Cooperstown Is The CNY Baseball Connection

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was established in 1936 in Cooperstown, New York. It’s operated by a private foundation and collects baseball-related artifacts and displays exhibits.

Although Central New York and anywhere north of New York City within state limits doesn’t have a baseball team, Major League Baseball still plays a large role in the popularity of America’s pastime because of a certain town: Cooperstown, New York.

A town that sits on Otsego Lake, built by baseball history and character, proudly represents the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum. It also holds the Hall of Fame Ceremony every summer where the new inductees get recognized and become enshrined in the Plaque Gallery.

The cool thing is how the Hall of Fame aspect of Cooperstown makes up everything else that’s presented in the town.

There are plenty of restaurants, trading card shops, memorabilia shops, and all things baseball that you can imagine. It is literally a baseball town.

When I visited for the first and only time thus far with my father before we moved into my new room ahead of my sophomore year at Syracuse University, I was shocked at how the entire theme of the town was built around baseball. I didn’t exactly know what to expect the first time I showed up, but I had the Hall of Fame museum integrated into this extremely small town in the middle of nowhere for some odd reason and some ball fields for kids to play at from all over the country.

In no imagination, did I believe that every square inch of Cooperstown had something to do with baseball and that it was far more than just the Hall of Fame Museum.

Speaking of the ballfields for kids, that’s how I first learned about Cooperstown. I knew it held the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but I had plenty of friends that played several games in that town during a summer when we were in late elementary school or early middle school. I didn’t end up going on the trip with my team, but what a cool aspect for the youngsters to learn more about how their game originated.

I particularly enjoyed eating lunch at a restaurant (I forget the name of it) that was filled with signed baseball bats and memorabilia all over the place, along with walking into different baseball card shops, including Topps. I have collected, and still do, baseball cards since I was a kid and so for me to see these expansive shops was fun. I walked away with a Topps shirt, a couple boxes of baseball cards, and a Baseballism (one of my new favorite baseball brands) shirt.

Cooperstown is a must-see for any baseball fan. I look forward to my next visit.