Thursday July 22nd 2010.
Before I start I want to apologize for any spelling or grammer mistakes I may make I am terrible at this and I am sure my wife Lynn will crucify me when she reads this but...what can I say......sorry honey....you did not marry I genius...
This day will start unlike the last 366 days before it. Because 366 days ago Jenna and I left after hockey camp and headed to Cooperstown for Induction Weekend. This year I awoke earlier to start getting the car packed. Jenna, Theo and I had slept out in the tent on Sunday night to make sure it was all aired out having been in storage for the last couple of years. It had been hanging in the garage for the past few days drying because of the rain we had on Monday morning. It was now dryed out and ready. I rolled the tent up and packed it away in the trunk along with the sleeping bags and the two small bags we would be bringing with us. The plan was to be on the road by noon. We had to pick up Theo at work study in Winooski before we could go so I got a bunch of stuff done for the store and even found the mailman so I could get my 2009 Hanley Ramirez All Star jersey to wear in Cooperstown.
We got to Winooski at 11:30 and Theo came right out, you could feel the excitement. I know I was pretty excited, Jenna had the feeling and Theo being his first time was excited but unsure as to what to expect.
We quickly grabbed sandwiches at Subway and then hit Route 7 to 22A the Route 4 into Whitehall and so on thru Fort Ann, Lake George, Balston Spa, Amsterdam, Conojaharie and then Cooperstown.
But when we got to Balston Spa something went wrong. The air conditioner on the car went dead then we kept hearing this loud whining from what we were told by a mechanic in Conojoharie as the water pump going...he also told me he had one customer all day..was probably a good idea not to have him put the car on the rack after he told me it could cost like 700.00 to fix it the car was running and not leaking so we decided to press on...the noise got louder every time I touched the brakes but the brakes felt fine. So we kept on driving. Being late Friday afternoon there really was no other option. Soon we did not think of the noise on the car because we soon saw the out edges of Lake Ostego which lead us right into Cooperstown..man did it look beautiful. We had taken our time driving but still made very good time. We approached the Golf Course where we would be spending most of our weekend during the day chasing Hall of Famers for autographs.
As we were driving by we noticed a crowd of people gathered at the third hole which is right by the road into Cooperstown and I pulled over to see what was going on. Gary Carter was signing autographs for the few fans that were there. I grabbed a baseball for all three of us and a bat.
We each got a ball signed and the bat signed as well. Not a bad way to start the trip and really a very good autograph for Theo to get for his first one.
Not wanting to tempt fate we continued into town and parked right in front of the Hall of Fame. I cannot even describe the feelings I got when I got out of the car. That little town is my most favorite town in the whole world. The first thing we did was get Jenna's membership stuff and card. Jenna has been a Hall of Fame supporter for the last 6 years and she has been there 7 times. She got her Hall of Fame hardcover yearbook and pins and a beautiful Satchel Paige litho. I decided we do a sustaining membership this year. Having Theo with us and me planning on going back a few more times this year made the most sense.
We were all hungry so we decided that we go eat at Fu Kin' Jon's Chinese around the corner from the Hall of Fame. Jenna and I have eaten dinner there our first night in Cooperstown for the past 7 years and I had been doing it with my friends long before that.
We had chicken, pork fried rice, egg rolls etc...we were stuffed. After we decided to walk around town a little bit and hopefully get a glimpse of some Hall of Famers walking around, but there were none. I talked to the kids and said you know maybe we should go build the tent and then hit the hay early so we would be rested for the first day at the golf course on friday.
After all we scored Gary Carter and we had not even tried yet.
We drove up to Beaver Valley Campground. It is a really nice campground with baseball fields and everything. We got a spot on the pond this year. It was beautiful and to top it off no Canadian Geese around which meant no poop anywhere.
There was no one in our area yet so we set up the tent which really only took like 15 minutes...not bad because 5 years ago when I first did this it took me an hour by myself.
The tent looked great and the front opened right to the pond.
After we were set up we all went up to the bathhouse for showers so we could get an early sleep.
They finally got new quarter machines that you did not have to twist to get the water going. Theo showered first because I wanted to get pictures loaded into the computer from the first day.
After we showered we went back and got set up for sleep.
I tuned the Yankees game on the radio ARod had hit homerun 599. Yipee!!!!! I listened to the end of that game. The kids fell asleep I had texted Lynn to let her know we made it safely..then tuned in the Mets game and drifted off to sleep.....
Friday July 23rd
Jenna woke me up around 6 am Friday morning and said we gotta get to the golf course she was right showering the night before certainly saves time in the morning except when you have a teenage daughter that has to make sure she looks ok to go autograph hunting.
