Comments on: The Mayor of Cooperstown is not worried about the lack of Hall of Fame inductees

By: Minoring In Baseball

Minoring In Baseball — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:27:02 +0000

We went last spring, and a lot of the store owners were stuggling to make ends meet then. What hurt them, though, is that most shops has the exact same hours as the HOF. They need to stay open an hour or two after the HOF closes, to catch the fans leaving the Hall and looking for cheaper memorabelia, as the gift shop was stupidly expensive. We stayed in Oneonta, too, because non of the hotels/motels in Cooperstown had reasonable rates. In this economy, you have to be realistic with your prices. It’s cheaper to stay 15-20 miles away and drive then to stay in the local hotels. And unless your part of one of the tournament teams, or the summer college league teams, there’s really nothing else to keep you in Coopertown for the night.
http://minoringinbaseball.com/2012/05/27/2012-baseball-trip-the-road-to-cooperstown/

By: randygnyc

randygnyc — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 05:02:27 +0000

Joerymi- funny that you mention Jeter. My 11 year old daughter made me promise to make hotel reservations on the day he retires, 5 years in advance for his induction. She refuses to go to the HOF until that weekend.

By: joerymi

joerymi — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 02:59:55 +0000

Perspective is nice.

He knows full well there are a handful of guys that are close that will draw big crowds. Chipper Jones and Derek Jeter come to mind. Not sure what the record crowd is, but I am willing to bet Jeter will break it.

By: themuddychicken

themuddychicken — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 02:35:46 +0000

I finally made it to Cooperstown with my family in the summer of 2011 for the first time ever. The day before hitting the HoF itself, we settled into our hotel, drove around, ate out, etc. The main thing we noticed was just how many youth teams were everywhere. They filled our hotel, they crowded the restaurants. We made it to some of the fields too to watch some of the games, and they were full of all kinds of teams and parents.

I’ve only been once, so I can’t compare it to times past, but they certainly seemed to have a very lively youth baseball culture there.

By: DJ MC

DJ MC — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:35:42 +0000

On the one hand, this is true. They hold many different tournaments and other events to bring people into the town and even out the money from Hall of Fame weekend. This isn’t Amity Island closing the beaches in Jaws.

However, it is like taking New Year’s Eve away from New York City. Eliminating that many people from a single event will still have a significant impact on the local economy.

That also doesn’t take into account what may happen if the issues with Hall of Fame voting continue into the future.