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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| DecaturDad |
Posted - 06/15/2009 : 09:41:59
For those of you who have attended, or are attending Cooperstown, could you share your stories with the rest of us? We hope to go next summer as a 10U team, and I will end up having to take care of the team logistics....
Thanks! |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| DecaturDad |
Posted - 01/07/2010 : 10:16:55
Question for those of you who have attended Cooperstown: Where did you get your umpire? And what is a reasonable fee to pay? We will be going during the 10u week this summer and I need to get one lined up.
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| Alter-Ego |
Posted - 11/28/2009 : 16:47:05
We went through a local umpiring organization in NY to hire one. I know there are a lot of really good umpires around here that enjoying going as well. I would expect them to post their availability on here once it gets closer to time. |
| DecaturDad |
Posted - 11/28/2009 : 12:58:13
How about umpires? Did you bring one with you or hire a local? Any advice? |
| Dr. Old School |
Posted - 07/07/2009 : 10:42:28
One additional comment to the great ones already listed, regarding pin trading. The further you get in elimination play, the more sought after your pin becomes. Sometimes 2 or 3 for one. Save some for elimination play just in case.  |
| bambino_dad |
Posted - 07/06/2009 : 22:31:38
My observations from Week #4:
1. Rarely have I ever had so much fun watching kids from all over the nation play baseball. The atmosphere was incredible. It was like Disney meets the Little League World Series. What made it all the more exciting was with those 200 ft. fences - any kid on the roster could be a hero.
2. The gravelly voiced annoucer, moderator, head honcho - you can tell just loves to hear himself talk, and you know he's been coached on cutting back on his stories, so just be prepared for a long stem winding opening ceremony speech.
3. Be prepared to walk, talk, and answer questions about your team, your city, your park. Still, everybody seemed to have heard of, played at, or known of someone who played at East Cobb.
4. The further you go in the tournament, the fewer seats left for the team's own fans to sit in. All kinds of people just mosey on into your game like they've got reserved seats or something. I thought that was funny. By the time we made it to the final four only a few of us home fans had seats.
5. Definitely do DiMaggio's across the street from the park. Great brats and chili dogs. Texas style and Southern style. Fries? So-so... But you will be full. Promise.
6. The Holiday Inn Select on 28 is very nice, comfortable, and serves free breakfast at 7:00a. They baked fresh cookies each evening at around 7:00p, too. Just three minutes from the park driveway. The latitude of Cooperstown is such that sunrise was between 5:30 and 5:45am every day.
7. Keep an umbrella and rain jacket handy. All told, we played about three innings in low visibility, torrential downpour conditions - and six to eight more in heavy to moderate sprinkling. Cost us some runs, but the boys got through it OK. The grass fields drain remarkably well. The infield and battery were a bit better than muddy. But the days it did not rain, it was postcard perfect weather.
8. The MLB HOF is top notch - located in downtown Cooperstown. I personally love baseball history - so I made two trips and was there about five hours total. My son loved it. The downtown area itself is quaint but touristy. A bargain souvenir can be had at the dozen or so souvenir shops, but you gotta really search for 'em. The autographed bats and baseball cards were seriously overpriced. The t-shirts were not.
9. Two blocks from the Cooperstown HOF is Lake Otsego and the mouth of the Susquehanna river. Lovely surroundings. Worth a quiet walk through the adjacent park with your spouse.
10. It's best to assume your opponent is a very good team. Upsets were plentiful. There was a team with the name "Bethel Church League All-Stars" that won a couple against quality teams I'd heard. So don't get cocky. You never know who's hiding a stud on the bench.
11. Lastly, just take it all in. it's about the kids and the love of the game. If you can't have fun at Cooperstown, perhaps baseball isn't for you.
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| ATURNER |
Posted - 07/01/2009 : 23:08:17
We went last year and if we could go every year we would. COOPERSTOWN IS BASEBALL HEAVEN!!! BEAUTIFUL, organized, well run, truly a once in a lifetime trip (or more if you have a player with a summer birthday who could go twice at 10 & 12). I never had any desire to go and one of our players had an older brother who'd been and they said the same things I'm now saying. They talked us into it and it was more than I ever dreamed it could be. Ok, on to my tips....
1. BUY the trading pins. Don't skimp and buy just 50 or less for each player. Trading the pins is the first interaction the kids will have when they get there.
