Stiff of the Week: Three Way Tie

As has been well documented, XL and I made a trip to Cooperstown to see Cal Ripken Jr and Tony Gwynn join 53 other living HOF'ers on stage. It was a pretty special day for XL and I, as well as for the other 75,000 people who were there, Ripken and Gwynn included. So I was amazed to find out that it was business as usual for those in charge at the Hall. Oh sure, they stepped up the number of buses they were using, and made more commemorative bats (2007 rather than 1000) but they didn't pull out any other stops.

When the situation called for bigger and more impressive displays of baseball history, they stood pat. When the opportunity to wow people with how great the Hall really is presented it self, they did the same old, same old. When the golden opportunity to draw some of those 75k back for another visit fell in their lap, they just did the same thing that they did for Bruce Sutter last year and that they will do for Goose Gossage next year.

Were was the big reception of all the O's Hall of Famers? I would have paid extra to sit for an hour and listen to Brooks, Frank, Diamond Jim, Eddie, and The Earl of Baltimore sit and talk about the good old days of The Oriole Way. Were was the rebroadcast of great O's games, or even the highlights of the previous nights win over the hated Yankers on the video board while we sat in that field for 7 hours? Hell, they could have just played Field of Dreams and it would have been better then what they did show. And most importantly where were the lights at the "Red Carpet" arrival of the players on Saturday night.

That one event was the biggest let down for everyone in attendance. XL and I staked out our spot at 5:30 a full two hours before it got under way. Once it began we were board with a brass band, lame trivia and a few performances of Casey at the Bat, with a lot of down time between each. Add to that the fact that there are 17 year olds with better sound systems in their Honda then the HOF had at the event and it was about as bad as it could be. We hung out till 9 to see the players arrive... I say see even though we could just barely. They set up two lame little lights that were about as strong as a flashlight, not that the players stood still long enough for anyone to see them even if there had been good ilumination.

So for all these reasons I name (from left to right around Cal in the above picture) Dale Petroskey, Jane Forbes Clark and Bud Selig the I&TSG Stiffs of the Week. The damn near ruined my good time, but as baseball has proved time and time again, it can weather the storm despite who's at the tiller.