My children are sending me to Cooperstown in a month. Are there any vintage card or memorabilia shops
that are a "must see"?
John

There was another thread recently mentioning that National Pastime has closed down. I can't recall what other shops are in Cooperstown. But they are all on Main Street within two or three blocks of the Hall of Fame. You can't miss them.

John,......... I`ve been to Cooperstown many many times...Write or call the Chamber and they will send you a book with Everything in it,...from restaurants, to shops, to B and B`s. It`s a big help to first timers. Have fun! If you have specific questions you can PM me. Cordially, Marty Kohler

GO YARD

That it can be very cold in Cooperstown. I have been there in early April when they got 8 to 10 inches of snow. The lake freezes over almost every winter and the ice doesn't break until mid-April. Generally, it will be in the upper 20's at night and mid to upper 40's during the day. Also most of the baseball related stores close for the winter and do not open until some time in April, so checking with the Chamber of Commerce is a good idea.

John, I've only been to Cooperstown once but I found that the shops are pretty weak, filled with overpriced crap for the most part. I didn't find a single card that even remotely interested me. That being said, I loved the trip, loved the area, loved the Hall, loved the adjacent field and loved the hotel. Definitely a nice trip and as soon as my boys are old enough we'll go back again.

Jeff,

I think you experienced what many of us have known for years: Cooperstown hates the hobby.

JOHN V

My advice to you is to postpone your trip till the HOF weekend at the end of July.

You will have a great time up there with the ceremonies, at least 50 living HOFers
milling around or signing, and an excellent BB card show.

I have set-up at this show since the mid-1980's and I guarantee that you will find
a wide variety of vintage cards spanning from 1887 to 1967....at reasonable prices.
This 2-day show is held at the VFW building diagonally across the street from the
Hall of Fame.

Now with the National Pastime store closing, this event is the only opportunity that
you'll have to acquire any vintage cards in that area.

TED Z

Rob, I thought the same thing.

Ted, is it a zoo that weekend in Cooperstown?

Disliking crowds and needing a hotel room, I have enjoyed visiting the place during the off season. And if the Farmers' Museum is open, you should take a look at the Cardiff Giant.

It's a "glorious zoo"......done it every year (except 2) since 1985. I wouldn't trade the great
conversations I've had with the following BB players......for a real T206 Wagner ! !

Yogi and Carmen Berra
Don Larsen
Johnny Mize
Ted Williams
Stan Musiak
Phil Rizzuto
Ernie Banks
Bill White
Red Schoendienst
Enos Slaughter
Walt Dropo
Vic Power
Gerry Grote

and many more BB players from my youth.

The past few years we have not only seen some great restaurants in the Cooperstown area
"bite the dust"....but also, some vintage BB card stores disappear (they probably went the
way of ebay).

Perhaps, if the HOF committee where to put some one like Gil Hodges in the HOF, they would
get the huge crowds up there again like in the past.


TED Z

Bill James overstated it only slightly when he wrote that Cooperstown is enormously difficult to get to seven months out of the year and Marco Polo couldn't get there during the other five. If you just want to visit the Hall of Fame, then April is fine, assuming you have good weather. It will be uncrowded and you can have plenty of time to see every exhibit. In the winter, Cooperstown is a charming little village of 1900 people, where everybody knows each other. The Pit at the Tunnicliff Inn serves a Lobster dinner for about $15 and you can still get a hamburger at the Cooperstown Diner that is nearly 2 inches thick. But...many of the shops will be closed, there will be no games to take in at Doubleday Field and you will miss the beauty of the lake and its surroundings. If it is your first trip, you should do Induction weekend when you can take in everything that makes Cooperstown special including the great VFW card show Ted mentioned.

Go Hall of Fame Weekend if at all possible. I have gone 10-12 times on this weekend since the early 80's and it is always a great time. I would go every year on this weekend if I could. Granted it is no where near how it use to be when it was very easy to talk with the players at the Otesaga Motel and all of the autographs were free but it is still a lot of fun.

If you actually want to see anything at the Hall (and, believe me, you do), go in the winter or early spring when there's no one there.

Having the museum to yourself, in wonderful quiet, is glorious.

Ted, I'd trade any card I have to talk to those players.

I went in July, just a week or two before or after the induction ceremony and the weather there was perfect. However, the Hall was a bit crowded. And with the crowds 2-3 deep at each exhibit I found it a bit frustrating. I'd go next time earlier in the year as David said in order to avoid the crush and really get to see the exhibits.

