Leading Off with Tom Bartsch - Thursday, September 24, 2009

My Dream Job Involves Hot Dogs
Posted by Tuff Stuff

It’s a question you start writing about in grade school and something you discuss until you pass on, unless you actually achieve it: what would be your favorite job?

It was suggested that Baseball HOF President Jeff Idelson might have the best job in the world as the caretaker of the some of the finest memorabilia in the world. Hob-nobbing with diamond greats wouldn’t be too shabby either.

But I was thinking about some other “dream” jobs in the sports world, so I thought I’d share some of mine and in turn hope to hear some of yours. This is a fantasy that doesn’t deal with how much money you make, rather the enjoyment of the position.

One of the first jobs I would like to try is being a promotions director for a minor league baseball team. You get to use your imagination to come up with new promotions and on-field entertainment, and the crowd always enjoys the sideshow. As long as you avoid dynamite, nickel beers and scary clowns, you should be all right.

I think another great job would be serving as a bullpen catcher. You suit up with the team, handle all of the pitchers and do . . . nothing else. Sure, it would be nice to actually be on the field, but this is the next best thing. Plus, you still get to hear insults from the opposing crowd on the road, and some of that is really entertaining.

Being a mascot has always been intriguing, but after watching kids beat on the Kool-Aid man before a Milwaukee Bucks game in the early 1990s, I’ve softened on that one. But if I could be a mascot that does all those crazy slam dunks off of a trampoline, that might win me over.

I was also thinking about being one of the guys that holds the yardage markers on the sidelines in football games, but you see too many guys get drilled by a running back headed out of bounds. Perhaps being the sound guy that carries the big saucer-like device would be better – I could use that for protection.

I also figure a “spotter” in NASCAR can’t be that difficult, although you can’t control the driver so if he does something unexpected that makes your reporting inaccurate, you might catch the blame for wrecking an expensive car. I’d take the chance though.

I didn’t mention anything about being a professional athlete, because I knew early on that wasn’t realistic. But shooting hot dogs from a gun is.

Thursday, September 24, 2009 7:46:47 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Friday, September 18, 2009

MLBPA Taking Aim at Youngsters
Posted by Tuff Stuff

MLB Players Association summer hobby shop promotion, dubbed the Big League Blast, concluded in August, reportedly with solid results from the 250 hobby shops that participated in the four-month promotion.

During the promotion’s run, customers who visited participating hobby shops and purchased a pack of any Topps or Upper Deck baseball product received a ticket for an entry into a monthly drawing, with prizes ranging from Majestic baseball jerseys to autographed photos and other licensed products.

“The idea for the promotion came from a New York Times article I read late last year when the economy softened talking about the need for small specialty retailers to create events to bring people into their stores and give them a reason to shop. That really applied to my hobby shops,” said the MLBPA’s Evan Kaplan about how the program got started. “We’re able to tap into a lot of our product credits and build a nice prize pool. But we also wanted to build awareness for the new releases, so we were able to accomplish that.”

Hobby shops got a big boost from the promotion as well, as evidenced by the outpouring of positive comments from dealers who e-mailed Kaplan during and after the promotion’s run. Here’s an example: “We had so many people in here for this drawing there was barely enough room to move around in the store. We sold out completely of all featured product and most of everything else we had in baseball,” said Dale and Matt from Mr. Dale’s Tradin’ Card LLC.

There were dozens more just like it, which is nice to hear when so much of the hobby news tends to be on the negative side.

Kaplan also shed a little light on the Baseball Card Clubhouse program the MLBPA conducts with stores aimed at Boy Scout troops and other youth organizations. He said more than 500 stores are currently participating with more signing up all of the time. This will continue well into 2010, with new ideas currently in development.

“The feedback has been phenomenal, but the best feedback is when the kids come back after the initial seminar and become regular customers,” Kaplan said.

You always hear in this hobby about how youth need to be a focal point. Well, here are two programs that are actually working. I plan on getting regular updates on these promotions and will fill you in on the details.

Friday, September 18, 2009 3:02:52 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Ernie Davis Story Got Me Thinking
Posted by Tuff Stuff

There are plenty of times when you run across names in the sporting world and, aside from knowing they won a particular trophy or award, you know little else about them, either biographical or how they got on the big stage in the first place. Unfortunately, you never take the time to go a step futher and learn more about the player.

