Fans: Parade Did Not Disappoint

By CASPAR EWIG
COOPERSTOWN

Under a sky both sunny and cloudy by turn, and blessed with a pleasantly warm evening, a relatively small but enthusiastic crowd witnessed the Parade of Legends that forms a part of Cooperstown’s annual Hall of Fame Induction Weekend.

“I’ve been doing the security detail for the Hall of Fame for 18 years, and this year is definitely quieter,” Joe Pavone noted.

However, other than the crowd size, Pavone said his duties didn’t change too much since, “on the whole, those attending Induction Weekend in Cooperstown tend to be cooperative and respectful.”

Along the parade route—starting at The Otesaga Resort Hotel, wending along Lake Street, turning onto Chestnut and then onto Main—many townspeople and visitors had staked out their positions. Those with experience actually put their folding chairs in place the previous evening, although that was a bit of overkill this year.

The visitors with the prize for the longest travel belonged to the Elliot family, who sported Toronto shirts but came from South Korea. As their shirts foretold, they were here to cheer for Fred McGriff.

“We’re really big baseball fans,” said Rob Elliot, and living in the Far East has not diminished their love for the game.

Not far behind on the international travel scene were avid ball fans Juan and Rebekah Guzman, who call Tampa and Puerto Rico their home.

“When we’re in Tampa, we root for the Jays,” Juan said, “but when in Puerto Rico we have ‘winter ball’ from November through January, so we can attend games during winter, all of which culminates in a Caribbean Series with teams from Panama, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, among others.”

“And,” Rebekah added, “Juan eventually wants to continue the quest begun in 1981 to attend a game in all the major league ball parks.”

Some, like the Janzers from St. Louis, were here to cheer for Scott Rolen, but also took the time to do some hiking and sightseeing. Others, including Rick Rosenfeld, were continuing an attendance streak.

“I’ve been coming to Induction Weekend since 1989, and this one sure is quiet, but not as quiet as 2013,” Rosenfeld recalled.

Rolen’s former teammates—Chris Heisey, Jay Bruce and Drew Stubbs—were also on hand.

“We had to come,” Bruce said, “to honor a man who was really a quiet leader: a pro’s pro.”

To which Stubbs added, “He was the best model a young player could follow.”

The parade consisted of 52 flatbed trucks, each carrying one of the 50 prior Hall of Fame members who returned this year, as well as the two that were elected into the Hall for the 2023 season.

Leading the parade were Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and Hall of Fame President Josh Rawitch, who were followed by 125 members of the Baldwinsville Central High School marching band and color guard.

This was the second time the Baldwinsville band and color guard were selected to participate in the Parade of Legends under the direction of Casey Vanderstouw. They will be performing in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame parade later this year.

While the smaller size of the weekend crowd undoubtedly was a disappointment to some Main Street merchants, it came with the benefit of making the parade itself more personable. Unlike some mammoth parades in big cities, everyone had the opportunity for a fully unobstructed view of this year’s Parade of Legends, and the players and crowd had an opportunity to interact.

As the truck carrying Paul Molitor passed by, a voice from the crowd shouted, “How’d your golf game go?” Followed by three seconds of total silence, until Molitor shouted back, “Well, I broke 100.”

And as another HoF legend passed by, a voice cried, “I got your card!” With a thumbs up and looking to find the eyes of the youngster in the crowd, he yelled back, “That’s great!”

This repartee with the crowd was reproduced often by many of the players and their wives, and represented one of the beneficial side effects of the more modest crowd size.

To the credit of the Baldwinsville band and color guard, they managed to double back and reappear to lead the last two flat beds carrying this year’s inductees.

As Scott Rolen’s flatbed slowly rolled halfway up Chestnut, both Scott and his wife, Niki, enjoyed a very animated interaction with the Turbin family from Indiana, where both Scott and Mike Turbin coach local teams, and where the Turbin’s son, Dustin, played on a little league team with Scott Rolen’s son, Finn.

That “in your back yard” feeling epitomized the aura surrounding the parade. And that’s the reason people keep coming back.