But we survived the first night it had rained a little and we heard a moose in the morning across the pond somewhere crashing through the trees.
The car still making noise we headed towards town with our fingers crossed that the car would make it....we stopped at the Sunoco station so the kids could get drinks and the dinned on yummy Zebra Cakes and Mike and Ikes...there are certain things you have to have when you are autograph hunting and for us that is what we need...the weather did not look great for the golf course but we parked at the Trolley stop at the top of the golf course and trudge down to a spot by the third hole. I saw many people I had seen over my years coming here. There are guys that get here as early as Wednesday and set up little camps on the walls so they will have prime spots for the whole weekend...they usually get wet do not shower much and get real cranky when they do not get the autograph they want because the player decides he does not want to go down a line but stands in one spot.
We got to the third hole and some of my old friends were there but no John or Matt...they must have been coming in later. It was eight o'clock and it was getting darker and there was a drizzle...an autograph collectors worst nightmare...if you are gonna rain....rain do not mess with starting then letting up...well it started and did not let up...one person playing golf and it was not Wade Boggs....the clouds opened up and for the first time in my years coming here there was a very very hard steady rain falling. So the three of us hiked back to the car and drove into town. I had bought us poncho's thank god because we needed them. We walked around and saw some Hall of Famers doing signings outside stores under tents of course and there were other former players signing as well including Bill Buckner, Bert Campanaris, Dwight Gooden and others. We walked around in our ponchos and the pouring rain for a bit then decided to have an early lunch at the pizza place. Jenna got a veggie slice, Theo a ham and cheese calzone and I got a meat and peppers Stromboli. They were good even at 10:30 in the morning.
When we finished the rain had not let up but it had gotten worse. We went into the Cooperstown Bat Company for a few minutes and in their back showroom on the walls were well over 7,000 little league baseball pins from all over the place. Probably one of the coolest collections of pins I had ever seen. We went back outside and you got it pouring now...so I said why not go over to Doubleday Field and see if "Play Ball With Ozzie (Smith)" was still going to happen....this event is put on by the Hall and what happens is people pay an incredible amount of money to go out on the field and turn two double plays withe Ozzie Smith, Paul Molitor and Bruce Sutter as well as get pointers and stuff...well the field was tarp ed but they decided they would have a Q & A for the people that spent all this money right in the grandstand...so with nothing else to do we decided to stay and hopefully score a few auto's after.
With no PA system we really only sat there with other fans and watched this Q & A session and never heard a question or answer but I did show the kids that I could chew 25 pieces of Double Bubble gum at once....
There was a man in the group at the Q & A his name was Masanao Saijo from Japan. He has been coming to Cooperstown for over 16 years and has done the Ozzie Smith event every year they have had it. I wanted to meet him after and maybe trade with him through the mail.
When everything was done we all hurried outside and believe it or not the rain stopped so with only about 30 of us there we hoped that Sutter, Molitor and Ozzie would sign...but they pulled their cars inside so they would not have to be bothered...but Ozzie did come out and sign and he signed what seemed for everyone but us...what a bummer..things were not looking good...when things are not looking good you turn to Jenna to make things brighten up..Jenna buys ice cream for Reggie Jackson each year we come to Cooperstown..it is a truly great story how it all began but I will save that for another day. We walked over to the Tuncliff Inn but first I had to leave some autographs I had to get authenticated with Jim Spence Authentication...they certify autographs. I had a Connie Mack, Frankie Frisch, Joe Medwick and a Moe Berg which is very rare that I needed to get authenticated..the show is great the dealers have all been doing it for many years and it was a chance to see some of my old friends I used to do the shows with. I stooped doing the shows once Jenna showed she really liked coming and I did not want to miss any of her adventures her anymore.
I said hi to all my old friends and learned that a dear friend of mine and Jenna's had passed away..her name was Lori Ellis from Boston who was a wicked Red Sox fan and next year was going to bring her granddaughter to Cooperstown for Jenna to bring around like her Goddaughter had done with Jenna her first year there.
After we had said our hello's we headed to the Tuncliff to see if Reggie was there yet and to get Mr. Saijo address he was staying at the Tuncliff...we exchanged address's and posed for a picture turns out he is a monster hockey fan as well.......Reggie's flight was late...we decided to stay behind the Tuncliff and watch the players come back and fourth from their signings...Jenna really wanted to get Reggie ice cream today because up til now it had been a washout of sorts. I had a really nice Sports Illustrated of Reggie in 1969 I wanted to get signed so I bought a ticket....when Reggie arrived in the back of the Tuncliff he got out of the car and spotted Jenna right away. He said hi to her and asked how she was doing..Jenna asked him if he would like ice cream today and her said sure.....the flavor was Coffee...Jenna was excited...Theo was like wow....and I was like Jenna he just got in there and people are waiting to get stuff signed so lets wait a little bit we have over an hour...so we went back to the car so she could change into her Yankees Reggie jersey. I got my Sports Illustrated and a couple of other Reggie items I had for Jenna just in case...we waited about a half hour and went into the ice cream shop across from the Tuncliff...Jenna had to run over to the show to use the bathroom and Theo and I got something from the ice cream shop Theo a Strawberry shake...me a orange ice cream soda which I downed. Jenna came back and it was pouring again..go figure so we waited a bit and after Theo and I pleading with Jenna to take her jersey off in case Reggie wanted to sign it for her so it would not get wet she finally did.
She bought Reggie a huge dish of Coffee ice cream and we ran across the street. The line had pretty much died down and we waited a few minutes and we were all face to face with Reggie.
Jenna introduced us...he talked to us for about 20 minutes while he ate his ice cream...he talked to Jenna about school and me about our family...he said how much he enjoys seeing Jenna every year and how he remembers how little she was when she first got him ice cream. He signed my Sports Illustrated and another as well and Jenna's Hall of Fame plaque too. I told him he did not have too. but he said anything for Jenna...after he signed he had to get back to signing 6 dozen baseballs for a dealer but he stood up for a photo with all of us....it was a pretty exciting moment for Theo I think and all of us for that matter...Jenna asked him if he wanted ice cream on Saturday and he said sure he said chocolate mint...we started to walk out and Jenna looked at me funny and then I realized she did not get her jersey signed...she was a little upset and Theo and I told her to go back he would do it for sure but she did not want to because she had never asked him for an autograph before.
We waited for the rain to stop and we left Jenna knowing she would see Reggie tomorrow.
I was nervous and wanted to get my autographs and find out if they had passed testing. We went back into the show and I got them back....the all passed....sweet...the day was definitely getting better.
Outside we ran into my friend Brian who is the Gm for The Vermont Mountainers and he had been doing some interviews and we exchanged a few stories of the day so far..there were two former Negro League players next to us on the street Mr. Robert Scott and Mr. Pedro Sierra..the kids were tired so they sat on the bench while I talked to them for a bit..it is great talking to the old Negro League players they have such great stories...Mr. Scott even was excited to show me a Negor League Encyclopedia that was signed by over 40 former Negro League players an amazing piece...I could have talked forever..
We walked around a little more after that and ran into our friend Jerrod from New York. He has been collecting autographs forever...he and some of his friends joined us for dinner at TJ's....we were starving..we had not eaten since the morning and had been walking most of the day...I got Lasagna and Cesar salad, Jenna stuffed shells and a salad and Theo got Salisbury Steak...man were they fast 15 minutes salads and everything...my salad was huge but when the plates came out I thought the kids eyes would pop out of their sockets..Jenna had 4 of the biggest stuffed shells ever....Theo had a small cow on his plates with an enormous serving of mashed potatoes and I had a lasagna not a piece but what looked like a whole lasagna...needless to say none of us finished...that included Jerrod's friends it was unbelievable how big the portions were...after dinner we split up for a while the kids wanted to go the Ostego Hotel to try to get autograph's I wanted to walk around town for a while...the kids also said they wanted to shop for something at one of the stores.
So I went for a walk and saw some people I had met in the past and walked around with them for a while I saw Bill Buckener, Bill Madlock and daryl Strawberry but they would not sign... I got a call from Jenna a little while later that Reggie was in the same store as her and Theo, Reggie had asked Theo if it was ok to give her a hug....Theo said "sure"...when Reggie was done he went across the street to a very nice Italian restaurant for dinner a huge crowd gathered around the entrance....the kids got what they had went into buy but would not show it to me...they walked up to the hotel and I walked around for an hour or so...Reggie came out of the restaurant and went back across the street to the store he was in before but before he went he decided to sign autographs....this was a shock to many but he signed for at least 30 minutes I even waited patiently and got a ball signed my first Reggie on my own...I took a beating but it was worth it....it was getting late and one of my friends Matt had seen Jenna and Theo and we made plans to meet at the golf course Saturday Am and he said John was on his way to town.
It was starting to rain again so I called Jenna and Theo and we decided to have another somewhat early night. We drove back to the camp and we were pretty happy with the day even with the rain we had done OK....and we were well feed..we got back and the tent was still standing but there was water inside..Jenna and Theo went in and used everything but our towels to dry it up...we went up to the bathhouse and showered and fell asleep right away it looked to be clearing out I saw stars as I listened to the Mets game and fell asleep.......
"Blame it on the rain..."
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