Only in Cooperstown

By Craig Muder

With about 48 hours until Sunday’s Hall of Fame Classic, Cooperstown acquired a certain buzz on Friday.

The arrival of one of the legends of the game didn’t hurt, either.

With a backdrop of blue skies, sunshine and a gentle breeze, the man in the black polo shirt walked up Main Street. It could have been any baseball fan, any tourist, any Cooperstown resident.

But one look told you it was Bob Feller.

Eventually… inevitably, the fans recognized him. The 91-year-old Hall of Famer obligingly cut short his walk to stop and talk, spinning tales about his career. Few have ever loved the game – or their role – more than the former Cleveland Indians fireballer.

On Sunday, Feller will captain his team at the 2 p.m. Hall of Fame Classic at Cooperstown’s Doubleday Field. He’ll emerge from the dugout to cheers as fervent as those he received as a player. A national treasure deserves no less.

And yet on Friday, he quietly strolled Main Street – soaking in the beauty of Central New York and this idyllic setting.

Only in Cooperstown… where history lives.

Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.