B&B Closes After 38 Great Years

By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
COOPERSTOWN

After 38 years, the fabled Baseball Bed & Breakfast in Cooperstown has closed.

Owners John and Suzanne Rudy, now in their 80s and ready to retire, say the time has come to close a chapter of their life that began shortly after a family trip in the 1980s.

Since then, they have hosted thousands of people from across the country and world in their bright yellow home on Chestnut Street. While its name and theme is all about baseball, the couple said their guests have been coming to the area for all kinds of reasons, from the Glimmerglass Opera to a stopping point on trips further west. A map with pins for visitors’ hometowns—hailing from all 50 states—eventually became so heavy it fell off the wall, requiring a second pin map.

The Rudys said they became interested in the area after they and their three children came up from New York City to see Catfish Hunter’s induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. While continuing their vacation up to Canada, the kids still wanted to be in Cooperstown to use the batting cages.

“It occurred to me, it was just so nice and pleasant,” John said of their stay at another bed and breakfast. “I had an epiphany.”

Suzanne and the three kids agreed to run the B&B during the summer, sharing in responsibilities, with John coming up to help on the weekends.

The kids had a job wheel with assigned responsibilities, and incentives like horseback riding or ice cream (and some pay). As the kids aged, all three eventually worked at the batting cages.

“They never lost their love for the batting cage,” Suzanne said.

The kids never went to camp.

“This was camp,” John said.

The Baseball B&B’s walls are adorned with baseball photos and memorabilia, with guest rooms named for original inductees to the Hall of Fame. Ty Cobb, the recipient of the most votes in the first Hall of Fame induction, is honored with the master bedroom.

The Rudys enjoyed meeting their mix of guests, some of whom they saw numerous times over the years, and personalizing the experience. But if no one was vegetarian or allergic, “breakfast Sunday is always bacon and eggs, and then I made a coffee cake,” Suzanne said. She’d match other meals with what she felt was the right fit for a given guest.

“I decided what I think the people wanted. I never asked them,” Suzanne said.

“It’s been a wonderful journey,” John said. Sometimes it was so wonderful the roles were reversed, with the Rudys visiting the homes of their guests.
The Rudys’ love for Cooperstown has only grown over the years.

“We’ve also made friends here in Cooperstown, and we really like this place,” Suzanne said. “My husband said there’s nowhere on Earth he’d rather be from Memorial Day to Labor Day.”

The Rudys say they’ll still be around between Memorial Day and Columbus Day, just like before.

“During that time, Suzanne will tend to gardening, John will serve as her helper,” the two said in an e-mail.