Jason Grilli. "I got to ride in the parade with my grandson and rub shoulders with some of the better players who have ever come through the game."

Grilli finished his four-year big league career (1975-77, 1979), spent mostly with the Detroit Tigers, with a record of 4-3. His claim to fame is as the losing pitcher in the longest game in professional baseball history, a 33-inning International League contest in 1981 that saw Pawtucket come away with a 3-2 win over Rochester.

When asked about Strasburg, the Syracuse pitcher we were both waiting to see this night, Grilli had only high praise.

"What I'm most impressed with is his breaking stuff. There are guys in the big leagues that throw 96, 97, 98, this kid was two other really well developed pitches to go along with that 98 mile per hour fastball," Grilli said. "He pitches at 96, 97, he'll touch 98, 99, 100 when he has to, but his breaking ball is devastating. I was comparing it to Kerry Wood breaking ball when he struck out the 20 or the Nolan Ryan type of curveball. It's hard and it's sharp."

Grilli referred to a former teammate when asked what it had been like to witness in person all of Strasburg's Syracuse starts.

"It's something I can only compare to one thing and that was Mark 'The Bird' Fidrych. I was part of that club when Mark broke in with Detroit when he went 19-9 in his rookie season (1976)," Grilli said. "This kid's got that same kind of electricity. And the attention he's drawn in this town is something I've never seen."

With Cooperstown only 60 miles from Syracuse, could Grilli see Strasburg with his own plaque in the National Baseball Hall of Fame one day?

"He has the stuff to be a Hall of Famer some day if he continues to throw as he has."

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

The man and his son stood in the center of the Hall of Fame’s Giamatti Research Center on Tuesday afternoon – awed by history like hundreds of others who made the pilgrimage to baseball’s holy shrine in Cooperstown.

But for Jayhawk Owens and his son Walker, the trip was a little more personal.

Owens, a catcher for the Colorado Rockies from 1993-96, and his son were in town as part of a local youth baseball tournament. Owens, 41, brought Walker to the Hall of Fame for a little history lesson.

After learning about the Hall of Fame and its mission, father and son got a look at some of the Library’s files – including one on Owens himself.

“It’s amazing to think I’m even in here in a file,” said Owens, who played in 130 big league games during his four-year career as a catcher. “How many players are in the Hall of Fame? Two-hundred and ninety-two? That’s pretty rare.”

Walker, meanwhile, savored the chance to read Babe Ruth’s file – gazing in wonder at documents written almost 100 years ago.

For his dad, however, it was another Library document – the National League’s day-by-day register for 1947 – that stood out.

“Look at that: April 15, 1947, the day Jackie Robinson broke into the majors,” said Owens of the hand-recorded statistics that marked each day in the 1947 NL schedule. “All those games, recorded in this book. I never knew anything like this existed.”

It’s history – like that of Jayhawk Owens – preserved forever in Cooperstown.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Trevor Hayes

Pirate Prodigy: Not since 1928 has a Pirate had as many hits at his one-year anniversary as center fielder Andrew McCutchen. Currently riding a .302 average, the 23-year-old celebrated passed the one year mark since his major-league debut last week. He had 185 hits, the most by a Buc since Hall of Famer Lloyd Waner collected 225 in his first year.

Rare day for the all-time leader: Ivan Rodriguez has caught 2,322 games - the all-time leader among catchers after having passed greats like Johnny Bench, Gary Carter and Carlton Fisk. But only three times in his career has Pudge caught a pitcher who racked up 14 strikeouts like Stephen Strasburg did on Tuesday in Washington. Strasburg joins Jeremy Bonderman in 2004 and Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1991 as the only pitchers to dominate their opponents that much with Rodriguez behind the plate. Pudge's Astros jersey from the game in which he broke the games caught record last season is on display in the Museum in the Today's Game exhibit.

Cubbies and 300: One-hundred and twenty-seven players have hit 300 home runs in the history of the majors. Wednesday, Derek Lee added his name to that list and this afternoon, Alfonso Soriano clubbed his 300th. Both join an impressive group of names to do so while playing on the North-side of Chicago. Six other players have belted No. 300 with the Cubs including Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Andre Dawson. The most recent before Lee was Sammy Sosa who the 300th of 609 career home runs in June of 1999.

Boston's newest Fenway attraction: Two Hall of Famers and two other Red Sox legends were honored this week, as the team dedicated a new statue Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky and Ted Williams. The four were staples in the Sox lineups in the 1940s and into the 50s. All four were All-Stars and all four served in the military during World War II. The lifelong friends and Sox legends had their story told in David Halberstam's book The Teammates - Portrait of a Friendship. The new statue is a tribute to their legacy and features the four standing shoulder to shoulder holding bats. It is outside Fenway's Gate B at Van Ness and Ipswich.

Perfection and the Hall-aday: Roy Halladay threw the major's 20th perfect game on May 29, beating Marlins ace Josh Johnson 1-0 in the process. The two matched up again Thursday and Johnson got the win. 1965 marks the last time a perfect pitcher faced his opponent again in the same season, as Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax and Chicago's Bob Hendley squared off in back-to-back starts. Koufax mastered the Cubs on Sept. 9, and like Halladay in a 1-0 win, but like Johnson, Hendley got the win in the rematch.

Remembering the past: The Tigers will play host to a weekend long celebration of the Negro leagues, highlighted by their 16th annual Negro Leagues Tribute Game, Saturday. The Tigers will don Detroit Stars uniforms while the Pirates will pay homage to the Pittsburgh Crawfords. During the series, Hall of Famer Turkey Stearnes - a former Star - will be recognized with a video about his plaque, which was dedicated at Comerica Park in 2007. Stearnes' grandson will throw one of the ceremonial first pitches, while Stearnes daughters will perform the national anthem. Former Negro leaguers Frank Crosson, Joe Douse, Buck Duncan, Bee-Bop Gordon, Bill Hill, Gene Johnson, Cecil Kaiser, Alton King, Bullet Moore and Schoolboy Teasley will be on hand throughout the weekend.

Trevor Hayes is editorial production manager at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Bill Francis

A familiar face from PBS’s popular show Antiques Roadshow for 14 years made a non-televised but nonetheless enlightening appearance at the 22nd annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture this week.

Leila “Lee” Dunbar can often be seen appraising sports memorabilia on the long-running television show – she has provided more than 2,000 verbal appraisals on more than 50 segments – but Thursday afternoon in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Bullpen Theater she presented a talk titled “Stories in Hand – Baseball History Told Through its Memorabilia.” Before a full house, Dunbar talked of her life and the road she traveled to become a professional appraiser of pop culture memorabilia, including sports. Interspersed was the detective work often involved as well as stories of intriguing baseball items she has been involved with over the years.

“The Cooperstown Symposium is great because it gives a lot of different viewpoints, a lot of different nuances of history, a lot of stories that you don’t get to hear in the mainstream,” Dunbar said after her presentation. “One of the things about baseball is that no matter how much you know, there’s a lot more that you don’t know. And I’ve learned so much just in a day. It’s been just fantastic, and you meet a great group of people.

“People with different viewpoints is fantastic because in my world, normally, I’m either meeting people who have items, so they are what I would call ‘civilians,’ or I know other appraisers, and we discuss things from a slightly different point of view,” she added. “So the people that I meet here are not looking at this as a business, they’re looking at it as a purely historical exercise of deepening knowledge and understanding and I appreciate that, I appreciate that passion.”

Besides her work on TV, Dunbar’s company, Leila Dunbar LLC, provides all types of written appraisals for insurance, donation, estate tax, divorce, etc. Prior to opening her own business in July 2008, she served as senior vice president and director of Sotheby's Collectibles department.

“One of the great things about the Symposium is that it has scholars, it has journalists, it has curators, and it has collectors. Me as an appraiser and having been in the business of actually buying and selling memorabilia, auctioning memorabilia, I look at objects in a variety of ways,” Dunbar said. “One, I look at is what’s the price, what’s the value? Be it a replacement value, be it value for estate tax or donation. So I have to think in that regard. But the only way you can get to that number is to do many of the same things that the others do, which is to do your research and then be able to think quantitatively about that research.”

According to Dunbar, she had very little choice when it came to her affection for the national pastime. While admitting to loving all sports, baseball’s her favorite because it’s what she grew up while being exposed to the most intense rivalry in the game.

“I was very lucky. I grew up with a love a baseball on both sides of my family,” she said. “My grandfather is an Episcopalian minister in New York who had tickets to Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds, and Yankee Stadium and idolized all the Yankees. And my mother, a big baseball fan, was actually a member of the knothole gang for the Boston Braves, and to this day I have all these aunts in their 70s, 80s and 90s who all watch, curse or cheer on the Red Sox depending on how well they’re doing.”

As for the institution that was hosting the Symposium, Dunbar had only high praise.

“I think the Baseball Hall of Fame is the ultimate repository of baseball memorabilia, and one that’s able to continually play a role in deepening the understanding of baseball and its history.”

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. 

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By Samantha Carr

While walking through the Museum, I often catch a glimpse of some of the early 19th century baseball gloves on display and find it hard to imagine playing baseball with something that looks like a gardening glove.

But how about a cardboard box?

That was what sparked the Oriole Advocates, Inc. community service organization to begin the 'Cardboard to Leather' program that collects new and used baseball equipment and sends it to youth players in impoverished nations.

"We collect stuff all year long at the ballpark and our minor league parks and give it to kids in Venezuela and Nicaragua," said Bob Harden, committee chairman of 'C2L' and volunteer for the Advocates. "It is our biggest program. It is not unusual for kids in these countries to be playing with cardboard gloves or broom sticks and tree branches for bats."

Harden and past Advocates president John Ross visited Cooperstown on Wednesday for the 2010 Annual Symposium on Baseball and American Culture. During their visit they also took a moment to present Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson with a pin commemorating the organization's 50th anniversary.

Established in 1960, the Oriole Advocates work "as an organization of volunteers joined together to promote and stimulate an interesting baseball at all levels, among youths of all ages." Over 75 volunteers make up the non-profit group and foundation in cooperation with the city of Baltimore and the Baltimore Orioles Baseball Club, Inc.

In 2008, Harden and his wife accompanied a shipment of bats, balls, cleats, uniforms, catcher's equipment, etc. to Nicaragua and got a chance to see the country's passion for baseball.

"It is unbelievable the impact it has upon people," said Harden. "You really have to see it for yourself. We stopped on the side of the road where we saw a bunch of kids playing a game and threw them a brand new ball. They had never seen a brand new baseball before. They all took turns smelling it and passed it around."

Besides the 'C2L' program, the Oriole Advocates serve as the right arm to the Orioles' Public Relations, Community Relations and Marketing departments, helping with promotional giveaways, have established the "Hit, Run & Fun League" for Baltimore city youth, sponsor the Champions League for physically and mentally challenged children, participate in food drives for local food banks with players' wives and established the Orioles Hall of Fame along with a number of other charitable activities.

"In these Latin countries, baseball is not just a game for the kids - it is a way out," Harden said. "And it is the way they teach values to their children."

Samantha Carr is the manager of web and digital media at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Bill Francis

Claire Smith is accustomed to working outside the status quo, so being the first female keynote speaker in the 22 years of the annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture is par for the course.

Held at the different venues at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, the three-day event kicked off Wednesday afternoon with Smith's keynote, titled "Race and Gender: Perspectives from the Press Box." Smith is not only a female in a male- dominated field, but she's also African-American.

Currently a news editor at ESPN who covered baseball for 27 years at the Hartford Courant, the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer, Smith offered a unique perspective on the trails and tribulations she had to endure as a woman and a minority in her chosen field.

Honored for her writing numerous times over the years, Smith, a longstanding member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, admits that "being a woman and being African-American in the field of baseball writing remain somewhat unique and far too unusual in this day and age."

Smith talked about being drawn to the field because of her mother's love of Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who faced hardships as he crossed the big league color line in 1947.

"I knew of his story from the moment I could walk and talk, I think, because my mother, more so than my father, was a Jackie Robinson fan," Smith said. "America was always represented as what is possible. She passed that on to me.

"I wanted to know as much as I could about sports. The older I got the more I wanted to know. I was able to dovetail this interest that never made me want to think about anything other than baseball."

Smith would late joke about another Hall of Famer: "As Yogi Berra would say, Jackie (Robinson) -  thanks for making this necessary."

Encouraged by her mother's love of Jackie Robinson (her father was a Willie Mays fan), Smith has always bled Dodger blue. So it should come as no surprise when visiting the Hall of Fame Plaque Gallery prior to her speech she made sure to check out the bronze likenesses of Robinson and Sandy Koufax.

Moving on to gender, Smith said that's always been the more intriguing and difficult aspect of her life in baseball.

"It's safe to say by the time I started covering baseball it wasn't politically correct to show any kind of prejudice in terms of race in major league clubhouses,' Smith said. "Not so much to show prejudice against women. It happened early, it happened often."

Often the only women in a baseball clubhouse, Smith called it "tough, it really was tough."

"I don't believe there is a female writer of my generation who didn't have a tale to tell that wouldn't bring another female writer to tears because it was a very vulnerable place to be," Smith added. "And often your male peers were so busy doing their job that they couldn't interrupt their jobs and come to your aid."

Smith then recalled her defining moment, her "tipping point," came in the 1984 National League Championship Series between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres when she was physically removed by players from the Padres clubhouse after Game One. While the situation was eventually resolved, thanks to Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, it left scars for a number of years.

But despite the hardships Smith suffered due only to the profession she chose, she told those in attendance to encourage their students, daughters, nieces and granddaughters to pursue sports writing as a career. Not only are there numerous opportunities with the Internet, but also it can be a very rewarding.

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Trevor Hayes

Last week, on a ball way out of the strike zone where only he could make an opponent pay, the Rangers' Vladimir Guerrero sent one of his signature bad-ball home runs over the fence. This particular home run came against his former mates in Anaheim, the Angels - the 30th team he's homered against. And that round-tripper put him into a small group, as only 32 players have hit a home run against all 30 teams.

But only one of the 203 Hall of Famers who played in the major leagues - Eddie Murray - homered against every active team during his era.

Retiring in 1997, Murray never had a chance to hit against Arizona and Tampa Bay, but he amassed home runs against 28 opponents. Murray's march through the majors consisted of 504 home runs during 21 seasons. He played 13 years with the Orioles, four with the Dodgers, three with the Indians, two with the Mets and one with the Angels. The Twins were his most victimized team, as Murray hit 44 home runs against Minnesota - with Detroit following at 38 home runs yielded. Despite his long stint in Baltimore, he still clouted six against them. His least victimized teams were Colorado (one home run), Florida (three home runs) and a three-way tie between Philadelphia, Montreal and the Mets (four home runs).

Because the last round of expansion came so recently, few Hall of Famers have even had the chance to complete Guerrero's feat of homering against 30 teams. Among current Hall of Famers, only Rickey Henderson, Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr., Wade Boggs, Dennis Eckersley and Paul Molitor played in 1998 or beyond.

Of them, Eckersley, a pitcher, had three career home runs, Ripken and Gwynn spent their entire careers with one team - making it impossible to hit home runs against the Orioles and Padres, respectively.

Molitor and Boggs played exclusively in the American League, giving them from 1997 on to take advantage of Interleague play. Molitor played just one season with all 30 clubs, homering against 16 total teams - with one each against the Cubs and Astros and none in 11 games against Tampa Bay. Boggs retired in 1999, playing for Tampa in its first two seasons of existence while collecting just one home run against an NL club - the Expos.

Henderson homered against 27 teams during 25 seasons with 11 teams. The speedster missed out on the Diamondbacks, Braves and Astros.

Other than Henderson, Gwynn, Ripken, Boggs, Eckersley and Molitor, Murray and Ryne Sandberg are the only Hall of Famers to participate in Interleague games - which means in order to accomplish the feat, inductees prior to them must have played for a minimum of four teams (two in each league).

In all, there are 59 Hall of Famers who played with four or more teams. Of them, 35 hit 16 or more home runs in their career - the minimum number of home runs needed to hit one against each team in the modern pre-expansion era. Of those 35, just seven played for two franchises in the AL and two in the NL: Frank Robinson, Jimmie Foxx, Murray, Orlando Cepeda, Al Simmons, Enos Slaughter and Heinie Manush.

Robinson and Slaughter came the closest, falling one team shy of homering against all clubs of their era - leaving Murray, for now, in a class by himself.

Trevor Hayes is editorial production manager at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Bill Francis

Former big leaguer Ron Blomberg was reunited with an old friend on Tuesday afternoon - a bat that he jokes might have had 50 more hits in it.

But for Blomberg, immortality at the Hall of Fame was well worth the trade.