Such was the case with me regarding running back Ernie Davis. Yes, I knew Davis won the Heisman Trophy in 1961, becoming the first black player to do so. But I didn’t know about the racial hardships he endured – even while accepting trophies – nor the story behind why he never played a down in the NFL (he was diagnosed with leukemia and passed away at age 23). It took a viewing of the movie The Express starring Rob Brown as Davis for me to get most of the story, but I learned the background on a sports legend all the same.

It makes you wonder as the years and decades roll by how many of these background stories will survive. As the people who saw these events first-hand start to dwindle, it comes down to people learning about these events through hand-me-down stories and/or doing some research.

Davis is probably fairly well known, but let’s say Rick Ankiel, an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, happens to win the World Series MVP this year. Will collectors 10 years from now remember he came up through the ranks as a dominating strikeout pitcher before experiencing strike zone command issues and then blowing out his arm?

Always a good hitter, Ankiel returned to the majors after switching to the outfield and is a better-than-average player for the Cardinals today.
There are tons of stories like these in professional sports and I think it would make for a great book idea, if one doesn’t already exist. The stories are already there – all someone would have to do is compile them, do some interviews and the result would be a great read in my opinion. Perhaps I’ll get to it in my free time.

The size might be a problem, but the stories could be condensed to make it a manageable read.

I’m curious if any readers have a particular favorite athlete background story, either well known or not. It could even be a personal experience with said athlete. I think it’s those details that are nearly as fascinating than what an athlete does on the field, ice or court.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 2:36:18 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Thursday, September 03, 2009

Team-signed balls are a love/hate affair
Posted by Tuff Stuff

I have found a new collecting category for my world that is rather aggravating, yet quite rewarding at the same time. I’ve been branching out from simple yearbooks to autographed balls. In particular, I’ve been intrigued by team-signed balls.

I think to have a piece of memorabilia connected to a specific memorable season, be it a World Series year or when a certain player hit a milestone, is pretty special. Heck, if I had a team-signed ball from my Little League days, I’d get a kick out of that, too. You can run down the names and remember little things about the season. In Little League, that might have been as simple as, “This guy always ducked out of the box with every pitch.”

I think a 1986 New York Mets team-signed ball would be neat to have, but you’d have to have the ’86 Red Sox team ball, too, to tell the whole story from that season. And any Yankees or Milwaukee Braves team-signed ball would be special, as both franchises had some legendary Hall of Famers go through their ranks. But a Big Red Machine or Musial-led Cardinals ball would be nice, too. There are definitely plenty of high-caliber choices.

But as I have been digging around in this category, I’ve also found that it can be a rather frustrating hunt. For instance, just because it says “team-signed ball,” that doesn’t mean it was signed by the entire team. With a roster usually consisting of 25 regulars, you’d like to find a ball with all of those regulars.

That means if it’s a 1987 Twins ball, I want Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, Frank Viola, Bert Blyleven and Jeff Reardon, along with Randy Bush, Al Newman and Gene Larkin. And every team-signed ball should have the manager on the sweet spot, regardless of the future Hall of Famers on the roster. Good or bad, the manager was the leader of that team and should be recognized as such. (It carries a little more clout when it’s Joe Torre vs. Ned Yost.)

The other part I find maddening is trying to figure out who on the team did sign the ball. Some of the signatures are illegible and even with the help of Baseball Almanac, which lists complete rosters, I am lost. It doesn’t help that some team-signed balls include September call-ups.

Along those same lines, and I’ve said it before, it’s amazing how much easier it is to read older team-signed balls compared to more recent versions. I understand the autograph demands of today’s players is probably far greater and less cordial than 50 years ago, but you’d think team-signed balls, usually completed in a controlled setting, would be a good place to put forth a nice signature. Obviously, most players today don’t care.

Sure, you could get one of the stamped team-signed balls and accomplish some of the same goals I mentioned earlier, but everyone knows that’s not the same. Clubhouse signatures are another burr in my saddle. All of the players should sign the ball themselves, or it’s not a team-signed ball, plain and simple.

Another angle I’m considering is All-Star team-signed balls. I figure that’s one way to get a bunch of great stars (at least for one year) and future Hall of Famers in one spot. Plus, it’s humorous to see which players made the team, especially in the modern-era when you have that stupid rule where one player from every team is added to the All-Star roster. If you’re an All-Star, you’re an All-Star. A Washington Nationals fan isn’t going to stop watching just because Adam Dunn didn’t make the team. But I digress.

