Aviously

Cooperstown, NY. The home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. A quaint little town, with a trolley system, and free parking lots dotted around the city…and if you’re lucky a metered spot in town, right in front of the Halls gates.

The Baseball Hall of Fame is a great place to visit, whether you are a casual fan or a baseball purist…and if you’re a Yankees fan, half the hall is just about you.
I’m someone that tends to move quickly thru museums, but this one was enjoyable and I took my time with, even going back to some exhibits multiple times.

The building is split into multiple sections, each with their own uniqueness and excitement, here are some of them:

• Lockers Rooms — All 30 teams are displayed with their own locker, showing a lot of recent history for each team. From jerseys to cleats, gloves to balls, and a list of all retired numbers, each item has a little piece of history to it. Take the New York Yankees locker, below, as an example, with some of the pictured items:
  • Andy Pettitte’s glove from when he set the franchise Strikeout record
  • Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge’s bats from when they hit back-to-back homers in their first plate appearances
  • Gary Sanchez’s “Kraken” jersey, from the 2017 Players Weekend, the first time that Yankees jerseys had names on them
    
• Babe Ruth: His Life and Legend — Babe Ruth is arguably one of the best players of all time. But what’s not debatable is that he is one of the early heroes of the game, larger than life, and making the game fun for people to come out and watch.
• Exhibits on some of the key eras throughout baseball history. These included the Pirates of the 1910s, the Negro League, and Women’s roles in baseball
• ¡Viva Baseball! — A celebration of Latin American baseball, and a fully bilingual exhibit.  It focuses on baseball being played in those countries, as well as some of the top players that have come from there…like Albert Pujols, Alfonso Soriano, and Miguel Cabrera
  
• A Whole New Ballgame — A focus on the modern game, from the 1970s on. From the Yankees “Core Four”, to how Pine Tar has affected the game, and they don’t shy away from controversy, with talk of steroids and the McGuire/Sosa sagas, plus the famous run of 1998.
  
• Sacred Ground — Former fields are preserved here, as they have pieces and artifacts from retired stadiums, like Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds, and the exploding scoreboard from Comiskey Park (below)
  
• Hank Aaron: Chasing The Dream — A look at Aarons historic career, as he looked to set records at all levels of play, and led a lot of philanthropic efforts
  
• Record Books — A full collection of all the records in baseball, and who the current holders are, and of course a full collection of gear from those events
  
• Postseason — Postseason history, the Yankees Championship trophy from 1999 lives here (below), as well as a duplicate of every World Series ring that’s been created (and watches, or other strange pieces from the early years of baseball)
  
• Who’s On First — Abbott and Costello made baseball funny, and they have their own little room with the famous skit on loop
• The Art of Baseball — A collection of arts and photos that showcase the game
• Hall of Fame — And of course you end your walk around the building with the most important part: The Hall of Fame. A collection of all the plaques for the HoFers, and a special hall for recent entries