Blomberg was in Cooperstown working with a film crew from the YES Network on a program involving the history of the designated hitter. Blomberg made history when his New York Yankees visited the Boston Red Sox for the season opener on April 6, 1973 and he became the first designated hitter used in a regular season game. After the game, he donated his bat to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

"People don't realize when we played they gave us (only) two dozen bats right before the season," said Blomberg in an interview soon after arriving. "And that was a bat that I knew was going to have a lot of hits in it. But it's great to give back to the game of baseball."

Blomberg didn't know what to expect when approached by the Yankees before the game about serving as a DH in the game.

"It was a very unusual day because in 1972 I was coming off a pretty good year, and then in 1973 I pulled a hamstring down in spring training," Blomberg said. "Our manager, Ralph Houk, and coaches Dick Howser and Elston Howard asked me on the flight from Fort Lauderdale up to Boston if instead of going out on the field could I, because of the pulled hamstring, be the DH. I said, 'What is it?' I thought it was a glorified pinch hitter to be honest with you. They said just (go) up to bat four or five times, try and knock in a few runs.

"Unfortunately we lost 15-5, but I got to be the first designated hitter."

Highly recruited in both football and basketball, Blomberg was drafted first overall out of his Georgia high school by the Yankees in the 1967 amateur draft. But injuries to his knees and shoulders ravaged what could have been a very successful career in the major leagues.

Looking back on his eight-year big league career, the lefty-swinging first baseman/right fielder/DH has no regrets.

"I got lucky. One AB (at bat) got me into the Hall, one AB got me into every newspaper and magazine in the country," said Blomberg, who does a lot of motivational and corporate speaking these days. "Everywhere I go two things happen - people know who I am because I was the first DH or they think I'm related to (New York City) Mayor Bloomberg.

"The funny part about it is to be able to be the first, and after 38 years people still remember. Fifty percent of the people love it but 50 percent of the people hate it," Blomberg said of the designated hitter.

"It's really been a fun ride, I really enjoy it. I got in the Hall of Fame the back door rather than the front door."

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

Tina Carey stood up from her chair at the Hall of Fame’s Giamatti Research Center and identified herself as the granddaughter of Max Carey.

But for anyone who knew or had seen pictures of the Hall of Fame centerfielder of the Pirates and Dodgers, no introduction was necessary.

“I’ve got his eyebrows and his chin,” said Tina, pouring over pictures of Max from the Hall of Fame’s archive. “Look how young he looks in these. My memories of him are all when he was in his 70s.”

Tina Carey came to Cooperstown on Monday from her home in Virginia , bringing with her warm memories of her famous grandfather. Tina’s father, Donald F. Carey, was one of Max’s three children – born in 1925, the year Max and his Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series. Donald Carey passed away last year.

Tina was born in 1961 – the year Max was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“My grandfather moved to Miami Beach right after he left baseball,” said Tina, whose famous relative retired as a player following the 1929 season before managing the Dodgers in 1932 and 1933. “I remember that in his house in Miami he had this little room plastered with all the photos and clippings from his career. I’d sit on a chair in that room and we’d watch baseball games on TV.”

Max Carey passed away in 1976 following a career working in the dog racing industry. His big league baseball career began in 1910 with the Pirates – but was almost derailed by a higher calling.

“He was in seminary school to become an Episcopalian minister, but he just loved baseball,” Tina said. “He never made more than $16,000 a year as a ballplayer, and he lost more than $100,000 in the 1929 stock market crash. But he was very smart with his money, and very smart on the field.”

Max Carey was a fleet-footed centerfielder, stealing 738 bases (still ninth on the all-time list) while leading the National League 10 times, banging out 2,665 hits and leading the league in putouts nine times. Later, Carey managed in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and also served as the league president.

But for Tina Carey, Max George Carey was more than a ballplayer. He was grandpa.

“He believed in fundamental baseball: Getting on base any way possible and not swinging for the fences,” Tina Carey said. “He would have been successful in anything he did. It’s wonderful to see his history here at the Hall of Fame.”

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Jim Gates

Scout units across the country will be celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America throughout the 2010 calendar year. Those of us who live in upstate New York recently saw a jamboree of more than 650 scouts, hosted by the Otschodela Council, which recognized this centenary under the leadership of Troop 1 of nearby Unadilla, N.Y.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame has also been involved with scouting for several years, as we sponsor a special patch via the Otschodela Council which Scouts earn by completing a scavenger hunt during their visit to the Museum. Throughout the year, we see scout units from all corners of the country working on the patch, and we recently hosted a group from Troop 28 of Chatham, N.J. This unit, headed up by Scoutmaster Steve Woodall, arrived in the area on Friday evening, May 21st, and spent the night at the local scouting reservation, Camp Henderson. 

They were up bright an early on Saturday morning for a day-long visit to the Hall of Fame, and as it just so happens they found the date of their visit to coincide with our special World Series Championship weekend. Many members of this Troop are die-hard Yankees fans, and in addition to earning the patch, they had their photo taken with the 2009 New York Yankees World Series Trophy.

Troop 28 also received a behind-the-scenes tour courtesy of yours truly, who serves as a Scoutmaster for Cooperstown Troop 1254. The unit was able to learn about the archive operation, both how we take care of material and how we build the collection. As part of their visit, the boys had the chance to wear the white gloves and hold one of the bats from our collection, this one being a Derek Jeter model from 1998.

Following their day in Cooperstown, Troop 28 returned to Camp Henderson for another night of camping out, before heading to Howe Caverns on Sunday and then the drive back home to New Jersey.  We hope that this visit is one which they will all remember for many years to come. 

Scout units interested in learning more about the Hall of Fame patch are encouraged to contact the Otschodela Council.  We look forward to seeing you in Cooperstown.

Jim Gates is the librarian of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library.

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By Samantha Carr

Ben Nelson grew up an Atlanta Braves fan and always figured he would make a trip to Cooperstown if longtime Braves third baseman Chipper Jones gets elected.

Nelson's new bride decided that was too long to wait.

"You never know what will happen in the future and if we would be able to go, so I figured let's not wait," said Elyse Nelson.

Ben and Elyse made the trip from Waynesboro, Ga., to Cooperstown for their honeymoon and a VIP Experience at the Baseball Hall of Fame. They were married on May 15th and share a love for the game.

"I grew up playing baseball and have been a huge fan of the history of the game. I have always wanted to come here," said Ben. "And Elyse grew up playing softball since the tee ball stage and had a brother who played."

The newlyweds began their trip in New York City with a stay in Times Square and drove to Cooperstown to take in baseball history.

"Knowing how much history is in this building is just amazing," said Ben. "There are artifacts from some of the greatest players of the game, like Mickey Mantle. I never got to see him play, but I can see the uniform he played in."

"We really got a kick out of the plaques," said Elyse. "That was what we expected to see when we came here, but there is really so much more history here. And it is so close you can almost touch it."

A VIP Experience package is a behind-the-scenes fan package at the Baseball Hall of Fame. It begins with exclusive after-hours access to the Hall of Fame on a Thursday evening and wrap up on a Friday afternoon with a private reception. In between fans receive a Library archive tour and Museum collections artifact presentation.

The Museum has partnered with Cooperstown accommodations to offer this unique package with the next select dates scheduled for October 2010 through May 2011. For more information, contact the Membership Department at 607-547-0397.

Samantha Carr is the manager of web and digital media at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Trevor Hayes

Through a quarter of the season, we're starting to stretch our legs. He's what's been historically notable over the last week.
 
Rockie reaching high: Rarified air is where Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez spends his time these days. On Thursday, the Colorado hurler threw seven innings, allowing just one hit while blanking the Astros. The first eight-game winner this season, he commands a 0.99 ERA through nine starts. Only Fernando Valenzuela (8-1, 0.91) during Fernandomania in 1981 and Hall of Famer Juan Marichal in 1966 (8-0, 0.69) have won eight of their first nine and posted ERAs below 1.00 since the expansion era began.

Angel all over: An inside-the-parker and the old 8-2-6-3 triple play. Angel Pagan was busy Wednesday in Washington. Playing center field for the Mets, he is only the second player to achieve the rare double feat in the last 55 years. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Phillies shortstop Ted Kazanski initiated a triple play and hit an inside-the-park homer on Sept. 25, 1955 against the New York Giants. Each of Kazanski's play has a Cooperstown connection. His inside-the-parker was the result of an outfield collision between Hall of Famer Willie Mays and Dusty Rhodes, and the liner he caught to start a 6-4-3 triple play ended the inning, the game, the season and Hall of Famer Leo Durocher's tenure as Giants manager. The Phils-Giants game was also the last time a team pulled a triple play and hit an inside-the-park homer in the same game. Interestingly enough, the game Pagan hit his first career inside-the-park homer also featured a triple play, when Philadelphia's Eric Brunlett converted an unassisted triple play to end the game - a moment preserved by the Hall of Fame with Brunlett's jersey on display in Today's Game.

A-Rod passes Robby in style: Alex Rodriguez is now cruising towards 600 homers after passing Hall of Famer Frank Robinson last Friday. But his 587th blast was a bit unusual, as an intentional walk to load the bases preceded A-Rod's homer. The last time he came to the plate after an intentional walk - in 2009 - he retaliated with a grand slam against the Rays in the season finale. The Twins tried it last Friday night and the result was the same.

Trevor Hayes is editorial production manager at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Samantha Carr

Generally speaking, first baseman are not known for their speed. Hall of Famer Frank Chance was an exception to that rule, once stealing a league-leading 67 bases in just 125 games in 1903.

But All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player Dorothy Kamenshek didn’t just steal more bases, she shattered Chance’s number. Kamenshek, also known as “Dottie” or “Kammie,” stole 109 bases in 107 games in 1946.

Kamenshek passed away Monday at the age of 84. She was considered by many the greatest women’s baseball player ever.

“Kammie had no weakness,” said fellow AAGPBL player Lavone “Pepper” Paire Davis. “She hit left-handed line drives and was a complete ballplayer.”

In 10 years with the league (1943-1951, 1953), Kamenshek led the league in batting twice (1946 and 1947) and stands as the league’s all-time batting leader with a .282 lifetime average.

“I'm not one for statistics, really,” Kamenshek once said. “I never paid any attention to that. I didn't consider myself an individual player, team victories were more important to me.”

She spent her whole career with the Rockford Peaches. She was selected to play in the All-Star Game in each of the seven seasons during her career that a game was held.

It wasn’t just women who were impressed by Kamenshek.

Yankees first baseman Wally Pipp called her “the fanciest-fielding first-baseman I've ever seen, man or woman” after seeing her play.

She was even offered a contract with the minor league baseball club in Fort Lauderdale in 1947. She turned down the offer because she thought it was a publicity stunt. Kamenshek led her team to four league championships and retired in 1953 after suffering back injuries.

The Baseball Hall of Fame has files of clippings and photos of Kamenshek in its collections, and her memory lives on in the Diamond Dreams exhibit on the second floor of the Museum.

Samantha Carr is the manager of web and digital media at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Trevor Hayes

The last week has been a historical one in many respects and will certainly go down as an important one in the 2010 memory bank.
 
Tex and Lou: The Sox-Yankees feud adds a new layer each year. This year’s latest notable? Mark Teixeira's three-homer game on Saturday matched Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig’s as the only Yankees’ three-homer effort against Boston. Gehrig’s barrage came in an 11-4 win at Fenway Park on June 23, 1927. Since 1920, Bronx Bombers have recorded 22 games with three or more homers.

Just one cycle: On May 14, 2009, the majors had already witnessed three cycles with a fourth to come in a little more than a week. This season only Milwaukee's Jody Gerut has accomplished the feat, with his cycle last Saturday. Last season a record-tying eight cycles were hit, artifacts of which can be seen – along with Gerut’s bat from the first home run in Citi Field history – in the Today’s Game exhibit at the Hall of Fame.

Third knuckler to 2,000: With his fourth-inning K of Vernon Wells on Wednesday, Tim Wakefield achieved his 2,000th major-league strikeout. Phil Niekro and Charlie Hough are the only other knucklers above the 2,000-mark, with the Hall of Famer at 3,342 and Hough at 2,362. At the age of 43 years, 283 days, Wakefield became the second-oldest pitcher to reach the 2,000-strikeout mark. The only older pitcher to reach the milestone was Jamie Moyer at 44 years, 145 days in 2007.

Following Perfection: Dallas Braden’s media whirlwind is over and his artifacts are in Cooperstown, so what’s next after tossing the major’s 18th regular-season perfect game last Sunday? Less than a year ago, Mark Buehrle threw a perfecto against the same Tampa Bay Rays Braden faced – making it the shortest time span separating a pair of perfect games since Worcester's Lee Richmond against Cleveland (the first perfect game) and Providence's Hall of Famer John Montgomery Ward versus Buffalo, which happened within a week in 1880 – and then retired the 17 batters he faced in his next start. Coupled with the final batter of his start prior to the perfect game, Buehrle set the record for consecutive hitters retired. Braden has his chance to keep perfection going tonight against the Angels in a 10:05 ET start in Los Angeles. “To have something of mine taking up space in that beautiful hall is pretty nice," said Braden, who visited Cooperstown a few years ago.

Celebrating Civil Rights: Hall of Famer Joe Morgan will be back in Cincinnati this weekend for the annual Civil Rights Game – which this year features the Cardinals and Reds. The former second baseman for the Big Red Machine is helping kick off the event with a roundtable discussion on the state of race relations. Also among the festivities held at the Freedom Center and the Reds Hall of Fame are a meet-and-greet event with former Negro leagues players and a special exhibition of Jackie Robinson artifacts, including a game-worn jerseys, a Robinson bat and a ticket stub from the April 15, 1947, game in which Robinson broke the color barrier for the Dodgers.

Trevor Hayes is editorial production manager at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

Charley Walters walked into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Friday like hundreds of other tourists.

But unlike most other visitors, Walters found a piece of his own history inside the Museum walls.

Walters, a sports columnist for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, stopped in Cooperstown to visit the home of baseball. An award-winning journalist, Walters is also a former big leaguer - having pitched in six games with the Minnesota Twins in 1969.

"It wasn't much of a career," Walters said.

Nonetheless, a clippings file detailing Walters' baseball life is preserved at the Hall of Fame - just like each of the more than 17,000 other men who have played Major League Baseball. And the Museum's photo archive also contains shots of Walters - a fact that shocked the former fastballer from Minneapolis.

"I can't believe you have this one," said Walters of a photo of himself in uniform with the Washington Senators, a team he was traded to in 1970 but for which Walters never appeared in a regular-season game. "I didn't even know this existed."

Walters signed with the Twins in 1966 following a tryout camp and made Minnesota's Opening Day roster in 1969. He debuted on April 11 of that year against the Angels, and was unscored upon in his first five appearances before being charged with four runs in one-and-a-third innings on May 14 against Baltimore - his last big league game.

"I had a great fastball, but no curve," Walters said. "Billy Martin (the Twins manager in 1969) loved me, though, because I threw hard and threw inside."

Walters spent the rest of the 1969 season in the minors, but did pick up $1,600 (a quarter playoff share) when the Twins won the American League West. He was traded to the Senators in the spring of 1970 in a deal for outfielder Brant Alyea.

"I always wanted to be a journalist, so when my playing career was done I went back to the University of Minnesota and got my degree," said Walters, who went on to become a beat writer for the Twins. "I always thought being a baseball writer was like a fairy tale: Every day was a new adventure."

For Walters, however, the real adventure came Friday in Cooperstown.

"This is just wonderful, seeing all the history here," Walters said. "It's incredible to see something like this photo of me in the Hall of Fame."

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Freddy Berowski

What a difference a year makes.

Last Mother's Day, A's pitcher Dallas Braden was hit with a line drive off the bat of Vernon Wells as part of a losing effort against the Toronto Blue Jays. But on Mother's Day 2010, with his grandmother looking on from the stands, Dallas Braden pitched the 19th perfect game in big league history.

Mixing his slider and change-up with his mid-80's fastball, Braden did to the Tampa Bay Rays what he usually does: Throw strikes. Perhaps the hardest hit ball of the day was Jason Bartlett's line out to third leading off the game. By the fifth inning, the Rays were doing everything they could to try and get a man on, including their clean-up hitter, Evan Longoria who attempted to bunt his way on. But the powerful Rays lineup was silenced.

Braden's feat marked the first time in history that a pitcher has thrown a perfect game against the team with the best record in the majors.

Already in Cooperstown from the perfect game are a game ball and the spikes Braden wore during his gem. These items will join Mark Buehrle's jersey and the game ball from his perfect game last July 23, as well as other artifacts in the Hall of Fame's collection relating to baseball's greatest pitching feat.

There is no question that a pitcher with only 17 career victories has just as much chance of pitching a perfect game as anyone else in the big leagues. In fact, two players, Charlie Robertson of the White Sox and Lee Richmond of the Worcester Ruby Legs - the author of baseball's first perfect game - had fewer major league wins at the time of their perfectos than Braden did. From Hall of Famers and All-Stars to journeyman and guys that didn't really pan out, the roster of pitchers that have thrown perfect games has them all.

