Mike Chamernik’s Question Of The Week (August 5-9)

I’ve went to Cooperstown back in 2009. I enjoyed seeing the game-worn jerseys and other equipment. Barry Bond’s 756th homerun ball with the asterisk was on display. I’ve never attended an induction ceremony though. Way too many people lol

I still haven’t visited the Babe Ruth museum here in Baltimore, but it’s on my list of museums to visit, along with the Football Hall of Fame in Canton. My son is a huge football fan, so next year, I plan to hit the road to visit.

*I went. That’s what I get for posting while working lol

I like that the Ruth museum also has a lot of Orioles and Colts stuff, too

The only one I’ve been to is the Canton hall, and it was pretty cool. On one visit quite some time ago, one of the first things we saw when we walked in the door was a schematic on the wall detailing “The Drive.” Ugh.

Back in the day, each enshrinee used to have his own niche along a long wall. Each nook had the bust, a plaque, and a color illustration showing each player in action. Sam Huff’s illustration depicted him stuffing Jim Brown. Brown’s illustration showed him running over Huff. I thought that was pretty neat.

Sadly, last time I looked, the individual niches are gone and now they just have a bunch of busts lined up, and it’s all pretty impersonal.

The Cleveland Naps/Indians/Guardians Hall of Fame out in center field at the Jake is pretty nice too.

I’ve been to the football, baseball, and hockey halls. As a kid my family hit both baseball and hockey on one trip. I can remember being more in awe of everything that was there is Cooperstown, it felt like a whole small town of just baseball. The hockey hall of fame didn’t leave any particular lasting memories other than seeing the cup on display. I went to Canton as a teenager, which was probably the height of my fandom, and also as a bigger football fan than anything else, this place hit all the right spots for me.
Went back to Cooperstown about 5 years ago, as an adult I have much more appreciation for all the history on display in that place. And outside of the hall itself, Cooperstown is a beautiful area to spend some time.
Was just talking about taking my nephews out for a trip to Canton, as I have relatives in that area, and they are both at the age where sports is everything and they’d love it. I’m curious to see what has changed there in the last 20 years.

Haven’t been there, but I do love that the baseball hall is in Cooperstown, in the middle of nowhere. It’s a journey to get there which kinda adds to the mystique. “Whole small town of just baseball” is a good way to put it.

I’m afraid I haven’t been to any halls of fame per se, but the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is super-impressive.

The Negro League Hall of Fame in Kansas City is easily my favorite museum I’ve ever been to.

I’m very excited to visit

Big ones: I’ve been to Baseball in Cooperstown and Hockey in Toronto. Never seen an induction. My big memories of each are the sheer amount of stuff at Baseball, and all the NHL trophies gloriously displayed at Hockey.
Smaller HOF’s: I’ve been to the Maryland Hall at the Babe Ruth Museum in Baltimore, and I’m still jealous I couldn’t make it to the Paul Lukas farewell tour. As a NOLA kid, I also went to the Saints Hall of Fame…I was a kid, so all I remember was trying to kick a tethered football through a field goal upright at the end of the exhibit.

One year ago today I was in Canton for the 2023 Induction Ceremony to support Miami Dolphins legend, Zach Thomas! It was a great trip. The Hall of Fame itself was very interesting, and larger than I expected. I was traveling solo and would like to return with family & friends, probably on a non-induction weekend so I can more leisurely browse the collection.

Going to an induction ceremony for a favorite athlete has got to be so cool.

I went to the BBHoF in Cooperstown when my former colleague Bus Saidt received the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for media.

The HoF is impressive. Went during one of the renovations of the main hallway. I think they could do so much more with it — redo Doubleday Field, make a real amphitheater for the induction ceremony that could double as a place for community events and music shows, etc.

In point of fact, one of the things I would have done had I won the $2.1 billion lottery was to buy two New York-Penn League franchises and put one in Hoboken (historical home of baseball) and one in Cooperstown (mythical home of baseball). Unfortunately, short-season Single A is no longer at thing, replaced by the Draft League. Oh, well.

