COOPERSTOWN—Jeffrey Richard Smith of Cooperstown and Venice, Florida, son of Gayle and Jack Smith of Cooperstown, entered into eternal rest Wednesday night, March 1, 2023, at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in North Venice, Florida following an extended illness. He was 60.
Born February 26, 1963 in Little Falls, Jeff graduated from Cooperstown Central School where he was a proud “Redskin” participating in many sports. He then attended Fordham University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business.
One of the artifacts for New York Mets fans to discover in the ‘Starting Nine’ program in is the jersey Mike Piazza wore in his first game back after the Sept. 11, attacks. (National Hall of Fame and Museum.)
By CHARLIE VASCELLARO • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
COOPERSTOWN — Like Dorothy taking her first steps on the Yellow Brick Road in the Land of Oz, first time visitors to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum are often advised that “it’s always best to start at the beginning” moving in a linear and chronological fashion through the game’s formative years and early history.
Returning visitors to the museum and more seasoned veterans might make a beeline to a new installation or favorite exhibit moving through the museum at their own pace or in a more unorthodox fashion; like former New York Met Jimmy Piersall circling the bases backwards when he hit his 100th career home run.
The Hall of Fame’s new “Starting Nine: The Must-See Artifacts from Your Team” and “Ultimate Fan Experience” allow fans to carve their own path through the museum on an interactive scavenger hunt through their favorite teams’ histories.
Devised by the Hall of Fame’s curatorial staff, “Starting Nine” highlights nine team-specific objects for each team, culled from tens of 1,000s of artifacts in the Hall’s collection.
Visitors can begin their journeys almost anywhere they choose after receiving a team “line-up card” available at the Hall on its mobile website.
Looking through teams’ Starting Nine lineup cards, the game’s history and evolution unfolds and stirs the reflective imagination and makes one realize the depth of the Hall of Fame’s collection, including:
The catcher’s mitt that Yogi Berra wore when he caught Don Larsen’s perfect World Series game in 1956;
Roberto Clemente’s retired No. 21 Pittsburgh Pirates jersey;
COOPERSTOWN – The Baseball Hall of Fame’s ballot for next year’s Induction is being mailed this week to the 400 voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. It includes pitcher Mariano Rivera among 20 new candidates.
Others include pitchers Roy Halladay and Andy Pettitte; infielders Todd Helton, Michael Young, Miguel Tejada and Plácido Polanco; and outfielder Juan Pierre will join 15 holdovers from the 2018 balloting
Candidates must be named on 75 percent of ballots cast by selected BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years of MLB coverage to gain election.
COOPERSTOWN – Claire Smith, the first female to cover a Major League Baseball beat extensively and as an influential voice among African-American writers, was elected the 2017 winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, it was announced today.
She will be honored with the award presented annually to a sportswriter “for meritorious contributions to baseball writing” during the Hall of Fame’s Induction Weekend July 28-31.
Smith received 272 votes from the 449 ballots, including three blanks, cast by BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years’ service in becoming the 68th – and first female – winner of the award since its inception in 1962.
Fabled Yankee manager Joe Torre, 24 hours after his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, signs autographs at Ommegang’s Prohibition Store on Cooperstown’s Main Street at this hour. By his side is longtime pal Ted Hargrove, who arranged the appearance. Fans are lined up along Main waiting for the chance at an autograph. Co-Hall of Famer Bobby Cox is also signing. (Jim Kevlin/allotsego.com)
SUNY Oneonta alumnus Marty Appel, right, is interviewed by the Hall of Fame’s Bruce Markusen as part of 75th anniversary commemorations. (Ian Austin/allotsego.com)
COOPERSTOWN – “I cried when Babe Ruth died,” declared Marty Appel, prolific writer on sports-related topics, Emmy Award-winning producer, former Yankee public relations director, riveting raconteur, and SUNY Oneonta graduate.
“I was 9 days old,” added the author of the recently published “Pinstripe Empire,” a featured speaker at the Hall of Fame Friday, June 13, as part of the 75th anniversary celebration. He smiles and so does his audience.
With his broad, never-vanishing grin, a Saint Nick twinkle in his bespectacled eyes and an easy-going manner, Appel comes across as a man who derives great pleasure from his work.
Born in Brooklyn in 1948, Appel nonetheless has strong ties to both Cooperstown and Oneonta. Like millions of others, he first came to Cooperstown to visit the Hall of Fame in his early teens on a family vacation.