There have been approximately 391,300 games played in Major League history. Of these 391,300 games, only .0000485% have been perfect.

Freddy Berowski is a library associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Bill Francis

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A half hour before the 7:05 p.m. start of Friday night's game, traffic was backed up a mile away from the ballpark. A broadcaster on a local radio station said the game might be pushed back some 10 minutes to allow more fans to get inside. All due to a record-setting crowd on hand in anticipation of baseball's latest phenom.

The distance between the upstate New York outposts of Syracuse and Cooperstown is about 66 miles. If projections prove true, baseball's latest pitching sensation, Stephen Strasburg, currently learning his craft in the Salt City, might one day find himself with a plaque that short distance down the New York State Thruway at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The 6-foot-5, 225 pound Strasburg, the first overall pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft by the Washington Nationals, was making only his sixth professional start as well as his Triple-A debut for the Syracuse Chiefs against the visiting Gwinnett Braves on Friday night. The 21-year-old right-hander proved more than prepared, going six innings while allowing one hit and one walk in the 7-0 win. When it was all over, he had faced just 20 batters, striking out six, in his 65 pitches.

"It felt pretty good," said Strasburg after the game to the 30-or-so assembled media that included reporters from USA Today, the Associated Press and The Washington Post. "I was just trying to keep doing what I've been doing, trying to build off of what I learned in Harrisburg and trying to do that up here, and I was able to do that tonight."

Strasburg had made five starts for the Double-A Harrisburg Senators this season, in which he compiled a 3-1 record and 1.64 ERA in 22 innings.

An announced crowd of 13,766 was on hand at Alliance Bank Stadium that chilly night to see Strasburg, a record attendance for a professional baseball game in Syracuse dating back to 1876.

"It's great to be pitching in front of a sellout crowd," Strasburg said. "Everybody was really excited, and you can tell a lot of the players were ready to play today."

Known for his combination of velocity and control, Strasburg was armed with a fastball that topped out at 99 miles per hour this night. Also in his arsenal are a knee-bending curve, sinker and changeup.

"The bottom line is you can't really worry about what caliber of hitter you're facing," Strasburg said. "You have to worry about what's in your control and that's executing the pitches to the best of your ability. Good pitches should get good hitters out, bottom line.

"I've got six starts under my belt, five in Double-A, and I'm starting to get comfortable."

According to Strasburg's catcher, Carlos Maldonado, he wasn't shook off once by his new teammate.

"That's what was fun about it. I just called the game. I put my fingers down and he executed every pitch," Maldonado said. "He was like what I was expecting. It was fun to catch him in the bullpen; it was fun to catch him in the game. Every pitch was working for him today."

Might Strasburg one day join his former coach at San Diego State, Tony Gwynn, as a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame? He joins a long line of young fireballers that have dotted the national pastime's history. Some have ultimately succeeded like Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan; others have flamed out for one reason or another such as Steve Dalkowski, David Clyde and Mark Prior. 

"This game is not easy," Strasburg said. "I'm happy with where I'm at. I'll let you guys place a timetable for that. Right now I'm happy to be in Syracuse and happy to be learning from these guys.

"Personally, I'm not going to make any expectations for myself. This is my first year. I'm just going out there to learn. A lot of these coaches and players have a lot more games under their belt than I do and I'm trying to soak it all in and just become a better player and help whatever team I'm on win some ballgames."

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Jeff Idelson

I spent last night in Fenway Park enjoying the final game of a three-game series between the Red Sox and their rival, the New York Yankees. There's no bigger rivalry in baseball and it ranks among the all-time greats in professional sports.

There were four Hall of Famers in the house: Joe Morgan, in town to broadcast on ESPN with 2010 Ford C. Frick Award winner Jon Miller; Jim Rice, a fixture at Fenway as a pre and post-game analyst for the Red Sox' cable rightsholder, NESN; Pudge Fisk, in town to spend a few days in the Red Sox Legends Suite, entertaining clients for the Red Sox, and Orlando Cepeda.

Orlando, or Cha-Cha as he's known in baseball circles, was in town for an event with EMC2, a worldwide leader in digital data storage. Orlando flew cross country from the Bay Area and made his first visit to the Fenway since 1987, 14 years after making history as the first designated hitter in Red Sox history in 1973.

Since he was already at the ballpark, Cha-Cha was asked to participate in a pre-game ceremony on Mother's Day Sunday. He was to don a Red Sox jersey - with his number, 25, on the back, and a dark blue Red Sox cap -- and escort a cancer-surviving mom to the mound and deliver the first pitch baseball to her so she could throw it out prior to the game.

Before the event, Orlando, Pudge, Red Sox manager Terry Francona, Hall of Fame PR Chief Brad Horn and I sat in the dugout for a few minutes and exchanged some banter.

"Orlando! What are you doing here? Can you still hit?" Francona asked the 1999 Hall of Fame inductee who hit 20 home runs in 1973 for Boston.  "I don't think so, my knee is not too good," Cepeda said smiling. "How about you Pudge? Can you catch a few innings?" Fisk just rolled his eyes and chuckled.

Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez came out of the tunnel, and Francona introduced his starting catcher to the two legends. Martinez' eyes lit up. 

Next was Kevin Youkilis. "What size bat did you use, Orlando?" asked Youk. When told that he swung a Louisville Slugger B83 model, weighing 40-ounces, the Red Sox infielder raised his eyebrows in disbelief, then turned to Francona and said: "Can you imagine swinging something that big against the fireballer (Nefti Feliz) from Texas?"

Francona wanted to know who the fastest pitcher was that Cepeda faced. Without thinking twice, Cha-Cha stated, "Nolan Ryan, but there were so many others.  Bob Veale.  So many."

"How about Marichal?" asked Francona.  "He threw around 92," Cepeda replied.

Fisk swung Youkilis's Mother's Day pink bat and marveled at the feel of it.

Cepeda walked down the dugout to meet Dustin Pedroia, who grew up near his home in Fairfield, Calif. They talked about living in the Bay Area.  Then David Oritz came into the dugout and the two power hitters exchanged hugs. 

"I loved to watch your dad, Tito, hit," Cepeda told Francona.

Francona smiled and told Orlando: "He loved watching you hit too. You and Rico Carty were the two guys who really could hit the ball hard."  "And Yaz," said Cepeda.  "He swung harder than anyone I know."

As the pregame ceremony started, Orlando left the dugout for the field. I wondered if the 15 minutes of levity helped the Red Sox at all as the team salvaged the final game of the Series with New York.

Jeff Idelson is president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Gabriel Schechter

It's always a pleasant surprise when an ex-player or his family drops in at the Hall of Fame's Giamatti Research Center. That was the case on May 5 when August "Gus" Suhr Jr. and his wife Ann visited for a half-hour.

Gus' father enjoyed a distinguished 11-year career in the majors, mostly as the regular first baseman of the 1930s Pittsburgh Pirates, driving in over 100 runs three times and playing in 822 consecutive games, still 10th-best all-time.

The Suhrs looked through his father's clipping and photo files and found one important photo he had never seen, taken when his parents were still engaged. His father enjoyed a long life of 98 years, but his mother died when he was a teenager.

Gus Suhr Jr. played three seasons in the minors. As a first baseman for Modesto in the California League in 1954, he hit two home runs - both in the same inning! We found an entry about that feat in the annual Spalding Guide, and he told us about batting against Don Drysdale and another righty named Valdez who was even tougher (at the time).

A charming couple, the Suhrs left the Library with an envelope full of clippings, a copy of his parents' photo, the California League statistics - and a lot of great memories.

Gabriel Schechter is a library associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By John Odell

If you get to Cooperstown after Memorial Day this year, one artifact you may want to see is the home plate in Doug Harvey's induction case.

The plate comes from Harvey's last game as an umpire, Oct. 4, 1992, at the Astrodome. Appropriately, Harvey was behind the plate for his finale, calling the balls and strikes in the Astros' 3-0 victory over the Dodgers. Unbeknownst to Harvey, his wife Joy contacted the Astros and asked if they would ship the plate to her after the game. They did, sending it in honor of his 31 years as an arbiter, and Joy gave it to him as a Christmas present that year. The Harveys generously loaned the plate for his induction case, and we are pleased to display it.

Joy noted with regret that they did not have any artifacts from his first game, April 10, 1962, which was also the first Opening Day at Dodger Stadium. Fortunately, our own collections are filling this gap.

In 1975, Duke Cameron, a resident of southern California, donated his $2.50 reserved seat ticket from that game to the Hall of Fame. Fans who attended that "grand opening" saw four future Hall of Famers: outfielder Frank Robinson of the visiting Cincinnati Reds, Duke Snider in his last year as a Dodger, home plate umpire Al Barlick (who was already a legend) and Harvey at third base, the traditional place to start a rookie because so few close calls are necessary there. So in the Harvey exhibit case will be artifacts representing the beginning and the end of one of the most notable umpiring careers in all of baseball.

John Odell is the curator of history and research at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

The Dec. 6 Veterans Committee meetings had just broken up when Tom Seaver pulled me aside.

"Where's my cameraman? I want you to take a photo of me with this gentleman," Seaver said, pointing to fellow Hall of Famer and Veterans Committee member Robin Roberts.

With my palms sweating as the camera focused on 597 big league victories, I pressed the button then showed the image to Seaver.

"I'm keeping this one," said Tom Terrific, turning to Roberts to start a conversation about pitching, hitting and the craft of baseball.

It seemed whenever Robin Roberts was around, those in his company knew that it was a special moment.

The world lost a legend on Thursday morning when Roberts passed away at age 83. With him went a large part of an era - a time when pitchers completed their starts and rarely missed their turn in the rotation. Roberts was one of the best at both, posting 305 complete games (the most of any pitcher who began his big league career after World War II) and never missing a start in the 1950s.

But he was more than just his numbers. A member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's Board of Directors and a frequent participant in Museum programs, Roberts exhibited an easy-going quality that helped others relax around a baseball immortal.

Sitting next to him after snapping the picture, I got the feeling that this was a man that was truly comfortable in his own skin.

We should all be so lucky.

Thank you, Tom, for your foresight in asking for a picture. And thank you, Robin, for letting us know the true meaning of the world "gentleman."

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

Vanessa Dawson watched carefully Tuesday as her husband toured the Baseball Hall of Fame, preparing herself for a hectic Induction Weekend less than three months away.

But during a film retrospective of her husband's career, the enormity of it all set in.

The stoic and regal Andre Dawson, one of the game's leading citizens for more than three decades, took his Orientation Tour on Tuesday in preparation for his July 25 induction. Dawson, who spent 21 big league seasons with the Expos, Cubs, Red Sox and Marlins, was making his fourth-ever visit to the Hall of Fame - but this time he arrived as an electee. Hall of Fame officials spent the morning preparing Andre and Vanessa for what is to come in July, then showed the Dawsons the Museum in the afternoon.

At the end of the tour, Andre and Vanessa were treated to a video summary of his career, complete with commentary from other Hall of Famers. When the lights went up, Vanessa was moved to tears - overwhelmed by the tribute to her Hall of Fame husband.

"I was driven by discipline that was instilled in me through women who were my mentors - being my mother (Mattie Brown), my grandmother (Eunice Taylor) and then my wife," Andre Dawson said.

That discipline brought Andre Dawson the 1977 National League Rookie of the Year Award, the 1987 NL MVP Award, eight Gold Gloves for his play in the outfield and eight All-Star Game selections. And now, it has brought him to Cooperstown.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Samantha Carr

Larry Cooper has been a volunteer baseball coach at Martinsburg, West Virginia, High School for 20 years. During that time, he has developed the motto: “Kids don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”

It is this kind of effort in his volunteer work and professional life that earned Cooper a very special honor upon his retirement from government work after 32 years.

“When I received my retirement, my coworker told me that there would be a flag flown at the Baseball Hall of Fame for me – and it really blew my mind,” he said.

On Dec. 11, 2009, Cooper’s flag was flown at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown in honor of his hard work, the compassionate way he went about his life and the effort he put into each person who entered it. On Friday, his wife Anita accompanied him to the Hall of Fame to receive a certificate for the honor.

“I think knowing that I’ve spent my years playing sports and working with kids that this is the perfect place to fly it,” he said. “Plus – my name is Cooper.”

Cooper is the son of a minister and has worked with kids his whole life. His coworkers felt that the Hall of Fame’s values of integrity and character matched well with Cooper’s work.

“I believe if you plant a seed and work with the seed, you’ll get the tree you want,” Cooper said. “Years from now I want to be the person the kids cross the street to see, not the one they cross the street to avoid.

Cooper has a collection of over 200 minor league ball caps in a museum-like room at his home, acquired over the years during his work with kids. His Martinsburg team, who won the state championship last year, is playing on Doubleday Field in Cooperstown Friday and Saturday and Cooper will be in uniform, coaching them along.

When the team arrives home in West Virginia, Cooper will have something new to add to his baseball room.

Samantha Carr is the manager of web and digital media at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Steve Light

One-Hundred years after Baseball’s Sad Lexicon (“Tinkers, to Evers, to Chance”), baseball remains a sport that lends itself to poetic musings. With this in mind, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum celebrated National Poetry Month last week by asking our visitors to express their love of baseball in poetic form.

Visitors to the Museum were greeted with signs that asked, “What is Baseball to You?” After completing their tour through the Museum, many no doubt reliving and sharing their own baseball memories along the way, visitors could stop in the Education Gallery and record their own thoughts in special poetry journals set out for the week, or simply flip through and read what others had to say.

In all, we collected over 80 entries of poems and prose during the week, from young and old, Red Sox fans to Yankee fans. Taken in whole, our visitor entries get at the heart of what it means to be a baseball fan, and why it’s more than just a sport for many. As a Sox fan from Worcester wrote:

Baseball is History.
Common stories,
celebration, and disappointment,
always with the promise
of next year’s resurrection.

We thought we would share some of the collected poems here on our blog. Read them.

So, what is baseball to you?

Stephen Light is manager of museum programs at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

Whitey Herzog leaned forward in his chair to get a closer look at the outfielder crashing into the Yankee Stadium fence.

"I ended up with 57 stitches, but I caught that ball," said Herzog. "To this day, Yogi still reminds me that he would have had 359 career home runs if I had just let it go."

The photo, part of the collection of more than 500,000 at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, showed Herzog as a Baltimore Oriole right fielder in 1961 as he robbed Yogi Berra of a hit. It will be a one of many stories told again this summer as Berra - along with more than 50 other living Hall of Famers - helps welcome Herzog into the Hall of Fame.

Herzog took his Hall of Fame Orientation Tour on Monday in preparation for his July 25 induction. Along with Andre Dawson and Doug Harvey, Herzog will be enshrined as the Class of 2010 in Cooperstown.

Monday's tour gave Herzog a chance to look behind the scenes at the Hall of Fame, and the former reserve outfielder for the Senators, Athletics, Orioles and Tigers seemed overwhelmed when he considered his surroundings.

"You know, I got a bigger bonus than Mickey Mantle when I signed with the Yankees," said Herzog, who began his playing career in 1949 as a Yankee farmhand. "That's the only time I ever made more money than Mickey."

However, as a manager, Herzog had few peers and was widely regarded as one of the best in the game. Herzog led his team's to six postseason berths in 18 seasons, winning National League pennants in 1985 and 1987 with the Cardinals and the 1982 World Series with the Redbirds.

He is just the 19th former big league manager elected to Cooperstown.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Bill Francis

As founder, chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures, Thomas Tull has been responsible for some of the most popular films of the past half dozen years. So maybe it's appropriate that the first movie produced by this baseball fan's company was Batman Begins.

Tull, born and raised in Binghamton, N.Y., less than 70 miles from Cooperstown, visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Friday afternoon with his wife Alba and stepson Bret. During a break in the family's tour, Tull talked about what brought him to the home of the National Pastime.

"I haven't been here in over a decade, which is a travesty," Tull said. "Living in Los Angeles it's a little tougher, but I was in New York on business and just thought with the start of the season and everything that I had to get over here.

"For me, it's the connective fabric between the past, today and the fact that you guys are such amazing custodians of the game. Baseball, I think more than any other sport, has a reverence for the past - records, statistics - and it's all here under one roof."

Tull, 39, estimates that he has been to the Hall of Fame 10 times over the years, the first when he was brought by an uncle at the age of nine.

"I remember being excited to see everything but not quite having an appreciation for the plaques and the older players," he said. "I've always been in awe of the Hall of Fame. This place is absolute hallowed ground for me."

