Cooperstown

Stories

17 Stories

October 2008
- Youthful Doodles Costly for Sports Collectors
  
  Wall Street Journal | Oct 21, 08 5:40 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Mickey Mantle never wore a beard, but that didn’t stop an 8-year-old Mets fan from giving him one, scrawling the words “You Stink,” on his 1968 Topps card. While such youthful indiscretions are fairly common, collectibles that could be worth hundreds, even thousands, of dollars are rendered worthless by childhood doodles, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »
August 2008
- What Killed Babe Ruth?
  
  Sporting News | Aug 18, 08 5:08 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - America thought Babe Ruth succumbed to throat cancer, caused at least in part by his smoking and drinking. But now a dentist who spent a year researching the circumstances surrounding the baseball legend's death tells the Sporting News that a different kind of cancer felled the slugger—and what's more, he died a self-sacrificing humanitarian. More »
July 2008
- All-Star Memento Today, Nest Egg Tomorrow
  
  Bloomberg | Jul 15, 08 12:26 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - When it comes to souvenirs, some athletes are as memorabilia-hungry as fans. Albert Pujols has great success stockpiling mementos—for his son, or so he says—but even megastars experience slumps: Tiger Woods won’t sign for Roger Federer. “It is more important for me to talk to them and remember the moment,” says Woods. Bloomberg looks at celebrity autograph hounds. More »
June 2008
- Griffey Slams 600th Homer Against Marlins
  
  Associated Press | Jun 10, 08 12:00 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th career homer last night to join Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Sammy Sosa as the only players to do so. Griffey connected off Mark Hendrickson in the first inning of the Cincinnati Reds' 9-4 victory over the Florida Marlins, the AP reports. The 38-year-old slugger hit a 3-1 pitch 413 feet into the right-field seats with Jerry Hairston on third and one out. More »
January 2008
- It's time for players to speak up about steroids
  
  USA Today | Jan 18, 08
  
  Perhaps it is time in the baseball steroid morass that one steps back to see the forest from the trees. The news is so much juicer when individual names can be mentioned. Roger Clemens personal elongated struggle with charges of steroid use continues. The Justice Department's review of 2005 testimony from Miguel Tejada gains at least one daily headline per day.
- Gossage voted to Hall of Fame
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jan 9, 08
  
  The star reliever wins induction on his ninth try, named on nearly 86% of ballots. McGwire again falls far short.
- Hall of Fame voting always a passionate issue
  
  Toronto Star (Canada) | Jan 9, 08
  
  You can tell the baseball Hall of Fame from hockey's. Every year, the baseball writers (we fools) elect a candidate or two to make the trip to Cooperstown, N.Y., for the summertime inductions. This year, it was Rich (Goose) Gossage, named on 85 per cent of the 543 ballots cast by minimum 10-year members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. And if he didn't get the vote here, he surely gets the congratulations. He is the fifth reliever in the Hall and, for this money, is more deserving than Bruce Sutter, who arrived two years ago.
- Goose Gets Nod for Cooperstown
  
  New York Daily News | Jan 8, 08 2:45 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Legendary closer Goose Gossage will enter the Baseball Hall of Fame this year by himself, the Hall announced today, making the grade after nine previous appearances on the ballot. The impressively mustachioed Gossage, who toiled for the Yankees, Padres, and seven other franchises, is only the fifth relief pitcher to be voted into Cooperstown. He said getting the news felt "like an anvil just fell on my head." More »
- Hall Announcements Loom
  
  New York Times | Jan 8, 08 10:15 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Hours before baseball's Hall of Fame voting announcements, Mark McGwire can only hope that early polling is inaccurate. It seems the eighth leading home run hitter will receive nowhere near the 75% necessary to be enshrined in Cooperstown, the New York Times reports. The genial redhead's widely presumed steroid use is believed to have doomed his chances. More »
December 2007
- Clemens Says It Ain't So
  
  Houston Chronicle | Dec 14, 07 2:49 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - The attorney for Roger Clemens says the Hall-of-Famer is outraged that he was named in yesterday's report on steroid use in baseball, the Houston Chronicle reports. "There has never been one shred of tangible evidence that he ever used these substances, and yet he is being slandered today," said the lawyer. More »
- Ex-Commish Kuhn Headlines HOF Class
  
  Associated Press | Dec 3, 07 9:59 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Former commissioner Bowie Kuhn was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the overhauled Veteran’s Committee, along with former owners Walter O’Malley and Barney Dreyfus and ex-managers Dick Williams and Billy Southworth. Noticeably rejected from the hall was former players’ union head Marvin Miller, who vigorously fought Kuhn over benefits for players such as free agency during the 1960's and '70s, reports the AP. More »
November 2007
- Bonds: It's Ball* or Me* in HOF
  
  San Francisco Chronicle | Nov 2, 07 6:10 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barry Bonds won't show up for his own induction if the Baseball Hall of Fame exhibits his record-breaking No. 756 ball with an asterisk, he said in a TV interview last night. "There's no such thing as an asterisk in baseball," the slugger complained, arguing that people shouldn't be allowed to "alter history." More »
September 2007
- Bonds' 756 Ball Headed to Hall*
  
  Associated Press | Sep 26, 07 11:08 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barry Bonds’ record-breaking 756th home run ball will be branded with the asterisk many fans think his record deserves. Fans decided the ball's fate after fashion designer Marc Ecko bought the ball for $752,467, and put it up for vote. The asterisk won out over sending the ball to the Hall of Fame unmarked or launching it into outer space, the AP reports. More »
- Fate of Ball No. 756 Put to Vote
  
  MSNBC | Sep 18, 07 6:59 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Designer and prankster Marc Ecko successfully bid over $750,000 for Barry Bonds' record-breaking home-run ball. Now he's ready to get rid of it, and told Today 's Matt Lauer that America will decide how: donate it to the Baseball Hall of Fame, give it to the Hall of Fame with an asterisk burnt into it, or launch it into space. More »
August 2007
- 300: Glavine Raps on Hall's Door
  
  New York Post | Aug 6, 07 6:23 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Tom Glavine finally nailed his 300th career win Sunday night, capping off a milestone-laden baseball weekend with a victory over the Cubs. Glavine allowed two runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings, and the Mets bullpen was able to hang on to the lead to hand their 41-year-old ace an 8-3 victory. "I think the feeling now is one of relief," he told reporters. More »
July 2007
- Ripken, Gwynn Deck the Hall
  
  ESPN | Jul 30, 07 6:31 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken, Jr., were inducted to baseball's Hall of Fame today; both were notable for their remarkable consistency over careers spanning three decades, and both spent those careers with single teams. Their loyalty was repaid by circa 75,000 fans who came to see them inducted, the most in Cooperstown history. More »
May 2007
- Cooperstown Won't Be Long on Bonds
  
  ESPN | May 29, 07 6:24 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - With 746 home runs, Giants masher and suspected steroid user Barry Bonds is just 10 away from breaking the record. The souvenirs from his run at history, however, may be staying in the family, the crotchety superstar has announced. Curators at the Hall of Fame are concerned that they will have difficulty creating relevant exhibits without the items. More »