All that being said, sitting on the rocking chairs at the Otesaga is really an incredible time. Beautiful lake, beautiful atmosphere there.

The way to play the game up there on HOF weekend is plan on being there several days.
There is plenty of attractions to keep you occupied. Definitely take the tour of the lake.
Take in the Farmers' Museum and take your sons to the Little League park south of
Cooperstown.
Take in a AA ballgame in nearby Oneonta. Check out every nook and cranny selling BB
cards, sometimes these stores can surprise you.

And, then on Monday (or better yet Tuesday) you should have no crowd problem in the
Hall of Fame.

As I said in my earlier post, many of the finer restaurants are no longer there. But, if you
venture up to Fly Creek (6 miles north on Rte. 28), there is a really fine dining place cal-
led "Portabello". Its menu features a wide variety of food and it's consistently very high
quality.


TED Z

I agree with what Ted has posted, but you should also check out Hoffman Lane in town and The Blue Mingo Grill on the lakefront just north of town as well. There are some funky (non-BB) antique spots on the road up from Oneonta worth checking out. I remember going there as a kid and hoping that the streets would be paved with baseball card shops and being disappointed. When my wife and I were there a couple of summers ago, I was disappointed at the selection, quality and prices of the cards that were there. Quel dommage.

"I think you experienced what many of us have known for years: Cooperstown hates the hobby."

Not as much as Michael O'Keefe.

How's about this deal in response to your request......
" Ted, I'd trade any card I have to talk to those players. "

I wont even ask you for any of your Cobb's.....just one of your Hal Chase cards that I
don't have....if I paraphrase my 45 minute conversation with Ted Williams.

Or, how's about Yogi and his wife Carmen, who lived a few houses down from my older
daughter, Debbie, in Montclair.....talking about their neighborhood and talking Baseball.

Or, my many conversations with Phil Rizzuto (my nearby neighbor in Hillside, NJ).
If you choose the Rizzuto stories, I have to up the ante, as there are many. Perhaps,
a Chase and a Cobb for Phil's conversations


Ted Z

How's the food in a small town like Cooperstown? Suggestions??

I've been to Cooperstown twice, and I've found the card shop "Yastrzemski Sports" to be a very nice reasonably priced shop. The dealers there are very knowledgeable and will cut a break on your purchase.I bought a Catfish Hunter rookie for only $28 and a '73 Topps Clemente for only $24. My purchase came to like $53, but they gave me a break and I only had to pay $50, and my friend's purchase came to like $58, and they charged him only $50 too. You can find them at www.yazsports.com The food is pretty good, but kind of expensive, I'd recommend going out a few miles to find a cheaper place. If you like hotdogs there is a good place called DiMaggios, it is only a few miles out of town and has quality food.

I went to the Hall two years ago to see Ripken and Gwynn get inducted and had a great time. The Hall and town weren't too crowded although the ceremony itself was packed and it was like being at Woodstock or something, very difficult to get anywhere near the stage. We couldn't get a room in town so we stayed in Albany, which isn't too far away. There are some good card shops on Main Street, mostly selling raw cards, and we picked up some stuff from the 30's and 40's that were reasonably priced. Who is getting inducted this year?

Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice, and Joe Gordon are being inducted this year.

John, Just to repeat .....call the Chamber and get their book sent its free and has EVERYTHING in it! Hotels, B and B`s, Restaurants, shops, attractions....... really a first class all incompasing guide. Doubleday cafe` is a must when you first get into town,.. on Main Street. Good and fast, have an Old Slugger.... Blue Mingo on the water early evening is nice, Hawkeye grill in the basement of the Otesaga ...good. Jeff you`re absolutely right on about the big round porch overlooking the lake on the "back" of the Otesaga...get your wife or girlfriend a Cooperstown Cosmo!...Robert if you want a real hotdog go to Teds Hots in Buffalo, N.Y... Best in the country in my opinion..........Lastly the very best time to go to Cooperstown IMO is Sept. right after labor day..Shops are still open just enough people around... but Hall does close then at 5 o`clock....Oh and one more thing if you have a child between 8-12 take them now don`t wait..Have fun you won`t be disappointed.........

GO YARD

Ted, I just saw your last post. Was Williams talkative and patient? I guess at Cooperstown he must have been in his glory. I would have loved to have met him.

I caught him in an idle moment. I told him that as avid a Yankees fan that I was in the 1950's....
that I always rooted for him to hit a HR at Yankee Stadium. And, many times he did, into the RF
upper deck.