2. Unless your players are VERY responsible DON'T hand over all the trading pins at once. Give them a few to start with and the rest to their MOM or DAD to divy out as needed. We gave each player 100 pins the first night and some lost half of them by lunch Saturday. Plus a lot of Moms, Dad, sisters and brothers get into helpign trade the pins in trying to collect them all.
3. Everyone is trading pins before, during and after the games. Have plenty on hand. Some teams go field to field searching for pins during their off time.
4. There are plenty of good places to eat and some reasonable, not many chains. Too many for me to remember, but we tried several. Sal's, a seafood place at the lake at the marina. There's a breakfast place, can't remember the name just how to get there from the park, that had the best fresh blueberry pancakes I've ever tasted (turn left out of hte park and go about 6 miles to that small town and it's on the left). The biggest issue we ran into was NO FREE REFILLS on drinks. It may have changed since last year. Guess we are spoiled in the South.
5. Our team rented a uhaul trailer and one of the families that drove pulled it there and back. We gave them extra towards gas for pulling it. We loaded it down with all the baseball equipment, fans, coolers, bed linens, fishing tackle, trading pins, etc. It worked out great.
6. There are some really BIG houses there if your parents can survive living together for a week, or you can let everyone make their own accomodations. We rented a huge house about a mile from the park. It sleeps 27, we had 18. It's an old farmhouse that's been remodeled. Plenty of space for the kids to play, lots of bathrooms, washer/dryer & central air.
7. Cell service is sparatic so you may need to get the house numbers to where all the parents are staying in case of emergencies.
8. Don't forget the charger to your video camera. 
9. At check in there are tables set up for different things, medical forms, birth certificates, uniforms.
10. As others have said, check in on Friday night around 9:00 is the best time to go. There was no line for us and we checked in getting uniforms and everything in about 30 minutes.
11. ABSOLUTELY get the tourney t-shirts asap. My husband thought they were included in the players package and didn't get one for our son. He got both of us one and when I checked later in the week they were already out.
12. You must have original birth certificates and you will get them back when you check out. MAKE SURE they are yours. We were handed another team's. Fortunately we caught it before leaving town.
Most of all HAVE FUN & take LOTS OF PICTURES!!!!
GOOD LUCK TO ALL TEAMS WHO MAKE THIS TRIP!!!
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| clg003 |
Posted - 07/01/2009 : 14:44:18
2 things are a must
Lysol Antibacterial Wet Wipes
(Kids are getting sick and dorms are not sanitized so wet wipe everything)
Cooperstown Dinner
(Downtown hole in the wall with the best breakfast (biscuits and gravy) and biggest hamburger's ever. |
| ecbaseballmom |
Posted - 06/29/2009 : 14:13:16
About the houses for rent, it seems many of the owners live in the basement, so if that creeps you out, you might want to ask ahead of time.
There is a ton of things to do there, but very little time to get to do it. My son took all of his electronics but, they never came out of the bag.
Don't get there early, wait till 7p or later and you won't have to wait in any line. Tell your families, the fewer the better when dropping off the kids the first night.
You would think the restaurants would be prepared for the crowds, but they are not and their attitudes resemble the USPS. |
| I Love Baseball |
Posted - 06/28/2009 : 12:35:40
If you're renting a house, ask about the water! We rented Amazing Valley thru cooperstownstay.com and the well water smelled like a sewer! Made the whole week uncomfortable!
Forego the kitchen and rent rooms at the HoJo next to CDP!!!
PuttPutt at the big red barn was fun, the boys enjoyed that
Take the bus into town instead of the train
Prices in the giftshop were quite reasonable (unlike the Orlando theme parks!)
Only place coaches can get coffee is at the dining tent, and they only have small styrofoam cups. Nice stainless insulated thermos available in the giftshop for less than $5
Bring extra pins to trade with umpires and CDP employees.
Hand towels aren't large enough to hold all the pins.
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| baseballpapa |
Posted - 06/20/2009 : 22:24:29
Papa might add that one of the harder things to do is to locate your team as they all dress the same. Visitors in Blue and Home in Red and it is very hard to locate the location of your team especially as they on the practice field and at the batting cages.
With the Chiefs Papa always looked for Coach Chris and went from there but with the Bandits it is much more difficult. Coach Troy is so short that you can't see his head above the kids. The story that we are getting from the bunk house is that if one of the kids on the top bunks needs anything or gets into any kind of trouble that Coach Troy keeps his ball bucket near his bunk to stand on to help out the player on the top bunk. I heard that it didn't work as he still only reached the middle of the lower bunk and that player didn't need any help.
