Hall of Fame Autographed Baseball - Billy Herman

I really enjoyed all of the memorabilia shops in Cooperstown. It was awesome seeing all of the autographed baseballs that were there. Some of the shops were very overpriced on their autos, but if you look hard enough, you can find a few where the autos are reasonable. I found one that was attached to a restaurant (sorry, I can't remember the name) that had a bunch of autos for great prices...I bought 2 autoed baseballs from the guy, plus a blank ball. The first ball I'll show is this Billy Herman signed ball. The guy originally wanted $100 for it, but since he thought it was too faded, he knocked the price all the way down to $30.00. I had to jump on it. Don't worry, the ball is JSA authenticated. I think the auto is fine.

Herman (b. 1909 - d. 1992) played in the majors from 1931-1943, 1946-1947 for the Cubs, Dodgers, Braves and Pirates. He retired with 2,345 hits, 47 home runs and a .304 batting average. He also managed the Pirates in 1947 and the Red Sox from 1964 to 1966. His managerial record was 61-92. He was elected to the Hall in 1975 by the Veterans Committee.

I was really glad to be able to pick up this baseball, especially since most of his baseballs average over $100. Herman is my 42nd Hall of Famer.

Some More Stuff I Picked Up In Cooperstown

I grabbed two other things from the shop where I got the glasses I spoke about yesterday. I had really wanted to pick up some Orioles stuff and was able to get a few things pretty cheap...


First off, I got this pennant commemorating the 1993 All Star game that was held at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Not too bad. I didn't have but one pennant (and no clue where I stored it) so it was cool to get one to put on the wall. Hopefully someday I'll find the other O's pennant that I own.
Finally, the clerk showed me this 1950's O's bumper sticker right as I was checking out. I thought it looked cool.
So, I got two more things to hang up on the wall in the man cave. I think they are pretty cool. Don't worry, I have more stuff to show off, which I will get to in the next few posts.

Cooperstown Pickups

I checked out a bunch of memorabilia shops while in Cooperstown. I was looking for something cool to add to the china cabinet in my man cave. I was hoping for something vintage that I wouldn't normally find elsewhere. I was a little disappointed for a while because it seemed like everything I was seeing was either overpriced or it was something I didn't necessarily need...

Finally, I found a shop that had a lot of random vintage stuff. They had a sweet Orioles bobble head from the 50s, but they wanted $245 for it... yeahhh, that wasn't going home with me. I can find one elsewhere cheaper, hopefully... I did, however, find a couple old glasses that I thought looked cool. I loved the above A's glass because of the colors and the elephant. Below, I chose the Senators glass because that is the team that my dad watched as a kid (even though he has gone on record saying he'd rather watch paint dry instead of a game...).

I've got more stuff to show off, but I'm going to space it out. I was amazed at all the memorabilia shops. It was definitely heaven for a collector like me. So many autographed baseballs. Oh man...

In Person Trade With Drew - Phil Rizzuto Hall of Fame Day Poster

During my awesome meeting with Drew the other day, he hooked me up with a poster that he found in one of the tubs his dad picked up for him (the same place his mystery binder came from). He ended up with something like 3 or 4 of these so he was nice enough to give me one. I plan on hanging it up in my 'man cave', for sure.

Yeah, that's right, I'm going to allow something of the Yankees to grace the walls in my baseball shrine. Might have something to do with us being good friends, you know, the whole seeing past the Yankees being the enemy and all...

Thanks Drew! It looks really cool and I appreciate it!

Meeting Drew at the August 4, 2011 Hudson Valley Renegades vs. Batavia Muckdogs Game

I've been trading cards back and forth with fellow blogger, Drew, since at least July 2009. Since that time, we have become very good friends and talk almost daily. If you don't read his blog yet, you really should check it out: http://drewsbbcards.blogspot.com

He and I have been linking each other's blogs for a long time, it seems. It is funny to me that even though he is a huge supporter of the one baseball team that I absolutely hate (the Yankees), he and I have actually parlayed that friendly rivalry into another building block to our friendship.

When Drew found out that on our way home from Cooperstown, we would be in the general vicinity of where he lived, he and I decided that it would be cool to meet up at a Hudson Valley Renegades game (so I could save some postage on the next stack of cards I had set aside for him and so we could finally meet in person).

It was really cool to finally meet up in person and be able to see Drew's card collection in person and be able to actually add to it while I was there. I also met his dad and his sister who were equally awesome people as well. I also had my cousin Andreas from Germany along and he also had a blast.


Dutchess Stadium was really nice. It was also packed because a double header was being played today. The team is in the same league (NY-Penn) as Auburn (who I saw on the 2nd) but the crowd and stadium were polar opposites!