TED....So, he asked me why I rooted for him ?
ME.....I told him because his name was Ted; and besides, at the end of the season the Yankees
would always win, anyway.

TED....he smiled, and then asked me why I was a Yankees fan ?
ME.....because Phil Rizzuto was my nearby neighbor in Hillside, NJ

TED....if the Scooter was on the Red Sox all those years, we would have been the Champs.

Then I turned the conversation to his BB cards. He was like a little kid....I still remember how en-
thusiastic he was " talkin' BB cards ".

ME.....are you aware of how rare your 1954 Bowman card is ?
TED....no, but I signed a contract with Sy Berger of Topps in 1954 and no other Gum Co. could
portray me.

Then, without me asking him....Ted went on this long dissertation telling me how Sy Berger was
annoyed with him in 1959 when Fleer approached his agent to do a series of cards depicting Ted.
Fleer offered Ted $500 to do this series of 80 cards. Sy Berger offered Ted $1000 to stay with
Topps. Ted started laughing, as he told me that a bidding war between Fleer and Topps ensued.
When Fleer upped the ante to $5000, Topps relented. And that Jeff, is the real story behind the
1959 Fleer Ted Williams set....straight from Ted, himself.

TED....heck, that was a lot of money back then just for having your pictures on a set of gum cards.
ME.....Ted, you ain't kidding, that's my Dad's annual salary.

We talked some more as we walked, and then Ted had to meet some dignitaries.


TED Z

Marty is right. September is a great time to be in Cooperstown. Great weather and fewer crowds because kids are back to school. You can also view the visitor's guide online at www.cooperstownchamber.org

Ted, that's a cool story. 5K! I guess that bought two Corvettes back then, right? Amazing that he was so open about that.

You know we look up to these BB heroes of ours (and believe me I literally looked
up to Ted, for he stood tall and straight in his 6:4 height).
But, these guys are ordinary people just like you and I....and, Ted loved to talk. I
also met Ted back in 1983 at a signing session at a Show and he was very talkative
with all the autograph seekers.

I found this to be also true with Phil Rizzuto, if you approached guys like Ted and Phil
with down to earth type of conversations, they really opened up to you. And, you soon
realized to keep quiet and let them do the talking.

TED Z

That was a great Ted Williams story, thank you for posting it. What I wouldn't have given to spend just 5 minutes talking with Ted.

I had a similar experience with Bob Feller when he was signing at a local minor league game. Listening to him talk about the Babe using his bat that final time was awesome, it's a memory I will always treasure.

And to get back on subject...do you all think that in the not to distant future Cooperstown will change? As in do you think as the older guys pass that we will see less and less of the HOFers show up on induction weekend? The newer generation seems to want big money for autographs, so what reason will they have to show up and spend time talking with us?

guys, i just went up in feb. for the winter fest. great time and the hall is all to yourself. its the best time to go . the hotels are cheap, and very few people in town. i go every 2 to 3 years being im from long island. the national pastime store is gone and i was so bummed. the other stores are over priced with crap. national pastime owner owns a dairy also and i here he is going to open a shop there which i here is a half hour drive. i took plenty of photos in the hall and will post soon. i am a 19th. cent. collector so the photos are geared toward that. the 19th. cent. baseball displays are unbelievable.

I have to agree with Ted Z about Williams and Rizzuto. As a 7 and 8 year old kid during the summer weekdays I was left with the family that had built a house next to a lot on lake Cochituate that my parents owned and planed to build on. I would for two summers at age 7 and 8 clear underbrush from the 1/2 acre lot. During the summer of 1949 Earl Torgeson, who was the Braves first baseman and lived across the street, was injured and he liked to fish as did Williams. To my amazement they both would show up to fish quite often on Williams off days and Williams was extremely gracious to the few kids in the neighborhood. The next year 1950 Williams was injured in the all-star game and missed the rest of the season, but still got some fishing in with Earl on Earl's off days.



In the late 1980's I was visiting Boston after moving to Florida and was renting a car at Budget as was Rizzuto, who was in Boston to broadcast a Yankees series. There was a long wait for the cars and I had a very nice discussion with Phil, which resulted with Phil giving me tickets for the 2 best seats I have ever had at Fenway that night and the sox won! Of course the best seat I ever had at Fenway was a free walk in bleacher seat in September 1960, freshman year at MIT, about 50 feet from the spot that Williams last homerun landed - no chance at the ball.