I always thought it was neat that you can wander the Baseball Hall of Fame on Google Maps link

The only major Hall of Fame I’ve had the pleasure of visiting was the pro football one. I was I Canton for a job interview and made a point to go before I flew home. This was in 2001 – zoom interviews didn’t exist yet!

Most obscure: Buckaroo Hall of Fame in the town I grew up in – Winnemucca, Nevada. Fairly impressive collection of photos and memorabilia related to rodeo and ranching for a tiny town in the middle of nowhere.

The one I just missed and still regret: Negro Leagues Museum. I was driving through KC and was really looking forward to seeing it, but it was closed that day.

The one that has always been the top of my list: baseball. My dad is turning 75 this year, I’ve decided it’s finally time for us to take that journey.

Hey, I did some advertising and p.r. work for the 49er Truck Stop in Winnemucca back in the late ’70s. I think it’s a Pilot Flying J now.

I’ve been to four…baseball in Cooperstown (three times), the College Football Hall in Atlanta. The Negro League Baseball Museum in KC (technically not a HoF but it serves as one in my book) and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

Each of them was terrific fun. And each very different. Cooperstown is, well, Cooperstown and I could spend days exploring it. The College FB Hall is the most entertaining with so much of it being interactive. You select your favorite school when you enter and get an ‘ID’ on a lanyard that ‘unlocks’ vids and photos specific to your school as you go from place to place in the Hall. It was very cool.

The Basketball Hall was hosting the induction ceremony reception when I visited and I wasn’t able to see much of the display area (but hobnobbing with dozens of Hoops Hall inductees was a blast.)

Maybe the most memorable visit to a Hall/Museum was getting a private tour (with a few friends) of the Negro League Museum hosted by its director, Bob Kendricks. His enthusiasm is matched only by his knowledge and as far as I’m concerned is a national treasure.

As I mentioned, I attended the Naismith Basketball Hall induction ceremony in 2013. That was the long overdue honoring of my friend, Coach Guy Lewis. Guy was 90 and his health was declining but he made it to his ceremony from Houston via an air ambulance. His presenters were Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Elvin Hayes. The ceremony was held at the Springfield Civic Center and Brazilian legend Oscar Schmidt gave the best speech. He was very funny. The reception was at the Hall itself and sharing a high-top table with Larry Bird as we nibbled on veggies and dip was pretty surreal. The Houston Chronicle had a photo gallery of the day and I’m in a few pictures. One is of my hands holding our tickets. It was quite a day! RIP Guy

link

Very cool being able to hobnob with UH legends and Larry Bird!

KC also has the college basketball hall of fame downtown, don’t want you to miss out on another one if that’s your goal!

Does the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame count? I was very excited to see a display of the original pad that one of my favourite songs of all time – Jackson Browne’s “Sky Blue and Black” – was written on! Even more so since it’s a relatively unknown song apart from its appearance in the pilot episode for Friends.

Been to Canton several times. The room with the busts is really cool, but I think my favorite part (not sure why) is the section showing all of the Super Bowl rings. If it’s still the same, it’s like projected images of them you can stick your hand into. There’s also a display with actual rings.

Side story re how things have changed: once, when I was in Canton, they had a set of displays with, among other things, included some game-worn jerseys on stands. I remember there was hardly any barrier and they were not under glass. I reached out and actually touched the sleeve of Don Maynard’s jersey, and could have easily pulled it right of the stand (I was a kid, so the thought certainly crossed my mind). The last time I was there I don’t recall being able to get very close to many items, other than the busts. Don’t recall whose bust it was, but I recall one that had been touched on the nose so many times it was visibly worn.

I’d be very interested in seeing the Super Bowl rings, too. They continue to get bigger and gaudier. Every new champion has to one-up the previous winner.

That’s right, you could touch the busts back then. I remember the top of Y.A. Tittle’s bald head had the outer patina completely rubbed off.

Can you not touch the busts any longer? You could literally go nose to nose with them before. They used to sit on little, individual shelves. I’m not entirely sure they were even locked on or otherwise secured. I assume they are really heavy, so good luck picking one up, plus, there were dudes at both exits in HOF jackets watching.

I’ve visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York; the now-closed U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, New York; the AFC Ajax Gallery of Fame in Amsterdam; and the West Indies Cricket Heritage Center (effectively the Caribbean cricket hall of fame) in Grenada.

The latter is by far the most obscure. It had the vibe of a hoarder’s apartment that got straightened up a bit. I visited long before I became a cricket fan; I just happened to have a few hours to kill before dinner at a restaurant across the street. I’m not sure if the place survived covid; if it’s still open, I highly recommend a visit. Lots of uniform and equipment artifacts.

I barely understand cricket but I would for sure see a hall of fame/museum.

I’ve been to Cooperstown several times: 1972 (I was 13), 1989 and 2001. I liked the individual displays for the greats.

I did see the Stanley Cup at the NHL draft in Philadelphia in 2014. I enjoyed looking for the names of the greats (Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux, etc.).

I went to the Negro Southern League Museum in Birmingham a few years ago. Lots of cool old uniforms and ephemera, but my favorite thing was the hologram of Satchel Paige. You stand at home plate and choose which one of his pitches you want to see. He does the wind-up and throws the pitch, and you see the path of the pitch through a series of lights on the floor. Very cool.

The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI is packed full of old tennis outfits, including the dress Billie Jean King wore when she won the Battle of the Sexes. Also, I knew Serena Williams was tall – although not as tall as I thought – but her shoe size is ENORMOUS. The Tennis HOF has a hologram of Roger Federer, which I could’ve watched all day long.

I’ve been to the Babe Ruth museum twice in the past year, including Paul’s final Purp Walk.

Most recently, I was in Denver a few weeks ago and stopped by (I Still Call It) Mile High Stadium. They don’t have a HoF, but they do have a line-up of busts of former players. I took a very bad selfie standing between Mike Shanahan and Peyton Manning.

Last but not least, while I was in Denver I went to the National Ballpark Museum across the street from Coors Field. Lots of seats and signage from Fenway, the old Yankee Stadium and Griffith Stadium. My favorite exhibit was probably the old St. Louis Browns uniform, complete all the way down to the beautiful striped socks and the stars and stripes patch on the sleeve. I also really liked the Denver Bears’ “Strike Zone” uni from 1952. Bruce, the founder and curator of the museum, is incredibly knowledgeable, but he does like to talk! Best part of the visit was I met another Uni Watcher there, although unfortunately we didn’t exchange names.

I’m intrigued by the Paige exhibit. Such a great concept. He had an array of pitches.

You’ve just added several museums/halls of fame to my must-see list, Judy! Every one you mentioned sounds like it would be right up my alley! The Negro Southern League Museum, in particular, sounds amazing!

I live in Denver, and I’ve been to the museums you’ve referenced. There actually IS a full museum to see in connection with the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. The inductees’ names are all on that exterior wall you mentioned, but there are actual exhibits – uniforms, artifacts, etc. – inside the Broncos’ stadium. The entrance is on the west side, around the corner from the ticket office. It’s labeled, but it’s fairly easy to miss. It’s worth a visit if you ever find your way back this direction.

The National Ballpark Museum is truly impressive. Unfortunately, my opinion of Bruce, the owner, is not. The museum used to be open by appointment only, and he acted like I was truly inconveniencing him when I arranged a tour for a friend’s birthday. My friend and I had a friendly enough chat with Bruce about his collection when I was there, but then he screamed at me for “trying to let other people in” when some curious strangers innocently stepped inside and I politely informed them that the museum was available by reservation only. I tried to explain what had happened, but he waved me off dismissively and went back to a call on his cell phone. As much as I appreciate Bruce’s collection, I will not be visiting again.

I’ve been to the college basketball hall of fame. It is not really worth it. It’s mostly an “interactive experience” meaning there are several basketball courts and pop-n-shots to mess around with. I went with a group of guys and we have fun playing some ball, but as far as the hall of fame goes, it was really kind a let down. There are very few artifacts or exhibits and the “hall” is really a smallish room with each of the players having a name and year on their own plague, no busts or photos though

I forget where it is, but some basketball museum has an interactive feature with basketball goals throughout the years. From peach baskets up through the rims of today. And visitors can shoot around on them, I think.

Cooperstown > Canton

I grew up an hour away from Cooperstown, so I’ve been to the Baseball Hall of Fame at least five times. It’s such an incredible place and I think about going back all the time, even though I live much further away nowadays.

I’ve also been to the Basketball Hall of Fame, which I really enjoyed.

I’ve been to three of the “big ones”:

Cooperstown twice. First time was back in the late 90’s when I was meeting up with a friend in Montreal to see the Expos play. “Hey, ya know…Cooperstown is only a few hours from here.” We were up bright and early on a Saturday morning and spent maybe 2-1/2 hours checking out the town, getting something to eat and visiting the Hall. If we hadn’t had to got back to Montreal for that evening’s game, we definitely would’ve stayed all day.

The 2nd time was a 40th birthday gift from my wife. She’s not a huge fan of baseball but she let me take my time checking everything out and taking in all the history. Even she said, though, that “some of this stuff is really cool!”

Hockey Hall of Fame: This was a 45th birthday gift from my wife and we split it up over two days because there is sooooo much to see. It’d been on my bucket list forever and it was great to finally visit.

Pro Football Hall of Fame: this was part of a trip to Ohio one Thanksgiving week-end. We waited outside in line for about half an hour where we were told that the day after Thanksgiving is their 2nd busiest day of the year (people on vacation and kids were getting their picture taken with Santa). Not as impressive as the HHOF , in my Canadian opinion, but worth the visit. As a fan of rival leagues, I liked seeing the WFL and USFL items that were there.

Smaller ones:

National Soccer Hall of Fame; Oneonta, NY

Canadian Football Hall of Fame; Hamilton, ON

Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum; Baltimore, MD

That’s the best, when someone can appreciate the history of a thing they’re not particularly into.

Growing up in Ohio, I was fortunate to have some incredible experiences as a young athlete. One of the highlights of my baseball career was playing in Cooperstown at the Little League World Series. Although we didn’t win, the memories I made there are unforgettable. A few years later, I had another amazing opportunity to play a high school football game at the Canton Hall of Fame. Both the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton are awe-inspiring, rich with history, and steeped in the tradition of their respective sports. These experiences were not just about the games themselves but about being part of something larger, surrounded by the legacies of the greatest players in history. I highly reccomend both.

Great stories, everyone!

I’ve also been to the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee. I has thousands of bobbleheads, including every promotional Brewers one I had gotten from games over the years. link

I’ve also been to the Chicago Sports Museum, but that’s more about interactive features and less about old artifacts. link

Finding out that there’s actually a National Bobblehead HoF and Museum has totally made my day. That’s now on my list of “Someday I Need to Go See….”

You also reminded me that a few years ago I visited the Museum of Pez Memorabilia in Burlingame, CA. Such a disappointment! I’m not surprised to see that it shut down back in 2019.

Yes! I have been to Cooperstown numerous times. One of those trips was a day before Induction and it was fun to be in town while there was a special buzz. We saw various players singing autographs though we didn’t get any ourselves. I have been to the Hockey Hall of Fame at its old location in Exhibition Park and its new location. I have been to Canton which I enjoyed even though I am not presently a big football fan – I appreciate the history however. I’ve also visited the Czech Hockey Hall of Fame – twice – in its former location in the mall next to the O2 Arena in Prague. I loved seeing the old wool sweaters, the Tackla jerseys from the 1980s and 1990s, and the room with jerseys of Czech players for each NHL team, plus jerseys of youth teams from across Czechia which was really cool. I have also been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Cooperstown has the best vibe – the souvenir stores up and down main street are like an extension of the museum. The food options in town are not great however.

Also, I wish that Bill Simmons’ NBA hall of fame pyramid existed

“The Book of Basketball” is a must read for sports fans. I’m not a huge NBA fan, but I love the way Bill writes about the NBA and recounts his memories.

I generally have no interest in hall of fames as anything more than a sports museum, but I’ve always loved Bill’s pyramid proposal. I’ve made friends listen to me explain it for the sole purpose of debating levels of players.

The first hall of fame I ever went to was the Baseball Hall of Fame when I was 15, during a family trip to Ontario, Quebec, and Upstate New York. It was a transformative event in my life.

I’d always been a (very) casual sports fan with an eye toward uniforms and logos who also happened to love museums. Going to a museum devoted to the history of baseball, with all those amazing uniforms, caps, and equipment on display turned me into a diehard fan of not only baseball, but every other sport I had casually followed up until that point. And the visual aspect of those sports has always been intertwined with my fandom, so I kind of became a full-blown sports fan and uni-watcher, all at the same time, because of that trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

I’ve been back once since then, in my mid-twenties when I was living on the East Coast after college, and loved it every bit as much. I sincerely hope to go back again sometime soon with my own son, who’s eight now.

Since that first trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the other major halls of fame I’ve been to are the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Basketball Hall of Fame, and the NASCAR Hall of Fame. I’ve also been to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame, which may be “major,” depending on your point of view, but feels a bit more niche since its focus is on drivers with ties to “The Brickyard.”

Among the smaller halls of fame I’ve visited are Colorado Sports Hall of Fame (located inside the Broncos’ stadium), the Colorado State University Sports Hall of Fame (inside the Rams’ basketball arena), the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, the University of Iowa Sports Hall of Fame (located in its own dedicated building a few miles west of the main campus), the San Diego Hall of Champions (back when it was in Balboa Park, before the collection was moved to the Padres’ new stadium), the Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and – most recently, in May of this year – the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, in the Nashville Predators’ arena.

I’ve been to so many small local and regional sports museums that I’ve lost count at this point. My favorite is probably the Red Faber Museum in Cascade, Iowa, dedicated to the somewhat obscure Hall of Fame pitcher who spent his entire 20-year career with the White Sox. He’s nonetheless the town’s most famous native son, and the museum is lovingly maintained by the local historical society. It’s about 20 miles away from the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, which makes for an enchanting double-header day trip for old-timey baseball fans.

As for non-sports-related halls of fame, I’ve been to both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville (twice – once in 1998, and then again this past May). While I am generally a bigger fan of rock music than country music, I thought the County Music Hall of Fame was a significantly better museum than the Rock Hall. Better plaques for the enshrinees, a better sense of its own history, and a natural “flow” through the museum that was easier to follow.

Probably the most niche of the non-sports halls of fame I’ve been to is the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum in Leadville, Colorado. Truthfully, the hall of enshrinees in the museum is pretty dry (lots of plaques depicting starched-shirt mining executives). But the museum has done quite a bit in the past few years to highlight the more colorful characters in the Hall of Fame (including women, minorities, labor-side enshrinees, and historical figures). Moreover, the rest of the museum – highlighting the history of mining in the U.S. and highlighting all kinds of spectacular minerals – is a true Colorado gem (no pun intended). I always recommend it to visitors who are traveling through that part of the state.

Whew! I think that covers everything! (Did I mention that I love museums?)

I’ve been to both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music HoF. I agree that the Country Music HoF is better than the R&R HoF. I personally think the R&R HoF should be a lot more selective about the artists that qualify for induction.

If you haven’t been to the Motown Museum in Detroit, I HIGHLY recommend it. The exhibits are fantastic, but some of the little facts they sprinkle in along the way are fascinating – like they always kept a certain kind of candy bar in the 3rd slot on the candy machine so Stevie Wonder would know where it was. Also, I went there in October 2020 and since it was the height of Covid and my sisters and I were about the only people there, they let me bring my dog in with me.