So my advice for all of the shorter Coaches is to get a step ladder to help out the kids on the top bunk. |
| buzzworthy |
Posted - 06/20/2009 : 16:59:02
a) They let the boys get seconds (or more) when we were there.
Y'all were lucky then, because they were very strict about no seconds with our boys.
As for the opening and closing ceremonies, I hate to say it, but they're excruciatingly boring.[/quote]
Not for the boys.
[/quote]
My point was that we had to sit thru 2 hours of stories BEFORE it got to the good part and we could actually see our kids marching in. |
| dblinkh1 |
Posted - 06/20/2009 : 16:13:26
Just got back from Cooperstown. A few things not mentioned:
1) Don't forget the umpire pins. The umpires have a few different styles to trade and umpires that have been their before have their own custom pins.
2) Find "Willie" and trade with him. He is a Cooperstown mainstay and hangs out in the barracks area trading pins Fri/Sat. After that he is around the fields.
3) Pack a snack bag for players for after hours snacks. No they don't check barracks for outside food. Players can go back for seconds(thirds) during dining hours. Coffee, Gatorade and water is available 24/7 in dining tent.
4) Food in town is mediocre and overpriced. Typical tourist town. However, don't miss Penguin Ice Cream shop on the road between town and the fields. They feature homemade icecream with custom blended mixings.
5) As a Coach I got up early 530am-6am and wandered around the villge swapping stories with other early birds. |
| gasbag |
Posted - 06/20/2009 : 14:51:05
We just got back and what a fabulous time we had ! My biggest observation is this...THESE GUYS REFUSE TO BE RAINED OUT SO BE PREPARED FOR MUD BOWLS !!!!! Because of the schedule, unless there is lightning, they play ball. We did entire skills competition in rain ( poured on Saturday ) and then had to play 4 games on Thursday...all in rain. Spikes weighed 2 lbs each, slippery balls, soggy nasty uniforms...the kids had an absolute blast and made sure no white pants stayed that way.
Given all the rain we've had here in Georgia, maybe we should start playing in the mud, the kids sure do enjoy it.
Lastly, try the Yum Yum Shack restaurant...a little pricy but IMO best food in town !
Hope everyone who goes, enjoys it as much as we did ! |
| coachkyle |
Posted - 06/20/2009 : 09:36:09
quote:
Originally posted by bigfan
We look to go in 2010 and I hear there are several types of places people can stay while in Cooperstown. The following website has hundreds of places available to rent for the week, has anyone stayed in any of these and if so could you comment on how it was. I know were there for the ball but always want a comfortable place to come back to.
http://www.cooperstownny.com/search2.cfm
Big Fan, we just returned from Cooperstown last night. We stayed in an apartment directly above Sal's Pizzeria right on Main Street in Cooperstown: http://www.cooperstownstay.com/html/cstay-apts-bella-casa.html. Covered off-street parking, easy walk to HOF, Doubleday Field, shops, restaurants, etc and < 10 minute drive to Dreams Park. Oh, and the Pizza at Sal's was pretty tasty as well 
If you are looking for something larger that can accommodate multiple families, then check out Terrace Lawn and the adjacent Sunnyside Apartments: http://www.cooperstownstay.com/html/cstay-hse-terrace-lawn.html Several families from our team stayed here. It's practically across the street from Dream's Park.
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| xtreme2008 |
Posted - 06/20/2009 : 00:04:26
buzzworthy makes a good call on the opening/closing ceremonies. The only thing that Lou likes more than one of his stories is another one of his stories... |
| AllStar |
Posted - 06/19/2009 : 22:05:41
quote:
Originally posted by buzzworthy
Also, the food provided for the boys is not nearly enough. And if your team happens to be playing during food service, then they're just out of luck.
a) They let the boys get seconds (or more) when we were there.
b) If their coach let the foodservice folks know their game conflicted with meal time, they could eat earlier or later.
quote:
Originally posted by buzzworthy
As for the opening and closing ceremonies, I hate to say it, but they're excruciatingly boring.