A multi-sport athlete at Maine-Endwell High School, Tull had the rare opportunity to play baseball a few times on Cooperstown's historic Doubleday Field. An outfielder, he continued his ball playing at nearby Hamilton College, eventually getting a tryout with the Atlanta Braves where, he joked, he was "not quite good enough to get a paycheck for it, so that's why I keep on hanging around places like these."

Besides Batman Begins (2005), other Legendary Pictures productions include Superman Returns (2006), 300 (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), Watchmen (2009), The Hangover (2009) and the recently released Clash of the Titans (2010).

"Since I was a little boy I've been a total movie geek, so it's a real privilege to do it. We make movies that I want to see, and when that stops working that I'll be done with that," Tull said. "Sometimes it's a lot of pressure, but at the same time I get to work with some amazing directors like Chris Nolan and Zack Snyder."

According to Tull, who counts The Natural as one of has favorite all-time films, he can see one day making a baseball movie.

"As far as baseball, I would love to do that if I could find the right story. Jackie Robinson is a story I think needs to be told," he said. "I would love to make a baseball movie if we could find the right story just because I'm so passionate about the game."

A Yankee rooter since childhood, with third baseman Graig Nettles a favorite, Tull is also a football fan and part-owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"I love sports and I'm unbelievably fortunate," Tull said. "I sometimes feel like I'm Forrest Gump, like I just kind of wander in. It's pretty great."

Though his allegiance lies with the Bronx Bombers, and he makes it to as many Yankee games as possible, he does have season tickets for the Los Angeles Dodgers "just because it's baseball and it's in town."

As for why baseball still has this pull on him after all these years, Tull explained that "every spring I walk near a field and you can smell the dirt in the air. There's something unbelievably poetic about it in a way."

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Freddy Berowski

The New York Mets have a history of playing in some very long games. In fact, the Mets have played in three of the four longest games in National League history. 

The most notable long Mets games, however, have come in the postseason. On Oct. 15, 1986, the Mets beat the Houston Astros to clinch the NL pennant in a game that lasted 16 innings and went nearly five hours. Another came on Oct. 17, 1999 when Robin Ventura's "grand slam single" won a near-six hour, 15-inning affair in Game Five of the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves.

This past Saturday, April 17, the Mets and Cardinals played the fourth-longest game in National League history at six hours and 53 minutes. In terms of innings, it was the 46th game in Major League history to go at least 20 innings, and was also one of a very few games to remain scoreless through 18 innings. Mixed into the game were:

• Seven brilliant innings by Mets ace Johan Santana
• Jason Bay and Jeff Francoeur, arguably the Mets' best hitters, going a combined 0-14
• A terrific play by Luis Castillo to tag out Ryan Ludwick, who was attempting to steal with nobody out and Albert Pujols at the plate in the bottom of the 19th
• Raul Valdes not sliding and being thrown out attempting to take second base on an errant throw in the top of the 18th
• Relief pitchers batting behind Albert Pujols multiple times in extra frames, resulting in two intentional walks to the Cardinals slugger
• And the Cardinals being forced to use position players on the hill in the 18th, 19th and 20th innings. It was in the 20th that Jose Reyes drove in the game winner when his sac fly plated Angel Pagan. The batting gloves that Reyes used are on their way to the Hall of Fame.     

The longest scoreless game played to a conclusion came on April 15, 1968 and it also involved the Mets. The Astros broke a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the 24th inning on an error by New York shortstop Al Weis to give Houston the 1-0 victory.

On May 31, 1964, the Mets fell to the San Francisco Giants in 23 innings in seven hours and 23 minutes, the longest game in National League history. The game ended at 11:25 PM, and, the Mets and Giants played 32 innings of ball that day as the 23-inning game was the second game of a doubleheader.

At seven hours and four minutes, the Mets' 4-3 loss to the Cardinals at Shea Stadium on Sept. 11, 1974 was the third-longest game in NL history. The Cardinals scored the winning run in the top of the 25th inning, when an errant pickoff throw and the ensuing comedy of errors allowed Bake McBride to score all the way from first.

The April 17 Mets-Cardinals game ranks as the 33rd longest recorded baseball game ever. The longest was played on July 18, 1926 between two amateur clubs in Mexico - the game lasted 10 hours.

Saturday's game also ranks as the 21st longest professional game; the longest, on April 18, 1981, lasted 8 hours and 25 minutes. The game took place at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings. The 33-inning affair went so long that play was suspended at 4:07 AM, just 53 minutes before dawn. At the time of suspension, 19 fans remained in the ballpark. The game was resumed on June 23 and the Paw Sox promptly scored, winning the game 3-2.

A special thanks to Phil Lowry - Society for American Baseball Research member and author of the book "Green Cathedrals" - for data he provided for this blog entry.

Freddy Berowski is a library associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Samantha Carr

If you ever had a baseball trivia question you couldn't solve, I know one room where you certainly could have found the answer.

Fifty-five researchers filled the Bullpen Theater on Saturday for the Society of American Baseball Research's second annual 19th century baseball research conference held at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

"It is rare to have so many great researchers in one place - and the Hall of Fame is about the only place where they might all come together," said Tim Wiles, director of research for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

This year's conference was named after the late Frederick Ivor-Campbell, a noted researcher on 19th century baseball, who was killed in an automobile accident last year.

"Fred was a spectacular researcher, an exceptionally giving individual, and the kindest and most thoughtful man one could imagine," said Tom Shieber, senior curator at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The keynote speaker of this year's event was Peter Morris, a leading baseball researcher who was recently awarded the inaugural Henry Chadwick Award by the SABR for invaluable contributions to making baseball the game that links America's present with its past.

The author of several books, Morris' "Game of Inches: The Stories Behind the innovations that Shaped the Game" was the only book to win both the Casey Award and the Seymour Medal as the best baseball book of the year in 2006. Morris' keynote address was entitled: "Who Could Play?:  Inclusiveness and Exclusiveness in 19th Century Baseball."

Following the speech, John Thorn - himself the author of several baseball books and influential editor of the classic "Total Baseball" - moderated a panel discussion called "Was Base Ball Really Baseball: Where & How Does the Old Game Survive?" about the newest findings of baseball's roots and origins with researchers David Block, Richard Hershberger, Larry McCray and David Nemec.

In the afternoon, baseball scholar Tom Altherr, frequently a presenter at the annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture - held at the Hall of Fame each year during the first week in June - gave a presentation on baseball as played among slaves in the nineteenth century.

"As a longtime baseball researcher and SABR member, I'm thrilled to be participating in SABR's Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference," said the Hall's Tom Shieber.

Shieber presented artifacts from the famous World Tour of 1888-89 taken by Albert Spalding's Chicago White Stockings.

"It was a pleasure to meet up with the top baseball researchers who have devoted so much of their time and effort to broadening our understanding of baseball's early days."

Samantha Carr is the manager of web and digital media at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Trevor Hayes

Colby Lessmann became a fan of the Hall of Fame on Facebook last week because he wanted to stay in touch. Little did he know that by clicking the "Become a fan" button on www.facebook.com/baseballhall, he'd be getting more than updates on his News Feed.

Lessmann just happened to be Facebook fan number 10,000 - a mark the Hall reached in just over a year after launching on Opening Day 2009. To honor him, the Hall of Fame has given away an individual membership. As a Member, Lessmann receives a subscription to the Hall's bi-monthly Memories and Dreams magazine, a Hall of Fame Yearbook, complimentary admission, a Tom Seaver membership card and lapel pin and a 10 percent discount and free shipping on all purchases through the Hall of Fame store at www.baseballhall.org/shop.

A baseball-lifer, Lessmann has been a fan since his early childhood, continuing to play the game through college and now as an amateur at age 37. He grew up four hours north of Kansas City and watched the glory years of the Royals, led by Hall of Famer George Brett. Many of Brett's heroic feats serve as Lessmann's greatest baseball moments.

"Back in the 80's my family and I went to a Royals game," Lessmann said of his favorite memory. "It turned out Brett had been injured, but he pinch hit in the ninth inning. When he came out on deck the crowd went crazy. He came up and jacked a home run over the right field wall and the stadium went wild."

An ardent Royals fan, he's been to at least one game in K.C. each year since 1979, but growing up in Iowa also provided the chance to easily travel to games in Minnesota and Chicago. As an adult he's taken that passion to a new level and vowed to visit every major league stadium.

"Of course, it is getting more difficult because they keep building new stadiums," Lessmann said. Among his conquests have been the brand new Target Field, Safeco Field, Chase Field, AT&T Park, Comerica Park, Great American Ballpark and 16 others past and present.

He's also writing on the history of baseball in his hometown of Sioux City, Iowa. And After doing some research for the book through the Library, Lessmann sought out the Hall's Facebook page.

"The Research Center at the Hall of Fame helped me out., (so I) wanted to be a fan to show my appreciation for a great museum and research facility" he said. "I have visited the Hall of Fame a few years ago and plan to go back in the future. I went probably 10 years ago when I was in northern New York State.  My favorite memory was viewing all of the old memorabilia of Ruth, Gehrig and other greats. It is a great experience that any baseball fan should pursue."

Now as both a Facebook fan and a Hall of Fame member, he can continue re-living the great moments in baseball history with his connection to the game. Make sure you don't miss out on the Facebook action at www.facebook.com/baseballhall.

Trevor Hayes is the editorial production manager at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Brad Horn

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Minnesota Twins opened a new ballpark on Monday, as Target Field played host to its first official regular-season game, and for the first time since 1981 a major league game took place outdoors in the Twin Cities. The day could not have been more perfect – from the weather, to initial reviews of the stadium, to the reactions of players and those in the stands. The new ballpark is a home run.

Deployed to bring home items to Cooperstown that represented the Twins’ move from the Metrodome, I was honored to be a part of the day, which was filled with so many familiar faces – all who were united in their reverence for a ballpark that has immediately joined the discussion of best ballparks anywhere in the country.

Hall of Fame Senior Vice President Bill Haase and I encountered several members of baseball’s royalty who were simply thrilled to be a part of the moment.  Hall of Famer and Twins legend Rod Carew – along with his wife, Rhonda – and I talked about how the gaps would play for his sweet stroke, and how he might run all day around the bases. Former Twins outfielder Shannon Stewart offered me a contrarian view of the defensive effort that would be required of the new dimensions.

Harmon Killebrew, the “Killer,” and his wife, Nita, enjoyed the beautiful weather conditions and a new era for baseball in Minneapolis with several members of their family, as did fellow Hall of Famer and Twins great Dave Winfield, who along with his brother Steve, watched the game from just past the first base dugout.

As to the game itself, we at the Hall of Fame were fortunate to head home with the ball hit by Boston Red Sox infielder Marco Scutaro, who laced a single to center off Carl Pavano to lead off the game for the first hit at Target Field. A special tip-of-the-cap to home plate umpire Jeff Nelson and crew chief Tim Tschida for pulling the ball out of play to make sure it ended up several hundred miles east of here, in its eternal home in Cooperstown.

The ball came out of play with a three-inch scuff of fresh-cut grass, a substance not found on a baseball in a major league game in Minneapolis in nearly 30 years. It was the perfect treasure for representing a return to outdoor baseball in a city whose passion for the game has, perhaps, never been more intense.

Following the game, Jason Kubel of the Twins pledged the hardwood used to hit the first home run in the history of Target Field, an eighth-inning solo shot to right field off Boston’s Scott Atchison (like me, a TCU Horned Frog, who is one of the best stories of the early season, winning a spot on an Opening Day roster for the first time at age 34 after a previous brief stint with Seattle in 2004 and 2005).

Kubel was honored by our offer to have the bat preserved forever in Cooperstown, but he was convinced that there are a few more bombs left in the bat. So, we happily agreed to take the bat once it dies… and I’m guessing it is going to be remembered as a hero, with a few more big hits in it for Kubel. This would be his second artifact donation to the Hall of Fame, previously donating his helmet from his cycle in 2009.

Before departing Target Field, I made sure to scoop up some infield dirt to commemorate the day to add to our collection in Cooperstown. Mixed in are several cuts of fresh green grass, a perfect tribute to Minneapolis’ triumphant return to outdoor baseball.

Brad Horn is the senior director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Emily Voss

Last week, a class of eighth grade students from Fort Washington, Pa., got quite a surprise when they connected with the Baseball Hall of Fame for Dirt on Their Skirts, a videoconference lesson on women's history as part of the Museum's education program.

If this had been a normal videoconference, the students and I would have spent about an hour discussing 150 years of women who broke barriers to play the National Pastime.

But this videoconference was different.

We reviewed female players of the 19th century, such as Alta Weiss and the Vassar College Resolutes, who played the game long before they had the right to vote. Then, as the lesson brought us into the 20th century, the students were introduced to a very special guest: Dolly Brumfield White, a player from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

At the age of 14, Dolly became one of the youngest players to ever join the AAGPBL when she was signed by the South Bend Blue Sox in 1947. Dolly played in the league from '47 to 1953, not only with the Blue Sox but also with the Kenosha Comets and the Fort Wayne Daisies. She was primarily an infielder, and a tremendous threat at the plate, leading the Comets in hitting in 1951 and finishing second in the league after batting .332 for Fort Wayne in 1953.

Now living in Arkansas, Dolly was in town for the Hall of Fame's Salute to Women in Baseball program which took place on March 27.

The students from Fort Washington, Pa., enjoyed a rare opportunity to find out about the experiences of women in baseball from someone with first-hand knowledge of the subject. Dolly is a great storyteller, and she entertained as well as informed the students with tales from her life in the AAGPBL. The students were able to ask questions of Dolly as well.

Although we can't always promise that our education programs will include former baseball players, we draw upon our remarkable Hall of Fame resources, such as archived audio, video and still images to enhance the experiences of students who connect with us via videoconference.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum currently offers 15 baseball-themed curriculum units to schools nationwide through videoconference programs. The current curriculum units include mathematics, American history, leadership, labor history, fine arts, character education, cultural diversity, communication arts, economics, civil rights, pop culture, geography, industrial technology, science and - of course - women's history.

Learn more about our programs.

Emily Voss is a school programs associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Craig Muder

Someday - 10 to 15 years from now - Monday will be known as the day it became official. The day when the clock started ticking. The day two legends truly began their journey to Cooperstown.

Monday was the day that Albert Pujols and Ichiro Suzuki first became eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Now, don't go marking calendars just yet. Phat Albert and Ichiro have a lot of baseball left to play, and their Hall of Fame eligibility doesn't officially begin until they've been retired for five years. At 36, Ichiro looks like he could play for at least 10 more years. And Pujols just turned 30, leaving him with a real chance to take a crack at 700 home runs and 3,000 hits in the latter part of this decade.

But barring the totally unforeseen, Ichiro and Albert are headed for Cooperstown. And on Opening Day, they cleared their primary eligibility hurdle when they appeared in a game in their 10th season of Major League Baseball.

Both Pujols and Suzuki broke into the majors in 2001, and both became instant stars. Each won their respective league's Rookie of the Year awards that season, and it's been virtually a non-stop success ride from there.

Ichiro has been named to nine straight All-Star Games, has won nine straight Gold Gloves in right field and was the AL MVP in 2001. He set the all-time single-season hit record in 2004 with 262 base hits, and owns nine straight 200-hit seasons - another big league record.

Pujols has been named to eight All-Star Games, has won three NL MVPs (including the last two in a row), owns a Gold Glove at first base and helped the Cardinals win the 2006 World Series.

But until Monday - when Pujols led his Cardinals over the Reds with two home runs and Ichiro went 1-for-4 for the Mariners in their win against the A's, the pair had not satisfied the Hall of Fame requirement of playing at least 10 big league seasons.

It would appear to be the last hurdle on a path that will likely take both to Cooperstown.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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By Samantha Carr

The women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League got their start just like we did. They played baseball in their backyards with their fathers, brothers and friends.

But they didn't realize at the time that playing ball was opening doors for women everywhere then - and in the future to have opportunities to follow their dreams.

Dolly Brumfield White, Sarah Jane "Salty" Ferguson, Joanne McComb and Gloria Elliot participated in a special interview about their memories of playing the AAGPBL on Saturday during the Baseball Hall of Fame's Women's History Month Celebration.

It is hard to imagine that most of these women went to schools that had no sports teams for women. Today, girls are offered varsity level sports in pretty much anything you can think of, as well as recreation leagues, travel teams and tournaments around the country.

"I would've enjoyed school a lot more if there were sports after school," said Elliot.

Now this I can relate to. I remember writing out our lineup and doodling the softball field during science class on the day of a big game.

All four ladies told about how they first got into the league - and although every story was a little different, they all had support to help them get there.

White's mother had to borrow her grandparents' car and drive 60 miles to a tryout at age 13. Ferguson only had to travel to the local park with her father and a scout.

"We just took our gloves and a ball and I threw about five pitches and the scout began walking toward me and my father. I hadn't even touched a bat or anything and I thought: 'Boy, I've done something wrong here.'"