We, unfortunately, were unable to catch the entire game (game 2, which the Renegades lost, 2-1), but we were all wore out from busy weeks. It didn't matter though, what really mattered was seeing how our shared love for baseball and baseball cards was able to bring together two people despite a large age gap and geographical distance. This, truly, is what I love most about baseball. It really does draw people together. I'm happy that it has helped create a friendship that has grown because of a July 2009 trade of a Brian Roberts UD Masterpieces relic for a Robinson Cano Co-Signers auto....

Foul Bunt on Location - WELCOME TO COOPERSTOWN

I realized a lifelong dream today when I made the pilgrimage to Cooperstown, New York in order to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. I took 293 pictures in Cooperstown and over the course of time, I'll try to share them all with you. Right now, though, I'm really tired from all of this driving and I have a big day planned tomorrow (where I can finally meet another blogger in person) and see another minor league game (weather permitting).

The drive to Cooperstown from Rochester (where my younger brother had lined us up a hotel room) was beautiful. The weather on the drive down was just about perfect. The New York countryside was amazing!



Downtown Cooperstown was as picturesque as I had imagined it. I was so excited when we walked along the street and realized that right in fromt of us was one of the most hallowed halls in all of sports.


I'm going to skip right to when we entered the plaque room, even though this is the place we visited last in the building. I was so overcome with emotion when I entered the room, my mouth was wide open. I probably looked goofy, but I didn't realize, that's for sure. I made sure to remove my hat when entering, because, I don't know about you, but to me it was almost as sacred as a church. No sacrilege intended, but that's just how I feel about the place.

I stood in the entrance, tears welling up in my eyes, as I wrestled with the decision - You can only enter the room for the first time once in your life... whose plaque do you go to first. I thought long and hard and came to the determination that as an Oriole fan (I was wearing my Nolan Reimold shirt, afterall) it had to be...Brooks. I made my way to his plaque, touched it and took this picture. I made sure to read it, of course.


Then, as a baseball fan, next, I went to the 'First Class' wall and read each plaque for Ruth, Cobb, Mathewson, Johnson and Wagner. I made sure to touch the bust of Babe Ruth, as countless others had done. (Pictures of those plaques will be posted in a future entry).


Finally, the kid in me went to the plaque that I had waited all of my 'fandom' to see in person. Cal Ripken, Jr. I seriously had to fight back tears when I walked up and saw the plaque of the player who I idolized growing up. I could have gone to the Hall many years ago, but always told myself that I wouldn't go until Cal was enshrined. I know that anyone who knows me knows how important it was for me to be able to see Cal's plaque.

If you look closely, you might see a tear in my eye, but I did my best to wipe them away before this picture was shot. I can't put into words how awesome it was to be able to finally get to the Hall of Fame. I hope you guys enjoyed this brief look at what I accomplished today. I fully intend to post a lot more about the trip in future entries. I have plenty of pictures to be able to do it justice, that's for sure.

August 2, 2011 - Auburn Doubledays vs. Connecticut Tigers

Continuing on our road trip, we left Pittsburgh this morning and headed north/northeast along I-79, then along I-90. We made slight detours to Lake Erie and Niagara Falls, then made our way to a minor league game in Auburn, New York. I was able to knock off another minor league park and although the amenities are scarce at Falcon Park, the atmosphere was very down to earth and enjoyable.




Falcon Park was originally built in 1927 and is called this because it was built by a fraternal organization in Auburn known as the Polish Falcons. The original stadium was demolished in 1995 and the new stadium was built in the same location.

The Doubledays are the Single A affiliate of the Washington Nationals in the New York-Penn League.

We got to the game 20 minutes late and were pleasantly surprised to find out that general admission seats were free tonight... Never had that happen before. We got to see Auburn blow out the Tigers 13-3. If you look, the Tigers committed 5 errors. Kind of hard to win a game if you are giving away that many free outs. The only name I recognized on either team was the Tigers' catcher, Patrick Leyland, son of Detroit Tigers' manager Jim Leyland.

The weather was amazing. We sat back in our seats and just enjoyed the game. No scrambling for autographs. We enjoyed some pretty good hot dogs (they were almost like a knockwurst), some cool temperatures, a nice breeze and a hell of a sunset. I caught a foul ball (so, now I have baseballs from the Carolina League, Southern League and the New York-Penn League).

I wasn't impressed with the amenities of the stadium, but really, that wasn't what we were looking for tonight. We wanted to unwind from a long day of driving and catch a baseball game, old school style. The field had a very "home town" feel to it and when the game was over, I was a little sad to leave. If anyone is in the Auburn area, you really should give their field a look.