Tour 2021: Return to Cooperstown

All photos of Lake George, Cooperstown, and National Baseball Hall of Fame available on Flickr.

This past week, Erik and I got together in person for the first time since the pandemic started, and for our first "ball trip" in over 2 years.  I say "ball trip" in quotations because this was certainly a first (and hopefully last) for one of our trips - we didn't actually go to a ballgame, or any sort of sporting event for that matter.  We made the last-minute and gut-wrenching decision to delay our planned Texas trip once more.  Being in a large crowd during the surge of the Delta variant in an area with one of the highest growing Covid case volumes in the country just seemed like too much of a risk.  And I'll admit that going to one of the reddest states in the country where we were more likely to be surrounded by unmasked and/or unvaccinated folks also played a huge factor in our decision.  I felt particularly bad for Erik since he has not been to a ballgame anywhere since 2019.  But as difficult and disappointing as it was, looking back I know that we made the right choice, and we had a hell of a time at our pinch-hit trip - Cooperstown!  We were not going to go a whole other year without seeing each other, so we made the trek to upstate New York instead for 4 nights.

Before we returned to the hallowed grounds of the Hall of Fame, we spent a couple of days in beautiful Lake George, NY.  Having been to Cooperstown on The Tour and knowing there was not an entire weekend of things to do there nor any decent lodging, Erik made the wonderful suggestion of staying in the Adirondack region of New York, which was only about a 2-hour drive from Cooperstown, and a 3-hour drive from his house in New Hampshire.  Erik picked me up at the Albany airport on Wednesday night and we spent our first night not unlike the first night of most of our trips - tying one on watching ball.  The only difference was this time was a couple of packs of craft beer in our cottage watching several screens, rather than enjoying a frosty Miller Lite from the bleachers.  Our cottage was a part of the Sundowner Resort right on Canada Street, the main thoroughfare of Lake George.  It had a kitchenette, fridge, patio with grill, and just about everything we needed to relax for a few days - most importantly, we each had our own bathroom.  The next day was a pretty relaxing day taking advantage of the resort amenities of hot tub, beachfront deck, and kayaks, and spent a lot of the day on the water.  We walked a good portion of the town on foot and found it to be eerily similar to Wisconsin Dells.  Not much was open on a Thursday afternoon, so after a flight at a local brewery, we just had a nice night in playing some games.  Friday was our busiest day and personally my favorite day of the trip.  We started the day with a drive to the other side of the lake to hike up Pilot Knob Mountain.  I call it a mountain, I'm not really sure if it is or not, but it was over 1,000 vertical feet and I am by no means a hiker, so to me it was pretty difficult.  Outside of the Brewers 10K I ran a few times, this was by far the most difficult physical activity I can ever remember doing, but for the views we got from the top and within, it was well worth it.  After the hike, we toured the lake on a 100+ year old steamboat called the Mohican.  Among other things, I learned that the lake was about 32 miles long and 3 miles wide at its center point, and the western edge was once referred to as "Millionaire's Row" for all of the wealthy Manhattanites and famous elites that had summer homes up there.  Even today it is still scattered with gargantuan homes, breathtaking resorts, and quite a few islands within the lake that are privately owned and of course populated with mansions.  We spent our 2-1/2 hour ride debating over a few drinks which islands we would want to buy, and how cool it would be to camp on one of them if we ever returned.  Following the boat ride, we quickly crushed some dinner back at the cottage and had our one late night out of the trip at a bar called Duffy's.  They had a couple of great music acts, cheap beer, and entertaining locals, just a few of the reliable ingredients in a fun E & P night out.

Saturday was the big day - Cooperstown.  It was a treacherous 100-mile drive that was almost entirely on windy, hilly, and narrow, shoulder-less back-county roads.  On numerous occasions cresting a hill or making a turn, my heart leapt out of my chest wondering if we were going to skirt off the road, and that is no commentary on Erik's driving but rather the sheer remoteness of Cooperstown.  You have to be really dedicated to baseball and to finding this town for the effort it takes to get there - the phrase "in the middle of nowhere" gets thrown out very casually sometimes, but it was true in every sense of the word in this case.  Once you arrive, knowing how you got there simply just adds to the mystique and aura of the place, almost like it is suspended in time.  The entire town is baseball-everything and even still has the old batting cages by Doubleday Field that Erik and I remember embarrassing ourselves at in 2007.  There were a couple new distilleries and breweries in town just like there are in every corner of America these days, but for the most part every other detail is exactly like I remembered it.  We arrived at the museum around 11:30 just as the rain started to fall and headed inside.