The scout offered her a formal tryout with the league.

"I don't think my feet touched the ground after that," said Ferguson.

Elliot had been working for an insurance company making $30 per week. When the league offered her $50 per week to start and the chance to make up to $100 per week, she jumped at it.

"They didn't have to pay me at all to play ball. But I had a number of men who were playing minor league ball at the time tell me that we were making more money then they were,' said Elliot.

Brumfield was very young during her time in the league and saved most of the money she was making.

"We would get about $3 a day for food and money for rent and we played games seven days a week with doubleheaders on Sundays and holidays, so there wasn't much of an opportunity to spend it."

With her savings, Brumfield was able to put herself through college.

"When I got out of the league and told my dad I wanted to go to college, he said, 'We don't educate girls.' He later apologized to me, but that was the thinking at the time."

The message that all four women gave to mothers and fathers across the globe is simply to support your daughters. It was that support that allowed them to have the opportunity of a lifetime.

The women of the AAGPBL followed a strict code of rules. They attended charm school, were not allowed off the bus without a skirt on and their hair had to be long enough to be seen from under a ballcap.

Quite different than it is today. McComb even remembers being a young girl and playing ball on the street with the boys.

"A neighbor came up to my mother and said, 'Why does your daughter act like that? Why can't she be more ladylike?' My mother never said a word."

Women have come a long way. One of the earliest women's baseball teams, the Vassar College Resolutes who played during the late 1860s to early 1870s, played in long skirts that were thought to be useful in fielding ground balls. But I can't imagine they were easy to move in.

Brumfield, Ferguson, McComb and Elliot all spent their lives helping women earn the opportunities that we have today, all while having careers and families of their own. They volunteered as coaches, began women's sports and recreation teams, helped to establish Title IX and served as trailblazers showing just how much women were capable of.

"The farthest a girl was allowed to run when I was young was a half-mile," said Brumfield. "Running a marathon would have been unthinkable."

Women who play sports today as well as all others who have the opportunity to follow their dreams owe these four women - and the 596 other AAGPBL players - a great deal of thanks.

Samantha Carr is the manager of web and digital media at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

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Like the reporting of pitchers and catchers to spring training, the arrival of Steve Johnson every March signals that winter is coming to an end. He is always a welcome visitor to the Hall of Fame because of his cheerful personality and his devotion to the Hall of Fame Library.

Steve has been a library volunteer since 2003, spending one week each year photocopying clipping files. Many of the more than 20,000 files in the library collection consist of old newspaper clippings which become discolored and brittle with age. It is an ongoing mission of the library to transfer this material onto longer-lasting acid-free paper. That's where Steve comes in.

He retired in 2002 after 29 years as a public school band director, most of those in Oberlin, Ohio. He turned to teaching after two years in the Army as a member of the 101st Airborne Division, where he learned "the importance of discipline, organization, and teamwork, all of which helped me as a teacher and band director." A strong sense of humor also helped; he regrets that he had only one drummer who could time the rim-shots perfectly when he told jokes to the band.

His first visit to Cooperstown was in the early 1980s with his wife, but by the end of that decade they started bringing their children with them to the Hall of Fame every other year en route to vacationing in Maine.

In the late 1990s, Steve stopped in at the Library to inquire about Charlie Berry, a long-time American League umpire who was a friend of his father's. He recalls the time that Berry invited them to the umpires' dressing room at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. Steve was about 10 years old and too shy to ask players for autographs, so Berry grabbed a baseball, marched him into the Indians' locker room, and loudly announced, "Sign the ball, boys, or everything today is a strike!" That became a yearly ritual, and he still has the autographed balls.

At the library, Steve met Hall of Fame Director of Research Tim Wiles, who copied Berry's file for him. They discussed volunteering, and he made his first visit as a volunteer in February 2003. He intends to return yearly "as long as my wife lets me out of the house."

As a Cleveland native and Indians fan, Steve has long focused on copying files of notable Indians, including members of the 1920 and 1948 championship teams. More recently he has copied many files of umpires, who have always interested him since his early experiences with Berry.

The chief appeal of his volunteer work, however, is two-fold. First, he finds himself continually saying "I didn't know that!" As he notes, "Baseball has such great personal histories, and they're uncovered in these files." His second interest is in serving the library's patrons. Before making the actual photocopies, he arranges the clippings in chronological order, and is careful to keep his photocopies neat and organized so that visiting researchers will find what they seek more quickly and efficiently. That's what makes him the ideal volunteer: his mission so closely mirrors what is best about the Library.

Gabriel Schechter is a library associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Bill Francis

A defensive whiz on par with the game's greatest of all time, longtime center fielder Paul Blair fielded numerous questions pertaining to his distinguished big league career when he recently sat down for an interview with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

In Cooperstown on March 20 to greet visitors in line to buy tickets for the second annual Hall of Fame Classic, the 66-year-old Blair will trade in his beloved golf clubs for another chance to get out on the field in the June 20 legends game. Tickets for the Classic are on sale at www.baseballhall.org or by calling 1-866-849-7770.

During a 17-year big league career, spent mainly with the great Baltimore Orioles teams of the late 1960s and 1970s, the eight-time Gold Glove Award winner and four-time World Series champion was known for his play in center field. But, surprisingly, Blair was a shortstop until he signed his first professional contract.

"I went to my first spring training the manager said, 'Everybody go to their positions.' Seven guys went to short - I was going to be the eighth shortstop," Blair recalled. "They had two in left, two in center and one in right, and I saw (the player in right field) running and throwing and I knew I could beat him out, so I went to right field and became an outfielder. It just came natural to me for some reason."

Known as the premier center fielder of his era, Blair was renowned for how shallow he played.

"What I tried to do was play where most of the balls were going to be hit. I didn't play guys like Harmon Killebrew and Reggie Jackson or the big home run hitters right behind second base, but most guys can't hit the ball straightaway center field out of the ballpark. If they hit balls to center field they are basically going to be line drives or high pops," Blair said. "The line drives are not going to go out of the ballpark, so what I tried to do was take some of those line drives away. I wanted to be the best center fielder, head and shoulders, over anybody on my team. That way those pitchers would make the manager play me."

Raised in Los Angeles, Blair was a Dodgers fan but Hall of Fame center fielder Willie Mays of the hated San Francisco Giants was his idol.

"Whenever the Giants played the Dodgers, I would hope Mays would get four hits but the Dodgers would win," Blair said. "When I was growing up I used to do the basket catch even though I was at shortstop, but when I became a professional I thought I better do my own thing and not copy Willie because if I ever droped one then it's going to be heck to pay."

A star athlete in high school, Blair's decision to pursue baseball as a profession was influenced by another Hall of Famer.

"I guess that came from Jackie (Robinson)," Blair said. "As long as I can remember, since I was eight years old, I wanted to be a major league baseball player. That was my one desire, my one goal, and I was just fortunate that I had some athletic ability."

Blair became a regular with the O's at the tender age of 21 in 1965 and appeared in the postseason six times with Baltimore over his 13 seasons with the club.

"Our whole thing, and it came from (Hall of Fame manager) Earl (Weaver) and he was the catalyst of those ball clubs, is that you went out there and you played great defense, you pitched well, and you played the whole game," Blair said. "The team came first. You did everything you possibly could to help win a ballgame.

 "We already had a very good ball club but then (future Hall of Famer) Frank (Robinson) came in 1966 that really put us over the top. He was that big gun that all the other pitchers had to concentrate on. The rest of us just had to do our thing. When Frank said, 'Let's go,' we just followed him."

Looking back on his baseball career, Blair says that he is proudest of the fact that he got to play in the big leagues for 17 years.

"It's a very big achievement for me because that's something I always wanted to do, and it's the only thing I ever want to do," Blair said. "The bonus was winning the eight Gold Gloves and the four World Series championships.

"I was very fortunate being on the teams that I played on. I played on 10 first place teams. Every time I went to spring training I knew I had a chance to be in a World Series. I wound up getting in eight playoffs, six World Series, and we won four of them. Hopefully I did my part and contributed to us winning. That was very important to me."

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Lenny DiFranza

Baseball history comes in all shapes and sizes - and fabrics. And the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is there to record it all.

Check out these socks that bear the Colorado Rockies logo, made at Coors Field by Rockies fan Meredith Davey, which won Craft magazine's Stitch N' Pitch design contest in 2007. They were then featured in the Rockies' official magazine. Stitch N' Pitch, a program of the National NeedleArts Association, has been hosting events at major and minor league ballparks and other venues since 2006.

Stitch N' Pitch members came to Cooperstown in 2009 for a day of programs that had visitors "in stitches." They'll be back at the Hall of Fame this year on Saturday, April 24, for a hands-on opportunity for the whole family to create their own needlework projects.

Items made by fans, like these socks, have long been part of the Hall of Fame's collection. In addition to celebrating baseball history and the greats of the game, the Museum also explores the relationship between baseball and the people who love it.

The socks are now in the Rockies' exhibit in Today's Game, the part of the Museum that presents artifacts from recent seasons, with a display for each major league team.

Lenny DiFranza is the assistant curator for new media at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

I'm sitting in Tampa International Airport awaiting the one non-stop Southwest Airlines flight back to Albany, having just concluded my Grapefruit League spring training jaunt. My Spring Training mission each year is to visit with those who are close to the Museum - current players and management, Hall of Famers, owners and supporters.

Having spent eight years combined in the Red Sox and Yankee front offices before being hired in Cooperstown in 1994, my knowledge was limited to Florida Spring Training: the Yankees were in Ft. Lauderdale and the Red Sox in Winter Haven. Since, I have traveled to the desert, too.

The differences are stark: The air is markedly drier in Arizona, because of the elevation. The ballparks in Arizona are surrounded by mountains; most of the ones in Florida, by water. Thirteen of 15 ballparks in Arizona are within 60 miles of each other. In Florida, they span across the state. I spent seven nights in one hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona; I was in six different places in six nights in Florida and flew in and out of airports across the state from each other.

The one similarity? I had a game rained out in each state.

I had a chance to visit with a number of our Hall of Famers. Andre Dawson and I had dinner in North Miami Beach, near his home. He's already made great progress on his speech and is getting ready for Induction. "I'll try not to get too emotional," the stoic "Hawk" told me. I let him know that if he did not get emotional, I would be worried. Almost every speech I have heard since 1994 has been emotional. 

Hall of Fame Chairman Jane Clark, Ken Meifert from the Hall, and I, saw Mike Schmidt and his wife Donna in Palm Beach Gardens. We talked about a variety of topics, from baseball to bull riding to music to living in Florida. Mike is very excited about our inaugural Hall of Fame Classic Golf tournament in June, in which he will participate. He was thrilled to know that a number of the 28 spots available are already filled.

Last Saturday, we hosted our Hall of Fame Champions in Jupiter. John and Kathy Greenthal became the first Champions in Hall of Fame history to attend events in both Spring Training states. Jim and Tina Collias made the trip over from Naples to Jupiter, and Dan Glazer also joined us. Hall of Fame Board member Bill DeWitt, owner of the Cardinals, was generous in hosting us for his team's game with the Mets. Spring Training games are usually not that interesting, but this one featured the Mets scoring three runs in the 9th, the last on an Ike Davis game-tying home run, only to have Ruben Gotay lead off the bottom of the 9th with a walk-off home run.

Speaking of walk-off home runs, we dined with Dennis and Jennifer Eckersley after the game. I asked Dennis what he thought of Doug Harvey. "He was behind the plate for Kirk Gibson's home run in the 1988 World Series," Dennis reminded me, as I began to suffer the symptoms of foot-in-mouth disease. He still thought Harvey was an excellent arbiter. 

I headed across the state to Yankee camp and saw many old friends in the clubhouse before the game: Billy Connors, Ron Guidry, Goose Gossage, Steve Donohue, the team athletic trainer, Joe Girardi, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter, whom we drafted when I worked for the team. The game was rained out as Gene Michael, his minor league teammate and Tigers broadcaster, Jim Price, and I had lunch. Also saw Tiger friends Dave Dombrowski and Al Aliva in the dining room and learned more about the Tigers.

Dinner that night was with Wade and Debbie Boggs and Reggie Jackson. Eddie Fastook, the team's traveling security director and a long-time friend, also joined us. 

Unbeknownst to me, Boggs grew up a big Reggie Jackson fan, even wearing No. 9 in honor, the number Reggie wore early in his career in Oakland. Wade told the story of how in the mid 1980s, Reggie gave him one of his bats to use in 1985. "I used it for 33 straight games and hit five home runs," said Wade. "I loved that bat and then I broke it on a Dave Stieb pitch," a dejected Wade recalled.

The next morning, I visited City of Palms Park in Fort Myers to see the Red Sox and the Rays. I met up with Don Zimmer, who is very bullish on the Rays this year. "The best club we've had in my seven years with them," Zim said.

Zim told me how much he admired Dawson and Ryne Sandberg when he managed the Cubs. "Two guys who led by example," he said. "The other players watched these guys and saw greatness in the making."

I told Don I would be seeing Jim Rice and Bob Montgomery later that day. 

"Monty was the best hit-and-run guy I ever had," recalled Zim. "I remember in a game with Cleveland, the bases were loaded. They had a sinker-baller on the mound so I rolled the dice and gave (coach) Eddie Yost the hit-and-run sign on a 3-2 count. Monty put the bat on the ball and we stayed out of the double play. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy, but I really thought it would work, and it did."

Rice later told me that he believed Thurman Munson and Lou Piniella were among the best hit-and-run guys he saw when he played.

I concluded my trip with dinner at Carlton and Linda Fisk's home in the Sarasota area. We had a wonderful visit and a great dinner. Pudge joked about how some of the evenings in Florida this year were as cold as those he experienced growing up in New Hampshire.

I've had my fill. Let the regular season begin.

Jeff Idelson is president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Craig Muder

The gold ring on his pinkie finger sparkled in the morning sun as Paul Blair signed one autograph after another.

Some remembered Blair as the Gold Glove centerfielder of the 1960s and 70s Baltimore Orioles. Others recalled him as the super-sub on the New York Yankees' title teams of 1977 and 1978.

But all the fans who lined up to purchase tickets for the Hall of Fame Classic on Saturday enjoyed listening to Blair's stories - and eagerly anticipated his appearance in the Father's Day legends game at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown.

Blair, who will join Hall of Famers Gary Carter, Bob Feller, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Harmon Killebrew, Phil Niekro and Ozzie Smith at the June 20 Classic, posed for pictures and signed balls and caps for fans waiting to purchase tickets at the Baseball Hall of Fame. The four-time World Series champion was easily identifiable with his 1978 World Series ring, but admitted that the 1966 title he won as a member of the Orioles is his favorite baseball memory.

"We beat the Dodgers, not by scoring a bunch of runs but by playing winning baseball," said Blair, an eight-time Gold Glove centerfielder. "We shut them out for the final 33 innings of that World Series because our pitchers had two goals when they went to the mound: Don't walk anyone, and keep the ball in the ballpark. They knew if they did that, we'd make the plays behind them."

Blair's fifth-inning home run in Game 3 of the 1966 World Series provided the only run in a 1-0 Orioles' win, putting Baltimore up 3-games-to-0 and effectively clinching the Series. He would finish his 17-year big league career with two All-Star Game appearances and more than 1,500 hits. Only seven players have ever won more Gold Gloves for their outfield play.

This summer, however, Blair expects to man the infield at the Hall of Fame Classic on Father's Day.

"I started as an infielder, and that's where I'm playing now," said the 66-year-old Blair, who today carries a six handicap on the golf course. "I'm looking forward to coming back in June."

Participants the Hall of Fame's Membership Program can purchase tickets for the June 20 Hall of Fame Classic exclusively through March 28 by calling 1-866-849-7770.

Any tickets remaining on March 29 will be made available to the general public.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Trevor Hayes

Rumors are nothing new to baseball.

But no matter how unsubstantiated they may be or at least may seem to be, they had to come from somewhere. Earlier this week we saw yet another example: Albert Pujols, arguably the biggest name in the game, considered in a trade for Ryan Howard, the slugging St. Louis native.

Both stars balked. They say haven't heard anything and the clubs aren't saying anything. When the report surfaced, it also spawned references to Joe DiMaggio for Ted Williams, another famous non-deal.

In 1946, the Yankees and the Red Sox both denied the idea - in the media at least. Combing through the Library at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, you can find a number of items about what could have been - a blockbuster that would "set the American League on its ear!" as Richard Ben Cramer put it in the DiMaggio biography "The Hero's Life."

The Sporting News headlines just before and during the 1946 World Series show both teams denying interest. But after trading Joe Gordon - another future Hall of Famer - to Cleveland, accounts hint the Bombers needed an overhaul with the Yankee Clipper on the trading block.