In the end, I’m a signed ball guy these days, for good or bad. For now, I’ll keep searching to make sure Rob Picciolo is on my ’82 Milwaukee Brewers ball.

Thursday, September 03, 2009 3:48:22 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Favre is Good Business for Football Cards
Posted by Tuff Stuff

The circus surrounding Brett Favre is almost comical. I think it will make for a great insert set for Upper Deck’s Predictor series or one of the caricature cards the company has produced in the past.

Perhaps Favre could be pictured with a waffle maker or a riding lawnmower (wait, that’s been done already). Either way, the situation surrounding Favre’s retirement announcements and playing again announcements with the Packers, Jets and now Vikings provides plenty of opportunities for card makers to have a little fun – and make some money, too.

Yes, like him or not – approve of his antics or not – Favre is a money-maker, too. Fans will come out in droves in Minnesota, and they will grab any merchandise and memorabilia related to the famed quarterback.

Think of some of the great cards that can now be made with just his jersey cards. You could have Super Bowl-worn Green Bay Packers cards, pieces of the famous white and green-striped jersey he wore in New York and the loud purple of the Vikings uniforms. And then they should release some of the triple relic cards in which you could incorporate all three of the jerseys. It would be quite colorful. However, you might run out of room on the back explaining the situation.

I hope none of the card manufacturers were planning on a tribute set after his second retirement from the Jets. Lord knows, enough of us fell for it the first time with the Packers. SCD’s parent company, F+W Media offered a commemorative book on Favre’s Packers career and released a magazine covering the legend. I believe the book hit the bookstores at just about the time Favre did an about-face and wanted to return to the field that resulted in his next toss taking place in the Meadowlands and not in Lambeau Field.
Barring a season-ending injury to Favre in the preseason, this does nothing but help NFL sales, including NFL trading cards. You don’t think Vikings fans (and Favre fans loyal to any of the three teams) won’t want to get a pasteboard of the gunslinger in “horns?”

The new NFL trading card market is basically fueled by rookies and the speculation on whether they will be the next Barry Sanders or the next Ron Dayne. Their autographs and patch cards are the main drivers of each set released throughout the year. However, there are a select few veteran players that are also coveted by collectors. Brett Favre is one of those players. The longer card companies can keep plugging him into products as part of the regular set, all the better. Of course, collectors will continue to see him in insert sets for years to come in throwback series, etc., that are used to fill out sets these days.

But this is the here and now, and now Favre is with the Vikings as the team’s starting quarterback. I wonder how many photographers rushed to Minnesota this week to get some shots of Favre for card products. I guess the first preseason game will be pretty popular for that, too. It’s just that those “photo-shopped” images just don’t cut it on cards any more.

What has been a little surprising is that there hasn’t been any announcements from the card companies about their Farve plans yet. Perhaps it’s too soon or perhaps it’s because he went through this once before to demand such treatment. When Favre joined the N.Y. Jets, the card companies got photos from the press conference and used those in their products. I think the New York stigma might have had something to do with that, as well.

Who knows what this will do for the Vikings on the field, but it certainly can’t hurt the football card market.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 4:21:26 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Finding Answers to Collectors' Questions
Posted by Tuff Stuff

The last few days have been rather interesting for me. As someone who has worked in hobby publications since college, I figured that most folks who collect know what they are collecting and have a general understanding of their value.

I’ve worked in antiques, toys and sports in my tenure here at F+W Media, but working with Collect.com Auctions has definitely shed some new light on collectors to me.

As a writer in these various areas of collecting, I was/am in contact with many collectors, but mostly in interview formats talking about their collections or getting their opinions on certain collectible areas for market trend stories. In other words, these are knowledgeable collectors. They can speak of backgrounds, trends and values for items in their collection ad nauseam.

So it’s a little surprising for me to be speaking with a lot of collectors of late who are relatively unfamiliar with what they have. And this is in numerous collecting categories, not just sports. Some want help with identification in terms of year produced; others simply have no idea what they have and are looking to find a value first, then other information.
I guess it’s a different audience than what I’m used. It would be similar if I would pick up a vintage tool as wall art and then decided I wanted to sell it. I would have no clue if another person would find it valuable, so I would inquire first.

There are probably a lot of reasons why people are considering selling their items even though they are not knowledgeable in what they have. For one, we’re still in a recession, with a lot of people still looking for work. They need money. One way to get money is to sell off the “unnecessary” items around the house. Collectbles often are among those items that are the first to go for those who don’t hold them dear to their heart (although we also hear from a lot of people who will make other concessions before turning to their treasures).