Not for the boys. |
| buzzworthy |
Posted - 06/19/2009 : 19:11:28
If no one has mentioned it here, it gets daylight VERY early -- around 4:30am. The team barracks have no blinds or anything to block the light. So you may want to think about towels or sheets to hang over the windows. Also, the food provided for the boys is not nearly enough. And if your team happens to be playing during food service, then they're just out of luck. I was at the concession stand feeding my son after every one of my his games last year. He was starving the whole week! Also, some of the moms on our team made a trip to Costco in Oneonta and bought snack type foods (beef jerkey, granola bars, etc.) and filled up the catcher's bag and "smuggled" it in, so the boys had food to eat in the barracks.
As for the opening and closing ceremonies, I hate to say it, but they're excruciatingly boring. Be prepared to sit for a LONG time listening to story after story after story after story... |
| TAZ980002 |
Posted - 06/18/2009 : 22:39:30
quote:
Originally posted by Shut Out
Papa,
With the recent injury to the big lefty what is the final head count on your Cooperstown roster? We are all rooting for you guys.
ShutOut, Papa left for Cooperstown Tuesday and took his Bandit Grandson with him. I'm not sure if he took his computer with him or not. The bandits are carrying 11 players to Cooperstown including his Grandson. The doctors have cleared him to be the EH. |
| highcheese |
Posted - 06/18/2009 : 09:47:12
Sorry guys, but I would pass on the Redneck BBQ. If you like any of the BBQ in GA please do not kill yourself with this. Oh the quest for real pizza - go to Sal's and tell them how you want it, thin, thick, greasy, white, they may look at you funny if you want veggies instead of meat. The cool thing is that the little guys are all taken care of, you do not need to drive an hour to get to a game an hour and a halpf early, imagine that, 2 1/2 hours of free time before a game:
Make it a point to talk to the umpires. Man have they got some stories. These people are there because they love the kids and baseball. Make sure you take care of the one you brought too. If you have time, just take a drive around and soak up the scenary. Cooperstown is stuck in the middle between the Adirondacks and Catskill ranges. You can also take the kids to the putt putt place next to the park for an ice cream and a round of intense putt putt. Have fun. |
| Shut Out |
Posted - 06/17/2009 : 13:47:57
Papa,
With the recent injury to the big lefty what is the final head count on your Cooperstown roster? We are all rooting for you guys. |
| I Love Baseball |
Posted - 06/17/2009 : 10:58:59
Keep it coming! The advice here is GREAT!!! Thanks to everyone for sharing! |
| Critical Mass |
Posted - 06/17/2009 : 10:44:12
Roger that op-o...O'Hanlans....we did take the kid there for a few steaks. Did not go to the Redneck BBQ, but heard it had cold beer. |
| playbaseball |
Posted - 06/17/2009 : 10:34:34
BigEd...We used that rental company both times we went to C'Town. We've stayed at the DandyLiInn (it was alot less than now) and Cank's Homeplate. The DandiLi Inn was great. Just across the street from a Pizza Hut and a short walk to the grocery store and liquor store :). It has a huge side/back yard perfect for a team party. Its comfortable inside and great if 4 or 5 families rent together. Everyone gets their own bathroom. It is on the main drag and you can sit on the front porch with your afternoon cocktails and watch people head to and from the park. It is only a 5 min drive to Dreams Park. Cank's is off the main drag, on a quiet street. It was newly remodeled two years ago and was very nice. Living space upstairs, two bedrooms downstairs, each with its own bathroom. A beautiful view off the back deck and you can just see (barely) some of the new fields at Dreams Park. It was about a 15 minute drive to the park. Hope you have as much fun as we did. |
| op-o |
Posted - 06/16/2009 : 21:00:39
You can also try the steak house behind McDonalds on rt 28 near Dreams Park (Forgot the name)or Rednecks BBQ also along rt 28 as good food stops. |
| Critical Mass |
Posted - 06/16/2009 : 17:13:53
Have to disagree with Xtreme2008 on the food in town. Sal's pizza has good pizza and subs, TJ's is good food and has "great portions"...think turkey and dressing! Oh, one more thing TJ's just added sweet tea to the menu for us "southerners" as the girl put it. I think it may be Nestea.....but it is sweet. The Cooperstown diner (small but very good breakfast) along with TJ's offer great breakfast. I can say that after about 9pm....you will be stuck with the Mcdonalds and Pizza Hut. Several interesting bars downtown for paretns to unwind and knock back a few. Just wnet the first week of this month and had a BLAST! |
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