We all have that one special place that evokes memories of magic. To some it’s Walt Disney World, to others it’s the mountains or the beach or even their own backyard. My “place” is a small town in Upstate New York; most know it as the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Many call it simply “Cooperstown.”
I love this place so much that I named my son after the town. Cooper now thinks the town is actually HIS personal town. I’ve explained to him that a very select few are commemorated in this shrine, and for the first time in his short 5-year life, he has met a member of Cooperstown.
This past Monday, State Farm and the Boys and Girls Club of America put on a baseball clinic in conjunction with the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Festivities. My wife (@daniellesmithtv) was asked to attend this event. She was allowed to take her family along for the ride (many thanks to State Farm). The man putting on the clinic was 1st Ballot Hall of Fame Inductee and former Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken, Jr.
Cal was to teach a group of kids some of the finer points of hitting a baseball. Enter the future Cooperstown inductee, Cooper Smith. Coop stepped to the dish and drilled line drive after line drive into the net. Ripken looked over to the large group of fans viewing his clinic, and said “He’s a really good hitter.” Insert a smile on this dad’s face that stretches from Chase Field to Camden Yards.
After Cooper took his rips, Cal gave him a High 5, and the 3-foot-8 well educated baseball historian says to him and I quote “Two-thousand-six-hundred and thirty-two games in a row? How did you do that?”
Let me pause to explain. Cal Ripken, Jr. holds the Major League Baseball record for consecutive games played at 2632. I hold the record for making my 5-year old recite this number on one airplane flight. It was worth it. Back to Cal and Coop.
Ripken laughs, takes a soft baseball and tosses it at Cooper. Cooper grabs the ball (across the seams) and fires it back at him. They go on to play dodge ball for a few minutes while the local news media focus its cameras as the current and future Hall of Famer trade a game of catch that us mortal, Non Hall-of-Famers could only dream of being a part. (here’s a quick video of the hitting and catching between the two)
As the clinic continues, Cal throws batting practice to a few of the local celebrities including Danielle and I (definitely not celebrities, well, I’m not). We had a blast. Cooper plays the role of Ripken’s ball boy and the former Shortstop scoops up the Coop and places him in a bucket of balls as they share a joint Hall of Fame embrace. I think to myself “So, this is what it’s like to be around a couple of Hall of Famers playing at a high level?”
As Danielle conducts her interview with Cal, Cooper plays catch with another one of the clinic coaches who comes over to me and says “How old is this kid?” I respond, “He turned 5 a few weeks ago, started switch hitting when he was 4, learned to go to his backhand when he was 3, could go “oppo” when he was 2, touched each base with his left foot when he was 1, and his first words were “grand slam.” The coach looked at me with a puzzled look. I might have overdone it.
Cal did interview after interview. He autographed every one of the kid’s baseballs. He stayed long after the clinic was over just talking baseball with all of us. At the very end, before he and his daughter went to lunch, he thanked us all for coming and gave Cooper one last High 5. Magical. A Moment frozen in time.
This coming Sunday, July 24th, will be the annual celebration in Cooperstown of this year’s inductees. Sidebar: It’s also my birthday. Doing some quick math. Coop gets drafted in 2024. Makes MLB debut in 2028. Has 18-year career at the Big League Level, retiring in 2046. Waits the mandatory 5-years after retirement to be considered for Hall of Fame induction thus gets voted in by the Baseball Writers in January 2052, and becomes a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 24th, 2052, my 77th birthday. What a gift!
And, his first Hall of Fame experience came during the All-Star Break, 41 years prior in the year 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona. Thank you Cal Ripken, Jr. Thank you State Farm. Thank you Major League Baseball. Cooper is out of the batter’s box on his way to 1st base with the goal to get “home” to his town.
Sincerely,
A Crazy Baseball Dad
Also: The main reason we (and Cal Ripkin Jr.) were in Phoenix for the HomeRun Derby was for the State Farm Go to Bat Initiave to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club of America. This video shows me batting against Cal as part of the program. Danielle also batted against Cal. More than $600,000 was raised during the HomeRun Derby. Though our trip was sponsored by State Farm, the experiences and opinions shared here are mine alone.
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