A lot of people simply want to know what they have. For the uninitiated, something that is old could be valuable, so they grab it and ask questions later. Now those questions are popping up much more frequently. They don’t have a computer to look it up for themselves, or they don’t know where to start. And, of course, just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s valuable.

I must say that when you can dig up some information for a reader or caller, it’s fun. It’s like solving a complicated math problem in school. You feel like you accomplished something and the person on the other end appreciates the new-found knowledge. It’s those darn “rare” items that you can’t find in a book or any record of sale online that gets you frustrated.
So it’s been a little adventure every day at work. While the sports hobby has very few “discoveries” that need in-depth investigation to identify and place a value, some of the other categories are much less researched and that’s where the work comes in.

And then there are those collectors who call and ask for information, but the more you speak with them, you realize they have already done a lot of research on the item and are either looking for confirmation or the last missing piece in the puzzle. Those are fun, too, because it’s like a test, and the information they give you can be used to gather even more information.

Anyone interested in finding out more information on a collectible they have, I’d be more than happy to try and help. Photos are very helpful in that regard, along with the time frame and regional location of the item when it was received. Let the hunt begin.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 8:22:02 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Monday, August 10, 2009

Crazy Times in the Hobby Will Seem Normal One Day
Posted by Tuff Stuff

It seems like we are going back in time lately in the sports world – and not just focusing on vintage memorabilia.

First, we’re back to just one MLB-licensed card manufacturer and now even the Home Run King says Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame. In the words of Vince Lombardi, “What the hell is going on out there?”

We’ve got feds and postal authorities running around the National Sports Convention pulling out subpoenas and interview requests with an end result that we still don’t know 12 months after they did the same routine in Chicago.

However, the National got a publicity boost and perhaps the most widespread positive story in its history with ESPN’s Bill Simmons snapping photos from the event like paparazzi and hogging up all of the space on the front page of ESPN.com. I’m fairly certain ESPN’s readership and Simmons’ column itself gets more views than 95 percent of all of the sites out there – combined. (I’m serious, there are a lot of small-time sites out there that get little-to-no traffic. Even my Robin Yount’s Lover site hasn’t really taken off. Don’t look for it, I’m kidding.)

We’ve got thieves looking to score on sports memorabilia instead of raiding strangers’ medicine cabinets and sports museums going out of business because no one is walking through the doors to just look at stuff without the chance of actually buying it.

It’s a funky time, but it’s not horribly out of whack in the history of the sports hobby. Do you think this time period is better than when there were six manufacturers pumping out more product than could ever possibly be bought by the general public?

Some might say yes, because at least then there was competition and more innovative products. Yet again, look at what happened to values of cards during that time and how many of those businesses remain today?
It all seemed strange at the time, but these things work themselves out over time, and all the craziness now will soon seem normal when something else crazy takes place. It’s all part of the game, so to speak.

On another subject, I have to share a few thoughts I’ve had while working on another round of descriptions for the second sports auction for Collect.com Auctions. We have a lot of vintage sports publications in the upcoming sale, covering baseball, football and hockey. They range from yearbooks and media guides to official records and Who’s Who.

I love these types of publications. I think they record the time period like nothing else and offer a great glimpse into the players and stories of the past. I often had to stop paging through them just so I could keep “working.”

Marty Appel has covered some of these long-running books in his column, sometimes mentioning how some of them are coming to an end after a decades-long run. That’s too bad, because I think future generations would like to read abut today’s stars in a similar format.

But perhaps I’m thinking much too narrowly. Everything is online now and perhaps that’s how tomorrow’s generation will learn about Greg Maddux, Albert Pujols, Mariano Rivera, etc. I guess it would save space on the bookshelves, too, although I think bookshelves are no longer configured in today’s in-house decorating scheme, if you know what I mean.

I also had the chance to look over vintage newspaper clippings from 1919 and 1920. You already know the subject of these articles, but to read it in present tense was fascinating. I wonder if the future hobby readers will look at today’s events in the same fashion?

Monday, August 10, 2009 2:38:27 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Monday, July 27, 2009

Learning the Non-Sport Side of Cards
Posted by Tuff Stuff

If you believe there are a lot of sports cards in existence, you’d definitely be right. The Standard Cards of Baseball Cards is proof of that, and that huge tome covers just one sport.

