-0-

“The Shrine-The Cathedral-Open for Business”

-0-

It’s as special a place as there is in all of sports.

The history of the brick building in the village of Cooperstown is amazing, and this weekend it opens its doors to a brilliant class of stars.

It’s baseball’s Hall of Fame weekend, and they welcome a complete team of super stars, all at once..

There’s the complete player that was Chipper Jones, all-everything-do everything star of the Atlanta Braves. A (.303) lifetime hitter, with 404-home runs stretching out over 19-years with the same cub. An astounding 2,7264-hits in that time, playing for bad teams and great teams..

In the era of the DH, what better than Jim Thome on this classic team. He finished with an amazing 612-home runs and just shut of 1,700-RBIs. He heads in as an Indians leader after leading so many different clubhouses..

Slash and dash was what Vlad Guerrero was all about, from the early years with Montreal to the great years with the Angels. Pick a number, they all stood out…the (.318) average….the 489-homers….the 8-Silver Slugger Bats. He goes in remembering the defunct Expos.

The great glove on the team belonged to the legendary Tiger Alan Trammel, a lifetime (.285) hitter who dazzled in he field for nearly 2-decades, living out his dreams as a baseball junkie..

The star team had as good a front line starter as you’d ever want, Jack Morris. A warrior, in season and in postseason, Morris was (254-186) and not always pitching on great Detroit teams. Think about workhorse status and think about 515-career starts and 175-complete games.

And you need a closer on a great team, and what better than the 601-saves icon Trevor Hoffman, who buckled batters knees, pitched in every big game for his franchise nearly 16-years and wound up with a (2.87-ERA). His journey is even greater in that he was a 150-pound light hitting shortstop, converted to a pitcher, dealt away by both Cincinnati and Miami before landing in San Diego.

It will be great day for players, families, friends and their fans.

You think Cooperstown, you think Ruth-Cobb-Aaron-Feller, Walter Johnson to Ted Williams, Stan Musial to Jackie Robinson, Lou Gehrig to Pie Trainer……legends from back in the day. And now you can add these modern day names to the list..

The best part for this Hall of Fame team is that the gold plaque, and the inscriptions and the mini bust, will be there forever.

Forever for generations of fans to see.

Reverence for some great players and quality people. The way it should be in a shrine, a cathedral, and in the Hall of Fame that is Cooperstown.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Please follow and like us: