A walk among the gods

Sporting News, The, August 6, 2001 by Todd Jones

Last week we had an off-day in New York. Instead of going to a show or to see David Letterman, I went to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. We made the four-hour drive Sunday and spent the night in a bed and breakfast.

I hadn't been there since 1989, my first year in pro ball. Rick Wise was my pitching coach that year, and he took us there. He is a lifetime member because he has something in there--he is the only person to throw a no-hitter and hit two homers in one game. He did it with the Phillies.

The new president of the Hall was born for the job. Dale Petroskey was born in Detroit and founded the Mayo Smith Society, a Tigers fan club. He worked as an assistant press secretary for President Reagan and was vice president of the National Geographic Society before he took over at the Hall. He rolls out the red carpet when players visit the Hall. He had his assistant give us a behind-the-scenes tour. We had to put on special white gloves. They took us down to the basement, where thousands of things are archived--and not lame things like somebody's high school jersey. I got to hold Babe Ruth's shoes, for crying out loud.

There were Cy Young Awards given to the Hall by Sandy Koufax; there were MVP trophies and World Series trophies just lying around. I held Roger Maris' jersey from 1961, Ted Williams' jersey from the year he hit .406, Mike Schmidt's jersey, Al Kaline's shoes and the first catcher's mask..

When we got to the main part of the museum, I was floored. They have everything, from Big Mac to the short dude who played one day in the big leagues for the St. Louis Browns. Babe Ruth has his own area, and so does Hank Aaron.

The part that was the most moving was the tribute to the Negro Leagues. The Hall consulted Mrs. Jackie Robinson on this section. The Hall had discussed having patrons come into the exhibit through a door with a sign that said, "colored entrance only." But she said not to make racism the main focus of the exhibit. So they put the sign on the wall as a reminder.

It was eerie. They had Cool Papa Bell stuff and Satchel Paige stuff but not much equipment. The curator said those guys would play with their equipment until it fell apart, so there wasn't much equipment left to get.

I see the Hall in a much different light now that I have been in the big leagues. I almost felt like I didn't belong, even to visit. These are the best of the best. If you think about some of their stats, it's frightening. Aaron's 755--he never hit 50 homers in one year. Everybody made a big deal out of Cal Ripken hitting his 400th homer a few years ago. Hank hit 400 solos. Ripken's streak of 2,632--it ain't a number; it's not missing a day of work for 16 years.

Big Mac's 70 homers--that's 12 per month, one almost every other game. Cy Young's 511 wins--if you win 20 for 20 years, you're 111 short. I've always known the numbers, but the Hall puts them all in perspective.

My biggest fear about players today is they don't know this stuff. I've always said that when you get called up, you should be given a manual of guys whose names you should know--Mantle, DiMaggio, Ruth, Ryan, Koufax, Bench, Aaron, etc. Players should know a little something about them. I think each team should print out a manual of their own club history.

I'll never forget: We were in Baltimore in 1997, and we had a young catcher on our club. Jim Palmer walked in and introduced himself. When Jim left the room the catcher turned to me and said, "Isn't that the underwear guy?"

The Twins' Todd ]ones, an All-Star closer last year, writes a regular column for THE SPORTING NEWS. E-mail him at tjones@sportingnews.com.