O Captain, My Captain

Contemplating a summer without Cooperstown

Yesterday I got an email from the National Baseball Hall of Fame saying that due to Covid-19 its Board of Directors had voted unanimously to cancel this year’s Induction Weekend and postpone it until 2021. “This decision was the most difficult we have ever made,” read the message sent to members. “But it is the right decision for the health and safety of our supporters and the Hall of Famers.”

Being elected to the Hall of Fame is the highest honor in baseball. There have been more than 19,000 players in the Major Leagues. Only 235 of them along with 29 Negro Leaguers have made the cut. That’s about one percent.

The Hall of Fame is in Cooperstown, N.Y., a tiny village in the center of the state, where baseball-lovers from all over the world flock every summer to see exhibits on everything from the game’s origins to its broadcasters, and to check out the staggering trove of artifacts.

You can see Babe Ruth’s jersey and Shoeless Joe’s shoes, a Honus Wagner card and the San Diego Chicken costume. There’s a life-sized statue of Ted Williams swinging the bat and one of Johnny Podres pitching to Roy Campanella. I like to imagine the whole place coming to life “Night at the Museum”-style after the doors have been locked and everyone’s gone home. Cy Young’s throwing…