Ripken and Gwynn
This weekend, barring an unforeseen mishap, I will be up in Cooperstown, New York for the annual Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony. This will be my sixth induction in a row, and is always a highlight of my year. It's pretty easy to attend, if you can get a hotel room way in advance (although one year I drove up and back in one day--four hours each way!)
For this year's event, the Hall is expecting a record crowd. Last year's induction, which featured Bruce Sutter and seventeen Negro League personalities, the attendance was 11,000 and something. This year they expect over 50,000. Why? Well, it's pretty easy to answer: the two men going in are among the most well-liked players of the recent vintage, Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken, Jr.
Ripken will assuredly draw fans from Baltimore. When I saw Eddie Murray inducted, the place was a sea of Orioles caps, and Murray wasn't nearly as popular as Ripken, who is as close to a baseball saint as you can get. The guy seems to have never made misstep to affect his popularity. He is best known for breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games-played streak, the most selfless of records, and the night he did it was one of the more electric events I've seen on a baseball diamond.
Tony Gwynn will also have his supporters, though it's a much longer haul to get to Cooperstown from San Diego. But Gwynn, like Ripken, has a reputation as being a player who thought of the best interests of the game, as a really good guy, and of course a hit machine. Both of them are also a rarity--they played for twenty or more seasons with the same team (this is a rarity for any period in baseball, not just the present day. Players back in the good old days moved around just as much as they do now, only they were traded, as there was no free agency).
So, if I can find a decent parking space and it doesn't rain, Sunday promises to be a special baseball day.
For this year's event, the Hall is expecting a record crowd. Last year's induction, which featured Bruce Sutter and seventeen Negro League personalities, the attendance was 11,000 and something. This year they expect over 50,000. Why? Well, it's pretty easy to answer: the two men going in are among the most well-liked players of the recent vintage, Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken, Jr.
Ripken will assuredly draw fans from Baltimore. When I saw Eddie Murray inducted, the place was a sea of Orioles caps, and Murray wasn't nearly as popular as Ripken, who is as close to a baseball saint as you can get. The guy seems to have never made misstep to affect his popularity. He is best known for breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games-played streak, the most selfless of records, and the night he did it was one of the more electric events I've seen on a baseball diamond.
Tony Gwynn will also have his supporters, though it's a much longer haul to get to Cooperstown from San Diego. But Gwynn, like Ripken, has a reputation as being a player who thought of the best interests of the game, as a really good guy, and of course a hit machine. Both of them are also a rarity--they played for twenty or more seasons with the same team (this is a rarity for any period in baseball, not just the present day. Players back in the good old days moved around just as much as they do now, only they were traded, as there was no free agency).
So, if I can find a decent parking space and it doesn't rain, Sunday promises to be a special baseball day.
Comments
Post a Comment