The dynamics of DiMaggio for Williams were much simpler than Howard for Pujols. Both pull hitters could have easily taken advantage of their new parks: Williams hitting into the short porch in right wearing pinstripes, and DiMaggio banging hits and lofting flies over the Green Monster in crimson stockings.

Gossip started swirling before the Series started, but denial on both sides all-but-signaled the death of the story. In the Oct. 16, 1946, Sporting News, Red Sox management said Williams wasn't for sale while the Yankees expressed a lack of interest.

That set the stage for one of the most inconspicuous conversations in baseball history at Toots Shor's in New York City. Sometime in December 1946, the future Hall of Fame executives of the two rivals sat down for a long night at the tavern. After several hours, Yankee owner Larry MacPhail proposed the swap to Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey. MacPhail said DiMaggio could play next to his brother, Dom, and let fly over the Monster - just 315 feet away. Yawkey suggested Williams could crush Ruth's record aiming at stands just 296 feet away. Before the night ended, the two shook - DiMaggio for Williams, straight up.

But the next morning, Yawkey called MacPhail to nix the deal. According to the book "The Era" by Roger Kahn, Yawkey said: "I can't do it. They let Babe Ruth out of Boston. If I let Williams go, the fans will crucify me."

Some versions of the story, like the one in "Emperors and Idiots" by Mike Vaccaro, say Yawkey tried to salvage the deal by asking for "the kid catcher from Newark" but MacPhail declared: "You're out of your mind," to throw in Yogi Berra, who would also be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

It goes to show that you can never be sure about baseball rumors. Howard for Pujols? It could happen. DiMaggio for Williams almost did.

Trevor Hayes is the editorial production manager at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Steve Light

Spring training is in full swing, but the eyes of the sports world this week are fixed on the college basketball tournaments. While we all wait for the Cinderella team that will make our brackets fall to pieces, let's not forget that many of baseball's brightest stars have stepped on the court in college, and even in the NBA.

The most famous crossover player - Michael Jordan - perhaps had a better handle on the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament than he did the curve ball. The former North Carolina star hit the game winning shot in the championship game against Georgetown in 1982, but in his one season with the Double-A Birmingham Barons Jordan hit .202 with three home runs, 51 RBIs and 30 stolen bases.

Yet MJ wasn't the only basketball star to take the field. Another basketball Hall of Famer, Dave DeBusschere, pitched for the Chicago White Sox in 1962 and 1963, compiling a 3-4 record with a 2.90 ERA over 36 games. And when former Celtic, Trail Blazer, and Phoenix Sun Danny Ainge led his BYU team to the regional finals in 1981, he had already made it to the majors. Drafted in 1977 by the Toronto Blue Jays, Ainge made his big league debut on May 21, 1979. In three seasons with the Jays, Ainge batted .220 with two home runs, 37 RBI, and 12 stolen bases. Perhaps spurred on by his tournament success - his coast-to-coast drive with seven seconds left sunk second seeded Notre Dame in the regional semifinals - Ainge quit baseball following the 1981 season and focused on his basketball career.

On the flip side, many baseball stars have found success on the basketball court as well. Point guard Kenny Lofton helped the Arizona Wildcats make it to the Final Four in the 1988 tournament before being drafted by the Houston Astros that summer. Even Hall of Famers have gotten in on the act, Robin Roberts starred on the court for the Michigan State Spartans, while Tony Gwynn was San Diego State's floor general in his college career. Gwynn still holds school records for assists in a single season and assists in a career. He was even drafted by the San Diego Clippers of the NBA, but luckily for us, chose baseball instead.

Six-foot-six Hall of Famer Dave Winfield was a standout baseball and basketball player for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Winfield and the Gophers made it to the tournament in 1972 and even earned a first round bye. The Gophers lost their first game in the Midwest Region to eventual national-runner up Florida Sate, 70 - 56, with Winfield playing all 40 minutes and chipping in eight points and eight rebounds. In the regional third-place game, the Gophers bounced back to beat Marquette 77 - 72, with Winfield compiling 16 points and nine rebounds. Scouts so highly rated Winfield's athletic ability that he was not only drafted by the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA and the Utah Stars of the ABA, but also his hometown Minnesota Vikings of the NFL. He had not even played college football.

As the regional semifinals and finals come to nearby Syracuse March 25 and 27, the Hall of Fame will celebrate the connections between baseball and basketball on Friday, March 26 with a full day of programs, including special trivia contests that test our visitor's knowledge of baseball and the NCAA tournament.

Stephen Light is manager of museum programs at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Freddy Berowski

Noted baseball author and historian Harold Seymour penned the book "The Golden Age of Baseball" about early 20th century baseball - a time when Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson were the stars of the game. Some would say that what we are experiencing now is the golden age of the baseball manager.

Entering the 2010 season, three of baseball's five all-time winningest managers are active. At 2,552 wins, Cardinals skipper Tony LaRussa sits about three seasons away from moving into second-place all-time, ahead of New York Giants Hall of Fame manager John McGraw. Thirteen times LaRussa has piloted clubs to a playoff birth, including two World Championships.

Bobby Cox of the Braves and Joe Torre of the Dodgers, with a combined five World Series championships and 29 postseason appearances, come in at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, on the all-time manager win list. With the exception of the strike-shortened 1994 season, Cox lead Atlanta to a first-place finish every season from 1991 to 2005, a mark that is unparalleled in Major League Baseball history.

Meanwhile, for 14 seasons beginning in 1996, Torre has lead either the Yankees or the Dodgers to the postseason with either a first-place finish or a wild-card berth.

To find the last time that three of baseball's top five winningest managers were active in a season, we have to go back 60 years. The 1950 season was the last for Connie Mack and Joe McCarthy, and also marked the beginning of Bucky Harris' third stint with the Washington Senators.

At 3,731 wins, no one will be closing in on Mack's spot at No. 1 on the list anytime soon. But if history holds true it is only a matter of time before Cooperstown comes calling for LaRussa, Cox and Torre. Other than those three active skippers, the rest of the top 11 all-time winningest managers are already enshrined in Cooperstown.

Freddy Berowski is a library associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Craig Muder

It should have been a milestone birthday, with friends and family gathered around Kirby Puckett to celebrate the big 5-0.

Instead, it is a reminder of what the baseball world lost with the premature death of the ebullient Puckett - and a chance to remember a player whose spirit will never die.

Sunday marked the 50th anniversary of Puckett's birth. The 2001 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee died in 2006 of complications from a stroke.

In between, Puckett lit up the baseball landscape with his smile, enthusiasm and all-around play in center field for the Minnesota Twins.

"He deserved the best," said former Twins star Tony Oliva. "I know he was the best."

Puckett was the third pick overall in the 1982 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft and became the Twins' starting center fielder in 1984. Two years later, after four home runs in his first 1,248 big league at-bats, Puckett hit 31 home runs and drove in 96 runs while hitting .328. He won his first of six Gold Gloves that year for his defensive play.

"I was nervous when I got to the big leagues, but I was never afraid," Puckett said. "Like every ballplayer and every human being, I failed lots of times throughout my career. But I understood how to overcome and recognize the true power of learning from failure."

In all, Puckett played 12 major league seasons before glaucoma in his right eye forced his retirement at age 35. He led the American League in hits four times, was named to 10 All-Star teams and helped the Twins win World Series titles in 1987 and 1991.

In 2001 in his first year eligible, he was elected to the Hall of Fame after receiving 82.1 percent of the Baseball Writers' Association of America vote.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Jeff Idelson

I am so glad Spring Training is here, even if it was warmer in Cooperstown than in the desert for a few of the days I visited Arizona last week. Boy did I miss baseball. And in my job, I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to rub elbows with so many of the game's greats, bringing them closer to the Hall of Fame.

I got to see the Giants, Brewers, White Sox, Mariners, Indians, Reds, Royals and Rangers all play.

It was great to see the two reigning Cy Young award winners - Tim Lincecum and Zack Greinke - pitch. I brought Tim plaque postcards of Sandy Koufax and Jim Palmer. Why? They are the only Hall of Famers to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards. Perhaps they will help inspire Tim, not that he needs inspiration.

Before the Cactus League opener in Peoria, I visited my friends in the Mariners clubhouse: Head athletic trainer Rick Griffin and I talked about the health of his players; Ken Griffey Jr. told me he expected Ichiro to get twice as many regular season hits as he would - including spring training.  "I'm aiming for 150 hits," said Junior.  "Have you seen Ichiro get hot?  You turn around, and he's gone 15-for-25. If anyone can get 300 hits, it's him." I don't doubt Griffey's sense of logic, having seen Ichiro play so many times.

Did you ever take an advanced or AP class in high school? I took AP Baseball last week with Professor Ryan. Nolan and I sat together for the Rangers-Royals game, where he gave me a breakdown of every player on the field. I had a similar experience a few days later with White Sox owner and Hall of Fame Board member Jerry Reinsdorf, who invited me to sit with him, his vice chairman, Eddie Einhorn, and his special assistant, Dennis Gilbert, the former agent for George Brett. I now know where the White Sox's strengths and weaknesses lie. Bobby Brett, George's brother, joined us.

We held our annual Cactus League Champions event in Goodyear, where the Indians and Reds train. It's a great complex. The Indians were very generous in hosting our Champions, those who support us with an annual donation of $5,000 or more.

Team President Paul Dolan and assistant GM Chris Antonetti addressed our group and let them know what to expect from the Indians this year. After the game, we all had dinner with Bob Feller and Fergie Jenkins, where they regaled the group with stories, photos and autographs.

Speaking of dinners, Billy Williams, Ryne Sandberg, Fergie and their wives joined me for dinner the night before. We toasted to a good 2010 Cubs team and the Williams' 50th wedding anniversary. Quite a feat for the Williamses, a lovely couple.

On my first night in Arizona, I was joined by Mickey Morabito and Steve Vucinich from the A's, Gary Hughes, the Cubs scout, Roland Hemond, the long-time Bill Veeck disciple who works for the Diamondbacks, and veteran writers Bob Nightengale, of USA Today, and Spink Award winner Tracy Ringolsby. We get together each spring to talk about scouting and the game today. We used to dine each year at the Pink Pony, a popular old-school steakhouse on North Scottsdale Road that finally closed its doors. We miss the Pony.

On my final evening, I hosted the dinner to end all dinners, at Don & Charlie's, a popular Scottsdale hangout with great steaks and ribs. We had a large group that included Bob Uecker, Rollie Fingers, Robin Yount and his brother Larry, George Brett and his guest Joe Randa, Mike Murphy, the Giants' clubhouse man since Day One in San Francisco, Brad Ziegler, my friend who pitches in the A's bullpen, Jerry, Eddie and Dennis from the White Sox, and Bob Crotty, who is a generous Hall of Fame supporter and owner of Green Diamonds Gallery in Cincinnati, an exquisite baseball gallery of artifacts and art.

Just before we were getting ready to sit down to dinner, Uecker calls me from his cell phone to let me know he invited two other mutual friends - Bob Costas and Joe Torre.

We had a great dinner and talked about the Dodgers impending trip to Taiwan, told Yogi stories, heard all about the Olympics, and tried to recollect if Torre and Fingers ever faced each other. "Did I ever face you?" Joe asked? "I can't recall," was Rollie's response.

So, I emailed Freddy Berowski in the Hall of Fame Library. Sorry Joe: You faced Rollie one time in the regular season, on May 1, 1977, and struck out. You also faced him in the 1973 All-Star Game and popped out in the 9th. None-the-less, you remain one the game's greatest players, managers and ambassadors and it's hard to imagine you won't be in Cooperstown one day.

Jeff Idelson is president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Freddy Berowski

Will Carroll, author of the definitive book on baseball injuries Saving the Pitcher, puts it in the simplest terms: "Since the invention of the breaking ball, there has been no more significant development in baseball than Tommy John surgery."

Pioneered by Dr. Frank Jobe in 1974, ulnar collateral ligament surgery has saved the careers of hundreds of ballplayers. More commonly known as "Tommy John surgery," named after the first ballplayer to undergo the procedure, Tommy John himself was given full recovery odds of about one percent. The surgery was a success and added 14 seasons, and 164 more wins, to John's career. Today, full recovery rates hover at around 90 percent.

The ulnar collateral ligament or UCL is the primary medial stabilizer of the elbow joint - in simple terms, it affects one's ability to throw a baseball. Tommy John surgery involves removing a tendon from another body part, usually the opposite arm or knee, and using a figure 8 pattern to connect the humerus and ulna bones, replacing the ligament. 

If it weren't for Dr. Jobe's pioneering procedure, there might only be 291 Hall of Famers instead of 292. On March 22, 1984, in a spring training game against the Cubs, Brewers third baseman Paul Molitor suffered an injury to his right elbow. That injury resulted in Dr. Jobe performing his patented surgery on Molitor, removing a tendon from Molly's left forearm and using it to replace the ligament in his right elbow. Thanks to the surgery, Molitor was able to add 2,410 hits to his resume over the next 14 seasons, ultimately earning enshrinement in Cooperstown in 2004.

It was revealed only days ago the Joe Nathan of the Minnesota Twins suffered a tear in the UCL of his throwing arm. No pitcher has recorded more saves than the Twins' stopper over the last six seasons. But if surgery is necessary, Nathan would likely miss the entire 2010 campaign. 

Over the last decade or so a number of star players, notably late-inning relievers, have had to go under the knife for Tommy John surgery - some with potential Hall of Fame credentials.  Ace relievers John Franco, John Smoltz and Billy Wagner have all undergone the procedure and came back strong.

To date, however, no Hall of Fame pitcher has undergone Tommy John surgery during his career.

Freddy Berowski is a library associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Craig Muder

He was a vital member of one of baseball's most consistent teams: The Los Angeles Dodgers of the 1960s.

But Willie Davis was sometimes overshadowed by teammates like Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Maury Wills - and even manager Walter Alston.

The numbers left behind by Davis, however, speak loudly about a player whose consistent excellence served as the backbone for two World Series titles and another National League pennant.

Davis, who was found dead at his home on Tuesday at the age of 69, played for 14 years with the Dodgers (1960-73) before bouncing to the Expos, Rangers, Cardinals, Padres and Angels. During his time in Los Angeles, the Dodgers finished under .500 just three times - winning the World Series in 1963 and 1965 and also capturing the NL flag in 1966.

A topnotch center fielder and former Dodgers captain, Davis won Gold Gloves from 1971-73 - and likely would have had more if not for the triumvirate of Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente and Curt Flood, who combined for 25 of a possible 30 National League outfield Gold Gloves in the 1960s.

Davis stole 398 bases, was named to two All-Star teams and has more at-bats (7,495), scored more runs (1,004) and had more triples (110), more total bases (3,094) and more extra-base hits (585) than any other Los Angeles Dodger.

Davis also holds the L.A. Dodger hits mark with 2,091, and still ranks 82nd on the all-time MLB hits list. Of the 81 men ahead of him, 70 are either Hall of Famers or not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame.

In all, it's a body of work that left its mark on the Dodgers record book and generations of baseball fans.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Bill Francis

He turns 50 years old in 10 days, but Mike Pagliarulo looks as if he could still turn on an inside fastball and deposit it in the right field seats at Yankee Stadium.

The one-time lefty swinging slugger, who spent 11 big league seasons patrolling the hot corner for the New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers, was at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Friday as the keynote speaker for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Baseball Coaches Clinic.

After the morning session, "Pags," as he was known, talked about his life in the National Pastime. In fact, it was game that ran in the family, as his father played a few years of minor league ball and his son played ball at Dartmouth University.

"There are things that tear families apart and there are things that bring them together. I'm just glad it was baseball (bringing things together) for us," he said. "We really don't talk about it too much, but we like playing."

After the Massachusetts native and lifelong Red Sox fan was selected by the Yankees in the sixth round of the 1981 amateur draft, Pagliarulo made his big league debut with the Bronx Bombers in July 1984.

"One of the great things about growing up with the Yankees and being part of that organization was the way we felt about each other. It's a tough organization, and they made it that way on purpose because they develop players to play in New York City," he said. "You're not playing in some other town where nobody really cares, but in New York the fans understand the game, they know the game, so you can't mess up out there. You have to be ready and you have to be able to play. Whether you are good or bad, you have to be able to play. The Yankees did prepare us for that."

So after hitting 28 home runs in 1986 and 32 in '87, it was a surprise to Pagliarulo when he was traded to the Padres in July 1989.

"I didn't want to be traded from New York. I didn't care how I played, I just didn't want to be traded," he said. "So I went out to San Diego ... that's a different world out there. I had to yell at a couple of the fans sometimes, 'Look, I'm stinking it up. Throw something at me, yell, do something, will you?' A beautiful place, but I liked playing in New York.

