Milepost 6,759 (Albany, NY, Days 2-3)

Today was our day to drive over to Cooperstown for the Baseball Hall of Fame.  A summary of that in a bit, but first a report on yesterday.

We drove down to Hyde Park to see the home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, known as Springwood.  FDR was inaugurated as the nation's 32nd President on March 4, 1933, and was the only President elected to four terms.  However, he never completed the fourth term, having passed away on April 12, 1945. 

In 1921 at the age of 39, Roosevelt contracted polio and never again walked unaided.  He never gave up hope that he might again walk.  Using iron braces on his hips and legs, he taught himself to walk a short distance by swiveling his torso while supporting himself with a cane.  The path in this photo is where he attempted his own version of physical therapy, trying to reach the road at the end of this path.

Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor (his 5th cousin, once removed, and the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt) were married in 1905.  About two miles away from Springwood was Val-Kill, Eleanor's retreat until Franklin died, when it became her permanent home.  She was never comfortable at Springwood because of her domineering mother-in-law Sara.

So, on to baseball.  We spent nearly three hours today at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  Having been a Minnesota Twins fan since the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota when I was nine, I was especially interested in the Twins' presence at the Hall.  I'm also interested in the Mariners, of course, but until Edgar Martinez takes his rightful place in the Hall of Fame Plaque Gallery, there isn't much to see.

During the Twins' first decade in Minnesota, Harmon Killebrew was the star player.  Known for his massive home runs, Killebrew was one of the top home run hitters in the history of the game.  A native of Payette, ID, Killebrew was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984.

A more recent Twins star was Kirby Puckett, who passed away in in 2006 from a stroke at the age of just 45.  Puckett was instrumental in Minnesota's two World Series victories in 1987 and 1991.

There are entire sections of the Hall of Fame devoted to Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron (curiously, none for Barry Bonds).  This photo shows the ball Ruth hit for a then-record 60th home run in 1927 and the bat he used to hit it.  That record stood until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961.  Despite what the official record books say, in my mind, that record still stands.  As does Aaron's record of 755 career home runs.  Can you tell I'm not a fan of Barry Bonds?  Or Mark McGwire?  Or Sammy Sosa?  Or...well, I guess you get the idea.

Speaking of Hank Aaron's 755 home runs, the ball on the left is the one he hit for #755.  The ball he hit for #715, the one that broke Babe Ruth's record, is in the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame.