Cooperstown or Hoboken? Birthplace of baseball?
All-time hit king adds fuel to the fire
It’s incredible how some things come full circle in my life regarding the sports world. Try this little tale on for size.
In honor of the 39th anniversary of my birth, I took a trip last month to rustic Cooperstown, N.Y. to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
After all, I hadn’t been to Cooperstown in nearly 20 years. In fact, it was 20 years ago exactly this weekend that James Rodney Richard of the Houston Astros suffered the stroke that ended his career, and I had my first professional article published by the local daily newspaper.
That was the last time I visited the so-called birthplace of baseball.
The reason for the "so-called" tag? Well, for the last decade or so, the debate has raged over whether the birthplace of baseball was really Cooperstown, where, as legend has it, Abner Doubleday first invented the game. Or was it on Hoboken’s Elysian Fields, where another legend has it that two teams played a game of organized baseball for the first time?
Cooperstown lays claim to being the birthplace of baseball. But so does Hoboken, with its bold signs at every entrance: "Hoboken: The Birthplace of Baseball and Sinatra." A marker on the corner of 11th and Washington, where the Elysian Fields once stood, remains, declaring it as the site of the first official baseball game.
But it’s hard to prove which is the real birthplace, because it’s safe to say that there aren’t many people around from 1848 roaming the streets of the Mile Square City.
I knew there were two major differences. Cooperstown has a baseball museum. Hoboken does not.
And I hadn’t been to Cooperstown in two decades. I can’t go two days without visiting Hoboken.
Before I went on my birthday celebration to Cooperstown, I told friends that I was going to make the pilgrimage, that I planned to genuflect in front of Tom Seaver’s plaque, and that I might have shed a tear or two seeing Tom Terrific’s place in baseball immortality.
I had two friends give me reminders about what to look for while at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
One person, a Hoboken native, asked me to check how many times Hoboken is mentioned in the Hall of Fame.
"See if there’s any recognition of Hoboken being the unofficial birthplace," my friend said. "I’m just curious if they recognize Hoboken."
OK. I was on the lookout for mentions of Hoboken.
While scanning the history of baseball in the Hall of Fame Museum, I found that there is only one mention of Hoboken and the game at the Elysian Fields in 1848. That’s all. Hoboken is only found once. Sad.
My other friend, who hails from Jersey City, told me to count how many times Pete Rose’s name was mentioned in the Hall of Fame.
After all, everyone knows now about Rose’s banishment from the Hall of Fame, that he is prohibited from being elected into the prestigious Hall unless he admits that he gambled on baseball games while managing the Cincinnati Reds. Gambling on baseball is the game’s foremost mortal sin. You can do drugs, but bet on a game and you’re history forever.
And the debate has lingered – far longer than which site is the official birthplace of baseball – as to whether Rose, baseball’s all-time hit king with 4,256, belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Personally, I believe he does, even if he gambled on baseball. It should be judged on his merits on the field. Ty Cobb was a bigot who kept slaves on his tobacco fields in Georgia long after slavery was abolished. Yet, he’s in the Hall. We all know what O.J. Simpson did, and he remains in the Football Hall of Fame.
But Rose is kept out because he allegedly placed bets. And that’s wrong.
Anyway, I counted how many times Rose’s name is mentioned. I figured it had to be in the 40s. But the grand total came to 24. With all the accomplishments and accolades that Rose had, I figured the number would be higher. It stands at 24. Babe Ruth’s name is found 164 times. Hank Aaron is spotted 98 times.
As you can see, I spent a good amount of time walking through the halls of the Hall of Fame.
Anyway, Pete Rose and Hoboken became intertwined last weekend after the latest Hall of Fame induction ceremonies were held in Cooperstown, without Rose as an official participant, but with Rose signing his name in autograph sessions all over the quaint town.
Pete Rose has his own museum in Cooperstown, a separate museum that is filled with his memorabilia. He was asked by writer Jason Stark of ESPN Magazine why the museum was located in Cooperstown.
"Hey, I work for nice people, and they come from here," he said. "That’s why it’s here – because this is where they built this museum for me," Rose said. "If I was from Hoboken, N. J., that’s where it would be."
Was it just a coincidence that Rose mentioned Hoboken? How bizarre is that?
Maybe Rose is looking to build his own baseball museum in Hoboken? Who knows?
I just thought it was wild how the whole thing came full cycle, how Cooperstown and Hoboken and the birthplace of baseball and Pete Rose all came together.
One last thing. Last month, I also traveled to Milwaukee to see the Mets play the Brewers. I just happened to stay at the same hotel with the Mets’ and famed television announcer Tom Seaver. I figured that this was going to be a great chance to meet my boyhood idol.
So I bought a baseball and figured it would be a nice thing to have a Seaver-autographed ball. With no one else around, I asked Seaver to sign the ball for me.
He went nuts, firing off expletives, saying, "That’s what they have baseball card shows for. I’m not signing anything."
Needless to say, I was crushed. There was no need for such a ridiculous reaction. Through the sports writing circles, I heard rumors that Seaver was a jerk, but I tried to downplay them. I now know for sure.
I wonder how much it costs for a Pete Rose autographed ball.