Just like in Cooperstown itself, not much on the inside has changed either aside from all of the Covid precautions.  You are advised upon entering to walk up to the 2nd floor and start your tour in the museum portion of the building.  This floor is dedicated almost entirely to the history of the game, starting from the early 19th century all the way through the current year.  It is mostly split up into decades or eras arranged chronologically, featuring exhibits on how the rules or equipment might have looked during that period, as well as artifacts and blurbs on famous players from those times, and plenty of photos and multimedia displays as well.  There was an entire section on the Latin influence and emergence in the game that I did not recall from 2007.  There was also a lot more video and interactive media displays then obviously existed 14 years ago.  Babe Ruth still had an entire section dedicated solely to him and his effect on the game, as well as a "new" Hank Aaron section.  From the 2nd floor you then ascend to the 3rd floor of the museum.  Up here, the exhibits begin with a history of the baseball park, which Erik and I certainly found to be one of the more interesting sections given all the ballpark chasing we do.  There was even a display case featuring a "30 Stadium Tour" shirt like Erik and I still have, and we grumbled as to why we were not in the Hall.  Generally, the American ballpark can be split into 5 eras: the original wood frame structures of the late 19th century (Polo Grounds, Borchert Field), the steel and concrete classical parks of the next 50 years or so that people most associate with baseball (Ebbets Field, Tiger Stadium, original Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, etc.), the multi-purpose "donuts" of the 1960s and 70s (Veterans, Riverfront, RFK, etc.), the retro boom of the 1990s and 2000s, and then whatever you want to call the "modern era" of ballparks today.  After this was my favorite section that outlined every major record in baseball and displayed artifacts from them - Ichiro's most single-season hits of 262, Bonds' career homerun record, Pete Rose's hit to break Ty Cobb's record, and many more.  The last chunk of the museum portion of the building has a locker dedicated to all 30 teams, which is nice because it gives an opportunity for every fan to connect to the museum on a personal level.  These lockers constantly cycle through recently game-used items of significance - for instance, the Brewers locker has a pair of Christian Yelich's shoes from one of his cycles in his 2018 MVP season.  There was also a locker dedicated to each of the newest member of the HOF inducted this year - Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, and Ted Simmons.  

Following the museum portion of the building, we were 3 hours into our day at this point and needed a break for lunch.  We got our hand stamped and had perhaps the best meal of the trip, a hoagie from an Italian deli down the street.  We returned to walk through the actual Hall of Fame portion of the building on the main floor and raided the team store up until doors closed at 5pm.  We concentrated on the men who have been inducted since we last visited in 2007, but we of course walked through the whole thing just for old times' sake.  It's super interesting to see how players and even the wording on the plaques have changed over the past 85 years of the Hall of Fame, starting with the original class of Mathewson, Wagner, Cobb, Ruth, and Walter Johnson in 1936.  It's a beautifully designed space that feels sacred the moment you set foot inside (as it should), with an almost cathedral-like feel, both in terms of materials of marble and wood, as well as the height and purposeful use of skylights above.  It is the kind of space where you are quiet out of respect without even being asked, again much like a cathedral.  I spent a good hour or two in this space, deep in my own thoughts and honored to be in the presence of such greatness again for a short while.

Following our full day in downtown Cooperstown, we were unfortunately denied a shot at redemption at the batting cages because of the rain, so we stopped at Ommegang Brewery on the way back to Lake George.  It's a beautifully picturesque brewery on acres of rolling hills and pristine landscape - so beautiful in fact that a couple of weddings were going on there -  that is very befitting of the area and a must-stop for anybody passing through.  We ended our time in Lake George on Sunday with one more leisurely stroll along the lake, and I spent some time with my friend Josh who happens to live in Albany before flying home Sunday evening.  It certainly wasn't the trip we planned, but what in these past couple of years has gone to plan for anybody?  We made the most of it and were happy to see each other and enjoy the trip for what it was - a relaxing time to catch up, watch and talk about ball, imbibe in way too many beers, and already start discussing next year's trip.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 9/20/21:

Brewers 91-59, +10.5, clinched playoff spot; 4 v. Cardinals, 3 v. Mets, 3 @ Cardinals, 3 @ Dodgers

Twins 65-85, -20.0, eliminated; 2 @ Cubs, 4 v. Blue Jays, 3 v. Tigers, 3 @ Royals

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 8

More Than Baseball

My post today is more of a plug than it is any original thought.  I regularly listen to the Baseball American podcast, which I will honestly say is super dense and boring for the most part, unless you are the most devout of baseball fan.  But it is also one of the few podcasts that covers prospects and the minor leagues in great detail and BA has an industry-wide reputation as the best at what they do, so in terms of content it is great.  They had a guest on a couple of weeks ago, Jeremy Wolf, who founded More Than Baseball, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting minor league players and advocating for their rights and proper living conditions.  

I was made a little bit aware of what sort of hurdles these players have to jump to make a living during the MiLB contraction last year, and I've always known that they do not make very much money, but this podcast and organization really bring these things to light to the casual fan that may not know that much about it.  Unless a player has some sort of signing bonus or major league contract they are playing on with the 40-man roster, most minor leaguers make well below poverty wages, on average under $15,000 per year.  On top of that, they have to supply basically everything except transportation to games - housing, equipment, some meals, etc.  They also do not get paid during spring training or "extended spring," which explains the push for MLB teams to essentially replace Rookie level ball with the AZ and FL summer camp leagues.  For years I've used the cop-out of "I'm not going to feel sorry for somebody that plays a game for a living," but I had no idea that the situation was that bad.  This issue will certainly be at the forefront of the players' union negotiations with the upcoming CBA , and if it's not something is majorly wrong.

UPDATE: Given the dramatic rise of Covid-19 cases due to the Delta variant and the general lawlessness in Texas, Erik and I have made the difficult decision that our pending Tour 2021 trip to the new Rangers ballpark this week will have to once again be postponed.  Instead, we have decided to return to Cooperstown!  Read all about our trip next week.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 9/13/21:

Brewers 89-55, +14.0, magic number 5; 2 @ Tigers, 3 v. Cubs

Twins 63-80, -19.0, -17.0 WC; 1 @ Yankees, 3 v. Indians, 3 @ Blue Jays

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 8

Brewers on Pace for Best Season in Franchise History

I've been consciously trying to avoid writing about the Brewers much this year to not jinx anything.  However, with a 10-game lead in the division with 27 games left to play, I think it's safe to say that the Crew is running away with the NL Central and likely playoff bound, barring a 2007-esque collapse.  This has certainly been one of the most enjoyable seasons I've ever witnessed as a fan, and for the first time in my lifetime, I legitimately feel like this team is a World Series contender.  

When the Brewers made the playoffs for the first time in 26 years back in 2008, I think it's safe to say everybody was just happy we made it.  The same could be said in 2011 - that was a better team, but by the time they reached the playoffs, they were so gassed and pitching on fumes that I think we all knew they were not making it to the World Series.  The 2018 team fell one game short of the World Series, but even for how complete that team was with Christian Yelich winning the MVP that year, I would have been happy just making the World Series.  That team's crutch was only having one or two competent starters and relying heavily on the bullpen, and by and large the team continued that philosophy in their 2019 and 2020 playoff runs.  But the 2021 team finally has a rotation that can match the bullpen, sometimes going 6 or 7 starters deep in a rotation without a dramatic drop-off in performance.  Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, and Freddy Peralta were all-stars this year and all serious Cy Young candidates, and Adrian Houser and Eric Lauer both also are turning in a sub-4 ERA right now.  This team was unapologetically built on run prevention and the defense has been stellar all year, but one could argue it's the emergence of the offense over the last 2+ months that has propelled this team to the stratosphere it's in now.  While certainly not to the level of our previous playoff clubs, they are getting timely hitting, great at-bats, and most importantly fewer strikeouts up and down the lineup on a nightly basis.  Christian Yelich has even emerged from his nearly 2-year slump to start contributing.  Outside of a long-term injury to several players at one time (knock on wood), it's hard to imagine what could slow down this team in September or October.  Besides the rotation, I think that is precisely what sets this team apart - the depth.  Every guy on the 26-man roster contributes and steps up when called upon and there are no wasted spots.  When a player or a pitcher goes down, I have never felt like this team is in trouble, it is a true "next man up" mentality that Counsell and Stearns have been preaching since they joined the management.

The Brewers are currently on pace for 98 wins, which would be the most in franchise history.  This year would also mark their 4th year in a row making the postseason, something that would have been unfathomable to me 10-15 years ago.  The Brewers are nearing a territory that the Packers have been in for nearly 30 years, in which I expect them to not only be competitive but have a good chance of making the playoffs every year.  I don't remember what the length of time was (I think 5 years but don't quote me), but I heard the other day that the Brewers are 2nd only to the Dodgers in the National League for wins over that time frame, and outside of Milwaukee I don't think many people are getting that answer correct.  This is the year we go for it and this is the year where just making the playoffs is not enough - World Series or bust!

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 9/3/21:

Brewers 82-53, +10.0; 3 v. Cardinals, 3 v. Phillies, 3 @ Indians

Twins 58-75, -19.5, -17.5 WC; 3 @ Rays, 4 @ Indians, 3 v. Royals

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 7