The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, a quaint village that seemingly is far away by any mode of transportation, is a repository of memories. For the few whose names appear on plaques in the red brick building on Main Street, it's the culmination of childhood dreams come true.
"It's not the easiest place to get to _ or get into," said former Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer, who was inducted in 1990. "If you go to Cooperstown, you find out how much people really love the game of baseball."
The Hall is a destination coveted by everyone who ever picked up a bat, ball or glove and turned it into a profession.
"It's an honor," Sandy Koufax said from Vero Beach, Fla., where he spent his spring trainings with the Dodgers. "It's a validation that maybe you did a good job."
Koufax has made it back to Cooperstown almost every July since his induction in 1972. "I go back to honor the people that have been elected," he said.
And he returns to see some old friends. "There's not that many of them anymore," he said, "but I still enjoy seeing people I played with and against."
At 83, Koufax is among the greatest living Hall of Famers. His career was over at age 30, shortened by arm issues.
"But for a few years, Sandy was the brightest star in the sky," Palmer said.
Election to the Hall has come for slightly more than 1 percent of all who have played the game, and its inductees cherish their membership.
"The Hall of Fame is probably one of the most sacred places of all," Hank Aaron, who will turn 85 on Feb. 5, said from Atlanta. "It has a place in the players' hearts. To be in a place with Jackie Robinson and Stan Musial, two of the players that I idolized more than anyone, I try to make it back as many times as I can. There's no place that I would rather be."
Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn drew a record crowd of 80,000 to their induction in 2007. "To see everyone walking around wearing your uniform number, I'll never forget it," said Ripken, who secured his spot by playing in 2,632 consecutive games, breaking Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130. "The Hall of Fame is an accumulation of everything rolled into one. You got the streak in there, you got the World Series, you've got every moment in between. And to join that peer group in the Hall of Fame, to look around and see all those great players that you're in the same room with, that's a wonderful feeling."
