Hello,

I know a lot of you attended the National, but did anyone else go to Cooperstown to for the Hall of Fame induction weekend? A friend of mine and I went up for several days and had an absolute blast. All of the folks up there (including the HoFers) were great to interact with; very personable, welcoming, etc.

The museum is phenomenal, of course, and is growing quickly. Some of the game used items there are simply beyond belief. A couple of my favorites were Denny Eskin's 1956 Mantle glove, a Steve Carlton glove that he used to break Lolich's N.L. strikeout record, and the cleats that Rickey Henderson wore to tie Lou Brock's stolen base record. I was disappointed to find that the bat that Ripken used to hit the homerun in the 2001 All Star Game had been temporarily removed. The display of no-hitter baseballs was also a highlight.

We also attended the ESPN interview of Boggs and Sandberg on Monday morning (also a terrific event). Sandberg told this incredible story of how his first pair of matching cleats (the maroon cleats matched the Phillies uniform) for the Reading Phillies had originally been Schmidt's that Michael Jack used in the majors. Sandberg said that the Phila. Phillies had sent down a box of used cleats and Sandberg found a pair with 20 written on each shoe. They fit him, so he used them for the entire season. Can you imagine? Unbelievable.

Overall, a truly fantastic time. I'd love to hear if others were in Cooperstown for the weekend and if they have any interesting stories.

Reid