However, if you were to turn your attention to non-sports cards, it opens a whole new world of collectibles that I would bet many people aren’t aware of – and they’re valuable, too.

That’s one of the joys of working with Collect.com Auctions – you get to see some of the great items that will be available to bidders. And when it comes to non-sports material, we’ve been getting some great stuff.

It started with the debut Collect.com auction that hosted a complete set of “Twilight Zone” autographs from Rittenhouse Archives. The set included autographs from William Shatner, Ron Howard, Jimmy Stewart, Mickey Rooney and dozens of other stars that made appearances on the popular sci-fi series. The resulting $11,700 final bid told me there’s more to this world than traditional sports cards.

The upcoming Collect.com auction, slated to start Aug. 10 and end Aug. 27, features some more excellent sets of non-sports cards, ranging from The Best of the Wild Wild West to Parkhurst Movie Stars, Parade of Flags and something call Jiggley’s.

The best part of these cards is finding out their background and how collectors were able to secure them in the first place. Some of the more modern issues, like The Best of the Wild Wild West set were issued in the last 10 years with complete checklists so you could follow your progress. Others from the 1950s were distributed via retail outlets just like standard trading cards. However, not all of the cards were always issued mainstream, and that’s where collectors really sink their teeth into the hunt.

For instance, the upcoming auction will include two examples of original artwork for the Who-Z-At Star cards from the 1950s. The cards themselves are rather scarce, but getting the original artwork is even more difficult.

Plus, these were examples of art for cards that were never issued. One wasn’t issued because the actor, Sal Mineo, insisted on having his shirt off for the photo and Topps thought that might be pushing too many boundaries. Gotta love the differences in what’s acceptable between eras.
The sets of Jiggley’s trading cards consigned to the auction had a Western, circus and military theme. The idea behind the cards was to cut out the stencil sections so the “figures” could move courtesy of the tabs found on each side of the card. The caricatures were amusing, but I would guess these got old for kids. Plus, finding ones that are intact would be difficult because the point of the cards was to play with them as designed. The same scenario takes place with the baseball Stand-Ups.

However, my favorite of the bunch are the movie star cards because you could get all the living legends of screen and stage in one set. I don’t know about you, but I would have loved as a kid to be able to stare at my silver-screen heroes and learn about them and their characters on cards. It’s not unlike the fascination with sports cards, only it would have been harder to see these heroes in person. Cards bridged the gap.

I don’t think non-sports cards will ever reach the status of their sports brethren, but they definitely hold a place in Americana and in the collectibles market. And the money they can bring rivals any card set.
It’s a real treat to be able to learn about these sets and call it work. It makes me realize there is a lot I’m missing from this world, but I’m learning.

Monday, July 27, 2009 6:21:03 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Friday, July 17, 2009

A Tale of Two Events: '87 All-Star Game and the Disco Demolition
Posted by Tuff Stuff

There are some neat things that are on television when you get the opportunity to sit on the couch and watch. As I have a six-week-old son that doesn’t have the physical skills to play catch quite yet, we spend a lot of time on the couch as I feed and hold him.

That brings me to two sporting events I got to relive. Well, I think I saw one of them, and the other took place when I was 2 years old. I watched a replay of the 1987 All-Star Game on the MLB Network and the 1979 Disco Demolition debacle on ESPN. Talk about contrasting events.

One of the first things that struck me in watching the All-Star Game festivities was that it was 22 years ago. After all, there were all the players I grew up watching: George Brett, Eric Davis, Dave Winfield, Brett Saberhagen, Jack Clark, etc. This was the game modeled for the All-Star lineups in the 1987 Nintendo game R.B.I. that I still play to this day. It didn’t seem that long ago, and I guess in a hobby that some don’t even consider worthwhile until it’s before 1970, I guess it isn’t that long ago.

However, there were a few oddities that I had forgotten about. First, it was played in daylight, like blazing sun, 4 p.m. daylight. Sure, it was on the West Coast, but that’s still 7 p.m. Eastern time. You mean kids could actually watch their heroes before going to bed?

The second observation was that the power hitters, such as the aforementioned Clark, Davis and Andre Dawson, were surprisingly skinny. Sure, they were muscular, but nothing like you see today.

And then there was a skills competition that I had never seen before. This wasn’t just the home run derby, but rather there was also a pitching and hitting contest where the players had to pitch to certain targets or batters had to hit targets placed out in the field. No surprise, Wade Boggs won the batting portion of the contest.