Eventually finding his way to Minnesota, Pags saw his only postseason action with the 1991 Twins. Not only did he hit a 10th-inning, pinch-hit homer off Toronto's Mike Timlin to win Game Three of the ALCS, but was also played the entirely of the classic Game Seven of the World Series, in which Minnesota's Jack Morris, who went 10 innings, outdueled Atlanta's John Smoltz in a 1-0 triumph.

"What a great experience that postseason was for me. I'm glad I played well, but it was just great to be a part of that. One of the best experiences of my baseball career," Pagliarulo said. "The great thing about Game Seven was that even though it was deafening in the Metrodome - I was standing up in the dugout and (shortstop) Greg Gagne was standing right next to me and I couldn't hear a word he was saying - when you are on the field the thing that was different I thought was the awareness that the players have."

Pagliarulo was a participant in last year's inaugural Hall of Fame Classic, a seven-inning legends game played at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown. And he drove in the winning run with a double.

"Being on the field brought back a lot of memories for me. The performance end of it was a little tough. Maybe I'll get a jog in once in awhile before the game this year," Pagliarulo joked. "It was great to see the other players, and the players really loved it. Being on the field, the fans are out, the weather's great, you are in Cooperstown, not much beats that. I think it's a great thing for Cooperstown and I know the guys really want to do it too."

This second annual Hall of Fame Classic, featuring seven Hall of Famers and 20 other former big leaguers, takes place at 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 20.

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By John Odell

Our second floor timeline exhibition at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum uses baseball's dynasties to tell the history of the game. On Wednesday, we added two items to the 1960s-1980s Orioles case, both related to one of baseball's best-known players, Cal Ripken.

The first artifact is alternate orange jersey worn by Ripken in 1989, a year famous to Bird fans for the "Why Not?" Orioles. That year, Ripken was named to his seventh of 19 All-Star teams and won his fifth of eight Silver Slugger honors as the O's carried an unlikely, exciting run for the division crown into the final games of the season. Hall of Famer Frank Robinson also won Manager of the Year honors in 1989 for his handling of the young squad, which the year before had opened the season with 21 consecutive losses.

The second item is a baseball with the following inscription:

Happy Birthday Dwight
5-30-82
Presidents should be tossing
1st balls, not catching them
Cal Ripken, Jr.

Batting eighth in the lineup and playing third base, Cal Ripken knocked this ball foul, where it was caught by the president of the Orioles booster club, who was attending the game on his birthday. After the game, he had Cal inscribe it.

Of course, it was only years later that the significance of the game became clear: May 30, 1982 was the first game of Ripken's famed consecutive games played streak. While everyone in baseball was aware of the streak once it became news, it is only by the greatest of luck that someone managed to preserve this memento from the start of the famed record. On loan to the Hall from Ripken Baseball, Inc., the ball is being displayed with the inscription turned down, to minimize the damaging effect that light has on the ink.

John Odell is the curator of history and research at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Like most women my age who grew up playing softball and loving baseball, I have seen the movie A League of Their Own about a million times.

But I have only seen the ending once.

I just can't bring myself to watch Dottie Hinson drop the ball in the championship game. I figure maybe if I don't watch it, they went back and changed the ending and Dottie holds on for the win.

Growing up, I wanted to be Dottie. I want to be covered in dirt, with bruises on my knees, playing the game I love. Dottie had it all - she was smart, beautiful, a hard worker and one heck of an athlete.

Of course, when I was younger, this was just a story. Only as I grew up did I realize that this league was real and there were women just like Dottie who lived out their dreams in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

On Saturday, March 27, four women who played in the AAGPBL will be in Cooperstown to celebrate Women's History Month at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

During a special interview program beginning at 1 p.m., fans have the chance to sit down with Gloria Elliott (Kalamazoo Lassies, Racine/Battle Creek Belles) Sarah Jane Ferguson (Rockford Peaches), Joanne McComb (Springfield Sallies) and Dolly Brumfield White (South Bend Blue Sox, Kenosha Comets, Fort Wayne Daisies). Tickets for the program are free. Members may reserve their tickets now, by calling (607)547-0397. Any remaining tickets will be available to the general public beginning Monday, March 22.

These amazing women will give first-hand accounts of their experiences playing the game they loved. They will relate memories of the good and bad parts of playing baseball - stories that years from now will only be found in books.

Other events will take place throughout the day to commemorate women in baseball, including artifact spotlight presentations, and a special 11 a.m. lecture on the history of women in baseball given by the Hall of Fame's director of research, Tim Wiles.

Make sure you get your tickets today, and join in celebrating these special women who - just like me - miss the dirt.

Samantha Carr is the media relations coordinator at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

For 22 big league seasons, Goose Gossage scared big league batters like no other pitcher.

But put Gossage on a golf course, and the fearsome reliever turned into a terrified rookie.

"I never golfed - or rarely golfed - when I was a player," Gossage said. "I didn't want to be on a golf course all day and then come to the park and screw up a game. But I remember the first golf tournament I ever played in was a day off in Chicago with White Sox. I duck-hooked a ball - I used to swing from my butt - and I hit a ball right over Whitey Ford's head in the other fairway. I was petrified. If it had hit him, I'd have killed him."

Ford, a Hall of Famer like Gossage, survived his brush with fate. And this summer, a few lucky fans will share their moment with a legend when Gossage and six other Hall of Famers play in the Cooperstown Golf Classic June 19 at the Leatherstocking Golf Course.

The Cooperstown Golf Classic, a fundraiser for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, is part of Hall of Fame Classic Weekend. The Classic, to be held on Father's Day at historic Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, will feature seven Hall of Famers along with more than 20 recently retired major leaguers in a legends game.

The Cooperstown Golf Classic will be held the day before on June 19 and will feature Gary Carter, Rollie Fingers, Harmon Killebrew, Phil Niekro, Mike Schmidt, Ozzie Smith and Gossage. Limited to just 28 golfers, participants will have a chance to team with a Hall of Famer and share in the camaraderie with golfers of all skill level in a scramble format.

"I really didn't start golfing until I left baseball in 1994, but now I'm out there all the time," said Gossage, a Spring Training instructor with the Yankees who has spent time on the golf course recently with players like Andy Pettitte. "At this stage of my life, golf is one of the only things left to challenge you. It's going to be a lot of fun to golf in Cooperstown. I can't wait to get out there with the guys."

For information and to reserve your spot for the Cooperstown Golf Classic, call 607-547-0310 or visit us online.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

When Monte Irvin was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, the Hall's entire roster of members included 140 names.

Today, almost half that number - 68 - are living Hall of Famers, and the Hall's total membership has more than doubled to 292.

Irvin, the fourth-oldest living Hall of Famer, celebrates his 91st birthday today. He belongs to the Hall of Fame's Roaring 90s club along with Lee MacPhail (92), Bobby Doerr (91) and Bob Feller (91) - with Stan Musial set to turn 90 on Nov. 21 of this year.

No other point in history has seen 68 living members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. In fact, it wasn't until the Class of 1953 - fourteen years after the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum first opened its doors in Cooperstown - that the total number of Hall of Famers even reached 68.

Election to the Hall of Fame remains sport's most exclusive honor. Of the more than 17,000 men who have played Major League Baseball, 203 - a little more than one percent - have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame as players.

Happy Birthday Monte!

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Despite the offensive explosion in Major League Baseball during the last 20 years, this fact remains: Only 10 men in big league history have driven in more than 1,900 runs.

And just two of them - Eddie Murray and Barry Bonds - began their careers after 1960.

Bonds' 762 home runs tell the story of many of his RBIs. But Murray - one of the most consistent run producers in the game's history - remains underappreciated.

Murray turns 54 today, making him one of the youngest Hall of Famers (62nd out of 68) despite the fact it's been seven years since his election. He was a first-ballot choice by the Baseball Writers' Association of America in 2003 after finishing his career with 504 home runs, 3,255 hits and eight All-Star Game selections.

Murray's consistency was staggering. In his 21 big league seasons, Murray's team played at least 150 games 18 times. Murray appeared in at least 150 contests in 16 of those seasons - and topped the 160-mark six times.

Consider this: Over a typical 162-game season, Murray averaged 103 RBIs - the exact number as Willie Mays, one more than Mickey Mantle.

Few players answered the bell more consistently - and as well.

Twenty-one big league seasons, 1,917 RBIs - ninth on the all-time list. It's a standard of excellence that will remain for generations to come.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Whitney Selover

While it seems as though the winter just won't end outside, inside my office it feel like the summer season is just around the corner.

Yesterday, I finished preparing the official Hall of Fame Weekend Inductee Guides. Once our class of inductees is complete, I get started pulling together what becomes the Inductee's and their family's HOFW bible. The binder that Doug Harvey, Whitey Herzog and Andre Dawson will receive today contains everything they need to know about the July 23-26 Hall of Fame Weekend in Cooperstown.

Inductees are major superstars on the baseball diamond, but they are much like us when it comes to things off the field. They need to know what to expect, where they will be staying, who can come with them to the events, when they should arrive/depart, what to wear and where they need to be - and the one-inch binder arriving on their doorstep today will answer all of those questions.

Being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame is the highest honor a baseball player can achieve, but put yourself in their shoes for a minute. Take a quick second and look at your life: In your career, how many people have you worked with, how many people work for you now, how many people have influenced your career? Socially, how many people are you friends with (including Facebook!)? How many people are in your softball league, make up your neighborhood, are in your parish, share your love for volunteering at the SPCA? Personally, how many people make up your family, your extended family (don't forget those 3rd cousins!), your wife's family, those friends that feel like family? Take that number and multiply it by 100 and that is the number of people that want to join Doug, Whitey and Andre on their big day in Cooperstown in July. Imagine trying to sort through, make accommodations for, provide tickets to, and ensure a great vacation come July, for all those people on your list! Well, that is where I come in.

As the director of special events at the Hall of Fame, I am fortunate to work with every inductee and help ease the pressures of being the "host." Over the next couple of months, not only will I answer the "what do I wear" for Doug, Whitey and Andre but I will answer it for the hundreds of family and friends who come along for the ride. Organizing their "list" becomes a personal and intimate process for every inductee. Ask any Hall of Fame Member and they will tell you that their Induction Ceremony is one of the top moments in their lives. Making sure the people who have been there since Little League, or the ones that helped them break into the majors, or the ones that gave them just what they needed to get through a slump or overcome an injury, or the ones who believed in them through thick and thin... Helping those people witness the big day is my job.

Even thought I work at the Baseball Hall of Fame, I do not claim to be a baseball expert, but I'm fairly certain that Doug, Whitey or Andre didn't become one of baseball's elite with the help of a binder - nor did the process begin when FedEx showed up. But then again, we're just trying to plan for Hall of Fame Weekend, not a Hall of Fame Member career.

If we were, I bet even Staples doesn't carry binders that could plan for careers as gigantically successful, overwhelmingly influential and exceptionally outstanding as Doug, Whitey or Andre's. And that, my friends, is why they make up the Induction Class of 2010.

Whitney Selover is the director of special events and travel at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

It was the low ebb of a nearly forgotten era of Indians history, years when Cleveland Stadium was empty and the Tribe was the butt of national jokes.

But in a small apartment in Lakewood, Ohio, Janet Muder held out hope.

I can still see my grandmother - sitting at her kitchen table, a portable radio at her side. That radio was tuned to WWWE AM, where she'd listen to Herb Score and Joe Tait call the Indians' action.

Great players were scarce on those mid-1970s Indians teams, so Gamu - my short-handed nickname for Grandma Muder - latched on to any decent player on the Tribe. And my grandmother loved Jim Bibby.

Bibby passed away Tuesday at the age of 65. He was an effective big league starter for 12 seasons, finishing with a record of 111-101 with the Cardinals, Rangers, Indians and Pirates.

As my baseball mania increased during my childhood, I knew Bibby best from his work in Pittsburgh, where he went as a free agent after playing for Cleveland from 1975-77. He went 12-4 during the Pirates' 1979 World Championship season, starting Game 7 of the World Series against Baltimore - holding the Orioles to one run over four innings before the Bucs rallied for a 4-1 win.

The next year, Bibby was a spectacular 19-6 with a 3.32 ERA - leading me to believe he was destined for Cooperstown. And in 1981, my father and I - along with 5,512 other fans at Three Rivers Stadium - witnessed Bibby pitch one of the best games in big league history. On May 19, Bibby allowed a leadoff base hit to the Braves' Terry Harper before retiring 27 straight Atlanta batters.

But Bibby would win only nine more games over the next three seasons before arm problems forced him to retire.

When I learned of Bibby's death, I walked into the Museum and up to our exhibit on the history of no-hitters. Front and center is a ball from the July 30, 1973 no-hitter Bibby - then with the Rangers - pitched against the defending World Champion Oakland A's. Bibby's cap from that game also resides in Cooperstown - a part of him that will live forever at the Hall of Fame.

It brought me back to that little apartment, and my grandmother's love of baseball. Another memory that will live - with me - forever.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Bill Francis

Fans of the national pastime are familiar with the story of Jackie Robinson, the African-American ballplayer who in 1947 broke big league baseball's modern color barrier. But unfamiliar to most is a story that took place without much fanfare 90 years ago this week that improved the lot of those who were prohibited from playing at the game's highest level.

With organized baseball, though segregated, thriving, a meeting took place with a number of the owners of the top independent black baseball teams at a YMCA in Kansas City, Mo., on Feb. 13, 1920. It was here that the Negro National League, the first successful baseball league featuring black players, was founded. Leading the way was Andrew "Rube" Foster, considered black baseball's best pitcher before serving as owner and manager of the Chicago American Giants.

A number of unsuccessful attempts had been made in the past to bring stability to Negro baseball, but this time, after a lengthy discussion, the other owners agreed to Foster's proposal. While black professional baseball had been part of sport's landscape for years, this new venture would do away with scheduling difficulties and bring a sense of financial security to both the owners and players.

It was not coincidence that the NNL's founding came at the same time as the Great Migration, when a half million blacks left the rural south to live and work in northern cities. The new league would have an eager audience looking for a source of inexpensive entertainment long day of work.

In 1997, 50 years after Robinson's debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the National Baseball Hall of Fame opened the permanent exhibit Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience. The exhibit was re-curated and re-designed for a grand opening in 2004.

The story of Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience is also told throughout the country through a national traveling panel exhibition that will visit more than three dozen public and academic libraries over the next four years. The exhibit, a partnership of the Hall of Fame and the American Library Association, features photographs of artifacts and the stories of the participants as African-American players and owners changed the landscape of professional baseball.

The exhibit is currently on display in San Jose, Calif., at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. For a list of all sites and dates, visit www.ala.org/publicprograms

Foster, elected as the NNL's first president, would be elected by the Baseball Hall of Fame's Committee on Veterans in 1981. He would serve his team and the NNL until late in 1926 when illness forced his retirement. He died four years later at 51.

Years later, Joe Green, former owner of the Chicago Giants, said, "Actually, when Rube died, the league died with him."

In the summer of 1931, after having been without Foster's guidance for four years, the NNL, which added and subtracted numerous cities to its roster over the years, folded. But ultimately, Foster proved that Negro League baseball could be a viable business for African-American entrepreneurs - as well as great entertainment for fans.

Bill Francis is a library associate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

By Craig Muder

The Class of 2014 might just mean a Brave New World at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Former Braves and Mets ace Tom Glavine officially announced his retirement on Thursday, ending stellar 22-year big league career. Glavine did not pitch at the major league level in 2009, meaning he will be eligible for Hall of Fame consideration in 2014.

The numbers indicate Glavine will get strong support.

One of just 24 300-game winners in Major League Baseball history, Glavine finishes with a record of 305-203. He won two Cy Young Awards (1991 and 1998), was named to 10 All-Star Games and posted 20-or-more wins in five seasons - leading the National League lead win victories in all five years.

In the postseason, Glavine won 14 games and was the World Series MVP in 1995 when the Braves defeated the Indians in the Fall Classic.

Glavine joins a star-studded roster of players who will be eligible for the Hall of Fame for the first time in 2014. Former Braves teammate Greg Maddux, who won 355 games, is scheduled to be on the 2014 BBWAA ballot - setting up the possibility of a Braves reunion in Cooperstown.

Other candidates who are slated to become eligible in 2014 include two-time American League Most Valuable Player Frank Thomas, 270-game winner Mike Mussina and Jeff Kent, the all-time home run leader among second basemen.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

By Lenny DiFranza

I spent the last weekend of January representing the Baseball Hall of Fame at TwinsFest in the Metrodome, one of baseball's largest fan fests. It's great to celebrate the National Pastime in the dead of winter as the baseball world turns its attention from hot stove planning to spring training.

TwinsFest, a fundraiser for the Minnesota Twins Community Fund begun in 1989, has raised millions of dollars for local organizations. Many fans stopped by our spot in right field to see the artifacts we brought and to say hello, weigh Bert Blyleven's chances for election to the Hall next year, talk about trips to Cooperstown and sign up for our membership program.

