I gave him the camera and let him take as many pictures as he wanted. It's taken me a few days to go through them. Some were blurry, and some didn't come out well because most of the exhibits are behind glass. If you see a blurry or poor image here, it's because Ian just couldn't part with it and needs to show everybody who reads my blog, "Specially Unko Myko and Jehf."
Omar Vizquel's cleats:
There was an entire room dedicated to the Latin leagues. Here is a shot of a portion of the exhibit for the Mexican league:
It was interesting to see how may phrases in our language have their origin in baseball.
There was an entire exhibit dedicated to baseball in the Olympics:
An entire room in the Hall of Fame has locker after locker in it, one for each of the major league teams. Each locker has memorabilia in it from notable players on the team, both past and present. Here is the locker for the Seattle Mariners:
...and the locker for the Yankees. You can bet I didn't take this picture!
Many of the exhibits were kid-friendly. This picture is an exhibit that lets kids build the mascots for the different major league teams. Ian, of course, built the mascot for Seattle.
Mmmmmm....can you smell the hotdogs?
And the popcorn...
This exhibit, the picture of which turned out really poorly, is of all the major league rings and pins. Ian really, really had to have this picture. He wants one of these for his very own, one day.
This year, Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice were inducted into the Hall of Fame. I cannot ever forget watching Rickey Henderson play.
My father and I used to watch the game of the week every Saturday, and for a while, Oakland was on quite a bit. They were at their best in the early 80's with names that seem to me to be part of our language...Jose Canseco, Mark McGuire, Dennis Eckersley, Dusty Baker, and Rickey Henderson. Rickey was incredible to watch. He was one of those players who could never be accused of humility, but when he came up to bat, you had to stop what you were doing and watch what happened. And if he got on base, you knew something exciting was going to happen. Charlie Metro said, "I did a lot of study and I found that it's impossible to throw Rickey Henderson out..." I can't believe he finally retired. Must have been an incredibly difficult decision for him to make.
Another one of my favorite players was Cal Ripkin, Jr., the new "Iron Man" of baseball. He played over 2500 consecutive games for the Baltimore Orioles. That kind of work ethic and team loyalty are hard to find these days.
Jim Rice's plaque:
and Rickey Henderson's plaque:
At the end of the Hall where the plaques are on display are a couple wax sculptures by Armand LaMontagne.
And here is my boy, the Future Hall of Famer...
Outside they have more sculptures, forever playing baseball:
See how tall I am?
We spent over 7 hours in there, looking at everything once, and some things twice. In the middle of the day, we took a lunch break and went to The Tunnicliff Underground Restaurant and Tavern. They have the best burgers...of course, most taverns do have great food.
Another one of my favorite players was Cal Ripkin, Jr., the new "Iron Man" of baseball. He played over 2500 consecutive games for the Baltimore Orioles. That kind of work ethic and team loyalty are hard to find these days.
Jim Rice's plaque:
and Rickey Henderson's plaque:
At the end of the Hall where the plaques are on display are a couple wax sculptures by Armand LaMontagne.
And here is my boy, the Future Hall of Famer...
Outside they have more sculptures, forever playing baseball:
See how tall I am?
We spent over 7 hours in there, looking at everything once, and some things twice. In the middle of the day, we took a lunch break and went to The Tunnicliff Underground Restaurant and Tavern. They have the best burgers...of course, most taverns do have great food.
After lunch, we went to catch a game at Doubleday Field, and then back to the Hall to finish off a perfect day.