And in case you wondered, this was an All-Star game that was scoreless for 12 innings, with the National squad scoring two in the top of the 13th inning and winning 2-0.

Baseball did this with 28-man rosters and didn’t run out of pitching. In fact, the American League even had two pitchers who never saw the mound. Didn’t Commissioner Selig watch this game? The 2002 All-star Game fiasco was called after 11 innings.

I had heard about Disco Demolition Night on July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park during a doubleheader between the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers – I just never knew what a riot, almost literally, it was.

I figured the event was all about blowing up records and a few fans ran onto the field and disrupted the game. Ha! Holy cow, so that’s what happens when 90,000 people cram into a stadium, drink heavily and turn their hatred of disco music into an excuse of all-out party rivaled (for a very short period of time) only by Woodstock. Fires, fights and any number of other transgressions taking place on the field. And they still tried to play the game.

Outstanding comedy for me on the couch, although baseball probably didn’t enjoy the attention, no matter the era in which it took place.

I don’t think this could happen today. First, you can’t sneak into stadiums like you could then. No team will let you in for just 98 cents and you can’t toss a peanut onto the field, much less toss your entire body over the fence.

Did any readers attend this, ahem, historic event? I’d love to hear a first-hand account of the demolition. After all, this event was considered the catalyst to the end of the disco era, and a baseball game was the stage for it. No wonder baseball is America’s pastime.

Friday, July 17, 2009 8:05:43 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Monday, July 13, 2009

A Must-Visit: Cooperstown
Posted by Tuff Stuff

When it comes to must-visits involving professional sports, the list is a mile long and ranges from Wrigley and Lambeau Fields to Lake Placid. Each destination depends on personal preference and each holds a special place of honor for a variety of reasons.

However, for baseball fans, I think one of the must-visit destinations is Cooperstown, N.Y. And while a visit there in general is great any time of year, the experience is that much more special during the Hall of Fame Induction Weekend, held this year on July 24-27, with the actual induction taking place July 26 and featuring Jim Rice, Rickey Henderson and Joe Gordon among the players.

As a grade-schooler, I always vowed that if Robin Yount ever made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame, I would make the trek somehow and be among the thousands in attendance to hear his acceptance speech.

When the announcement came in early 1999 that Yount would join Nolan Ryan and George Brett into the Hall of Fame, I immediately began plans to attend. I was still finishing up college, so this trip was going to be on the cheap, if that’s possible when you need to get to Upstate New York from Wisconsin.

I found a friend to help me with the 16-hour driving duties, and my mom and sister stowed away in the backseat of my 1988 Olds Tornado. It was a comfortable ride, but there was one glaring problem that I probably couldn’t handle today – the air conditioning didn’t work. I distinctly remember sitting in gridlock in the abomination called Chicago traffic and watching the outside temperature gauge read “100 F.”

But nothing could stop me from my goal and we pushed on. Heading into Cooperstown the day before the induction, I admired the beautiful landscape, and once in town, I was immersed in sports collectibles heaven. On one corner was Pete Rose signing autographs. Walking along across the street was Leon Spinks. Athletes mingled with fans in a celebration of all things baseball.

I walked up to Doubleday Field. There’s something quaint about that stadium. It reminds me of an old minor league ballpark.

And then I toured the Hall of Fame, which meant waiting in line because, after all, the town was bursting at the seams. I don’t think I need to go into detail as to the virtues of the Hall of Fame. It’s the best sports museum in the world, period. I hope to visit it again during a little quieter time so I can spend hours looking at the artifacts.

When it came to induction day, the walk from “downtown” to the fields where the stage is set up was rather quaint. It reminded me of a walk through an “up north” vacation town and we were all migrating to a festival outside of that town.

We went early to try and get reasonably close, which meant you still relied on big screens to see the action on the stage. It didn’t matter. I could hear everything perfectly and patiently waited. I waited to hear Yount’s speech and when it came, I looked around me and felt special I was among the thousands in attendance to hear it in person. It remains a highlight in my life.

Of course, being out all day in the sun and the eight-hour drive that night to Cleveland dropped me in bed for about 14 hours, but I’ll never forget the trip.

I can imagine a similar scenario will play out for some fans of Henderson, Rice and even Gordon in the weeks ahead.

If I could make one small suggestion, aside from making sure you grab some loot to commemorate the occasion, it would be to make sure you check the car’s air conditioning first.

Monday, July 13, 2009 6:18:53 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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