Many Twins fans, young and old, enjoyed over 50 artifacts from the Hall's collection, like Ty Cobb's small glove, Lou Gehrig's jersey from his final season in pinstripes and a tunic from a 1940s Michigan team in the women's pro league, the AAGPBL. But the most popular items were from Twins history, including the ball Dave Kingman hit into the Dome's roof in 1984, the ball Gene Larkin knocked into left-center to win the 1991 World Series, hometown hero Joe Mauer's bats from each of the three seasons he won the AL batting crown and the Hall of Fame plaque of Harmon Killebrew.

Many current Twins were on hand such as Mauer, Justin Morneau, Joe Nathan and new Twin Jim Thome, as well as former greats Blyleven, Rod Carew, Paul Molitor, Jack Morris and Tony Oliva. Bob Feller had Frank Howard and Denny McLain at his booth, while Fergie Jenkins led Rollie Fingers and other players raising money for Haitian relief.
 
Though the Twins have hosted the Hall at TwinsFest for many years, it was my first trip to the Twin Cities. I was impressed by the friendly folks and fantastic food. I only got lost a few times in the downtown skyways and enjoyed a tour of the Twins new outdoor home, Target Field, which looks like a great place to see a game.

After a thrilling season last year and a new ballpark in 2010, I sensed a lot of excitement from the Twins and their fans. It turned out to be one of the biggest TwinsFests they've ever had.

Our thanks to Jackie Hoff and the team from the Science Museum of Minnesota, who installed the exhibit and showed me the ropes. The Twins' staff was great, especially Heidi Sammon, Glo Westerdahl, and their new curator, Clyde Doepner. I hope the Twins and their fans have a great 2010.

Lenny DiFranza is the assistant curator for new media at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

By Samantha Carr

With more than 17,000 men having played major league baseball, little boys have plenty of baseball role models to look up to.

For girls, it is not always so easy.

Norma Metrolis, 84, passed away Tuesday at her home in Melbourne Beach, Fla. For five of those 84 years, "Trolley", as she was known, was a catcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Metrolis last visited the Hall of Fame with a group of family and friends in September, happily autographing her baseball cards and posing for photos with visitors in the Museum. During a visit to the Hall of Fame Library, Metrolis pored through photos and clippings of her baseball career, telling stories and sharing memories.

Metrolis serves as a role model for me - a former college softball player - and for all of us girls who grew up loving baseball and spending our weekends covered in dirt and learning how to be tough when a ball took a bad hop and got you in the chin.

Debuting in the AAGPBL at age 19, Metrolis played for the Muskegon Lassies, Racine Belles, South Bend Blue Sox, Peoria Red Wings and Fort Wayne Daisies during her professional days. She adjusted from catching a softball to catching a baseball and even traveled to Cuba with the league to promote the game.
And she did all of this in a skirt.

When the league folded, these women didn't have a place to play, so they went back to normal life. Metrolis spent thirty years working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a fruit and vegetable inspector. After retirement, Metrolis kept giving back to the game. She spent her free time golfing (she is credited with six hole-in-ones) and working at the Rebel Spring Games, a college softball tournament in Kissimmee, Fla.

Her family is arranging a celebration of Metrolis's life, and donations may be made to the Rebel Spring Games for a softball player scholarship fund for college women.

Even after she's gone, Norma Metrolis is finding a way to make little girls' baseball dreams come true.

Samantha Carr is the media relations coordinator at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

By Craig Muder

The ballot was loaded with the most impressive array of talent ever considered by Hall of Fame voters.

After all, the Baseball Writers' Association of America had 60 years of history to consider - six decades that produced players still considered the best ever at their positions.

Still, the writers' standards were incredibly high. And when the first Hall of Fame class was announced 74 years ago today - Feb. 2, 1936 - only five of a possible 10 modern-era players were elected.

Two-hundred twenty-six writers cast ballots, and the voters could select up to 10 names from players who starred from 1900 forward. Ty Cobb received 222 votes, the most of any candidate, earning election with 98.23 percent of the vote.

Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner received 215 votes apiece (95.13 percent), while Christy Mathewson got 205 votes (90.70 percent). Walter Johnson received 189 votes (83.62 percent) - 20 more than the 169 necessary to reach the 75-percent mark needed for induction.

Newspaper reports of the day indicated that Henry Edwards, the secretary of the BBWAA in charge of the vote tabulation committee, was "amazed" when - after Ruth and Cobb each received unanimous support on the first 100 ballots - Ruth was left off one ballot. Moments later, a ballot lacking Cobb's name was found - also provoking an astonished response.

Both Ruth and Cobb, however, cleared the 75-percent mark with ease.

Legendary second baseman Napoleon Lajoie came the closest to election without making it, finishing sixth with 146 votes (64.60 percent). Tris Speaker was seventh (133 votes, 58.84 percent), followed by Cy Young (111 votes, 49.11 percent), Rogers Hornsby (105 votes, 46.46 percent) and Mickey Cochrane (80 votes, 35.40 percent).

Only Hornsby and Cochrane were active players at the time of the vote, and only Cochrane was still a regular.
Lajoie, Speaker and Young were all elected to the Hall of Fame in 1937, with Hornsby joining them in 1942. Cochrane was elected in 1947.

For Cobb, Ruth, Wagner, Mathewson and Johnson, enshrinement came on June 12, 1939, when the Hall of Fame opened its doors for the first time. More than 70 years later, 292 of baseball's best now call Cooperstown home.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

By Craig Muder

The 2010 season officially began at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Monday.

No games were played, no balls were thrown. But the season - special visitors season - is under way.
The man with the Boston Red Sox hat was walking up the Museum's grand staircase alone, wearing that awestruck look of most Hall of Fame visitors. He asked for directions to the new Hank Aaron exhibit, then broke into a smile.

"Thanks! This is great. By the way, I played Mr. Belding on 'Saved by the Bell.' I'm Dennis Haskins."

Within a second, the face was totally familiar. The 60-year-old Haskins could have been any other fan in the Museum - except for his familiar voice and eyes, traits a generation of TV kids will remember forever.

Haskins played Richard Belding on "Bell" and "Saved by the Bell: The New Class" from 1989-2000. He was in Central New York as part of an appearance at SUNY Oneonta, a university located about 25 miles from Cooperstown.

A few people recognized Haskins during his visit, and the actor graciously smiled and chatted with his fans. For a generation of kids born in the 1980s, Mr. Belding was their principal. For Haskins, it remains a source of pride.

Soon, Haskins' time ran short. He stopped in the Museum Store before slipping back out onto Main Street. And with that, he was gone.

Once again, the doors to the Hall of Fame opened not onto beautiful Central New York, but to the world. Only in Cooperstown.

Welcome 2010. Bring your visitors to play at the Hall of Fame.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

By Freddy Berowski

On Jan. 31, the Hall of Fame will wish Happy Birthday to three of our own.

Ernie Banks will turn 79. Although his beloved Cubbies, a perennial second-division team during his tenure there, never made it to the World Series, it was not because of Mr. Cub, who did everything he could year after year to try to get them there. A 12-time All-Star and two-time NL MVP, Banks hit more than 500 home runs and drove in more than 1,600 runs in his 19 seasons playing first base and shortstop with Chicago's North-Siders.

Also celebrating his birthday is the all-time Major League strikeout king, and current president of the Texas Rangers, Nolan Ryan. The Ryan Express will celebrate his 63rd birthday. Although his birthday is officially January 31, Ryan seems to have received an early birthday present when his ownership group was recently selected to purchase his home state's AL franchise, the Texas Rangers.

Rounding out the trio of birthday boys is Jackie Robinson. The only man with his uniform number retired across Major League Baseball, Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in 1947. Although he passed away in 1972, Jackie Robinson will be remembered by many on what would have been his 91st birthday.

There are 292 Hall of Famers and 365 days in a calendar year, yet there are more than a dozen dates on the calendar that celebrate the birthday of three Hall of Famers. In fact, May 14 is the day of the year with the most Hall of Famer birthdays: Ed Walsh, Earle Combs, Tony Perez, JL Wilkinson and Alex Pompez.

October is the month that has the most Hall of Famer birthdays - 36. And three Hall of Famers passed away on their birthday - Joe Tinker, Gabby Hartnett and Bucky Harris.

A pair of baseball's former home run kings will have the anniversaries of their births marked next week. Hank Aaron will turn 76 Feb, 5, and Feb. 6 will mark 115th anniversary of Babe Ruth's birth.

Freddy Berowski is a library associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

By Craig Muder 

NEW YORK - The end of the offseason is about three weeks away, and the start of the 2010 baseball season can't come soon enough.

But January does give baseball's best a little time to celebrate. And on Saturday night in New York City, the New York chapter of Baseball Writers' Association of America did just that with its 87th Annual Dinner.

The BBWAA presents its awards from the previous season at the dinner, so the dais was filled with huge stars (Zack Greinke, Tim Lincecum), up-and-coming youngsters (Chris Coghlan, Andrew Bailey) and those apparently on the path to Cooperstown (Albert Pujols, Mariano Rivera).

There was even a surprise guest as Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda stopped by to present the 2009 National League MVP award to Pujols. Cepeda, who won the 1967 NL MVP as the Cardinals' first baseman and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999, was genuinely moved to have the chance to connect with a man who has carried on his work at first base in St. Louis.

"This award not only goes to a great player, but to a great man," Cepeda said of Pujols.

But the most photographed member of the dais was not a player, manager or writer. It was the 2009 World Series trophy, on display courtesy of the World Champion New York Yankees. Dinner guests paraded past the dais for almost an hour, forsaking their food for a chance to see the hardware.

Later - after the dinner was over - many of those fans got within a few feet of the trophy as officials escorted it out of the ballroom and into the night. The trophy case, however, was virtually unmarked - meaning most of the fans had no idea of their brush with greatness.

Maybe it's just as well. The new season is almost upon us. And all eyes will soon be on the prize that will be the 2010 World Series.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

By Craig Muder

The image is a silly one, with the men pictured engaged in a pretend scream.

But for Pittsburgh Pirates manager Bobby Bragan, the passion was real. It was a fire that burned for more than 90 years - a fire that helped forge the careers of several Hall of Famers.

The photo, one of more than half a million in the Hall of Fame's photo collection, shows Bragan and actor Joe E. Brown, the father of Pirates general manager Joe L. Brown.

Joe E. Brown was a huge baseball fan and appeared in several baseball-themed moves. Bragan, on the other hand, was a man who shaped baseball history.

Bragan passed away Thursday night at the age of 92. He played for seven seasons in the big leagues during the 1940s, finishing with a .240 average. But after retiring following the 1948 season, Bragan found his calling when Dodgers' general manager Branch Rickey made him a minor league manager.

"Every one of my wins should have a note that says: 'See Bobby Bragan,'" said Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams, who played for Bragan with the Dodgers' minor league team in Fort Worth, Texas. "He disciplined me, and therefore taught me how to discipline."

Bragan managed in the big leagues for seven seasons, starting with the Pirates in 1956 and 1957. He moved on to the Indians in 1958, then managed the Braves from 1963-66. His final record: 443-478.

But for those he touched, Bobby Bragan was one of the most influential men of their careers.

His photo - like more than 500,000 others in the Hall of Fame's collection - will be preserved in Cooperstown forever.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

By Craig Muder

As Spring Training approaches, the sounds of baseball are making their return to Florida and Arizona.

But fans will really know the 2010 season is at hand when their favorite broadcasters return to the airwaves with the debut of the exhibition season.

For many, the National Pastime is incomplete without the voices and descriptions of the men and women on radio and television. And during the first week of February, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will honor the best of the best with the announcement of the winner of the 2010 Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters.

The 10 finalists for the 2010 Frick Award will be considered by the Frick Award Committee, which consists of the 15 living Frick Award winners and five historians. The Committee consists of past honorees Marty Brennaman, Jerry Coleman, Gene Elston, Joe Garagiola, Ernie Harwell, Jaime Jarrin, Milo Hamilton, Tony Kubek, Denny Matthews, Dave Niehaus, Felo Ramirez, Vin Scully, Lon Simmons, Bob Uecker and Bob Wolff - and historians/columnists Bob Costas, Barry Horn, Stan Isaacs, Ted Patterson and Curt Smith.

The 10 finalists for the 2010 Frick Award are: Billy Berroa, Skip Caray, Tom Cheek, Jacques Doucet, Lanny Frattare, Graham McNamee, Jon Miller, Joe Nuxhall, Herb Score and Dave Van Horne. Bios of each of the 10 finalists are being posted daily at www.baseballhall.org.

The 2010 Ford C. Frick Award winner will be honored at Hall of Fame Induction Weekend July 23-26 in Cooperstown.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

By Craig Muder

It's been one week since Randy Johnson announced his retirement.

One week down, 259 to go until the 2015 Baseball Writers' Association of America Hall of Fame announcement - when Johnson will be eligible for the first time for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In Cooperstown, there is no such thing as a sure thing. In the 67 years the BBWAA has held a Hall of Fame vote, no player has ever been named on 100 percent of the ballots. Johnson, however, would appear to be one of the few players who could make a push for perfection.

The numbers are staggering: 303 wins against only 166 losses. A career ERA of 3.29. And 4,875 strikeouts, second only to Nolan Ryan on the all-time list.

Throw in five Cy Young awards and a World Series co-MVP, and Johnson has a Hall of Fame resume with few holes. He's already a "Hall of Fame" supporter of the game, having donated a dozen items to the Hall - including his Giants cap from his 300th win last year and the glove he wore when he notched his 3,000th strikeout.

But as unique as his career was, Johnson is not the only player who could get the Cooperstown call in 2015.

Several other potential Hall of Famers - including Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Jim Thome - are free agents and might decide to retire if they don't find the right situation. That would start their clock ticking toward 2015, since players must be inactive for five years before becoming eligible for the BBWAA ballot.

Combine those guys with the mega-class of 2014 first-time eligibles - Tom Glavine, Jeff Kent, Greg Maddux, Mike Mussina and Frank Thomas - and it seems likely that the middle years of this decade will feature a bumper crop of Hall of Famers.

The waiting, it seems, is the hardest part.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

By Craig Muder

NEW YORK -- Andre Dawson never knew he had so many friends. But after becoming the newest member of the Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday, Dawson's cell phone never stopped ringing.

"I've had 90 text messages and 60 voice messages," Dawson said. "I don't think I know that many people."

But people know Andre Dawson. And now they know him by his new title: Hall of Famer.

Dawson arrived in New York City on Wednesday night after learning earlier in the day that he had become the 292nd member of the Hall of Fame. On his ninth try on the Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot, Dawson crossed the magic 75-percent level necessary for Hall of Fame induction.

He'll be enshrined July 25 in Cooperstown with Veterans Committee electees Doug Harvey and Whitey Herzog.

The 55-year-old Dawson is fit and trim -- and looks like he could still mash a few balls over the fence. But the knee problems that dogged him during his playing career would make any comeback impossible.

"I got stopped in the airport, as usual, because of this knee," said Dawson, patting the right leg that contains an artificial joint made of metal. "They won't let me through security."

Dawson, however, was more than happy to endure the wait in the airport. The smiles came easy on Wednesday for the eight-time All-Star outfielder -- one of baseball's most outstanding citizens -- as he recalled the career path that brought him to the Hall of Fame.

In a little more than six months, that path will land Dawson on stage in the Village of Cooperstown -- and once again, he'll be recalling his career. Only this time, thousands of fans will be cheering.

One last ovation for a player who has as many friends as he does fans.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

By Craig Muder

It's Hall of Fame Eve in Cooperstown, the day before the annual Baseball Writers' Association of America election.

And just like on Christmas Eve, you can bet there's going to be a few people who have trouble sleeping tonight.

Take Andre Dawson. The leading returning vote-getter from the 2009 BBWAA election (at 67 percent) is on the ballot for the ninth time after missing election by just 44 votes a year ago.

Or how about Bert Blyleven? The curveball maestro received 62.7 percent of the vote last year, falling just short of the 75 percent needed for election. For Blyleven, this marks his 13th time on the BBWAA ballot - leaving him two more chances (if he needs them) after this election.

Then there's Roberto Alomar, who's making his BBWAA ballot debut. The 12-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner could become just the 45th player to be elected in his first year of eligibility.

How about Lee Smith and Jack Morris, who both received a little less than half of the vote last year? Or ballot newcomers Andres Galarraga, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez and Fred McGriff? All are likely to receive support.

It all happens tomorrow. They'll wake up and head downstairs with their expectations in hand. But instead of looking for the presents under the tree, they'll wait for a phone call that will totally change their lives.

If the call comes, they'll once again know the joy of being a kid on Christmas morning.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum