Getting to Cooperstown:

How to play on Doubleday Field
at the Baseball Hall of Fame

Anybody with a baseball team can play at the birthplace of baseball -- one of the most legendary fields in America. Doubleday Field, located in Cooperstown, New York, just down the street from the Baseball Hall of Fame. Getting in is easy, if you following the steps below:

Step 1: Call to be put on the waiting list for an application.
Call the Baseball Hall of Fame at 607-547-2411 and ask to receive an application. The best time to do this is at the conclusion of the baseball season, around Fall. Before Thanksgiving, you will receive an application by mail.

 

Step 2: Fill out the application -- completely.
The application is a single sheet of paper, two sides. Filling out your name, league and team is the easy part. But they also request you list 10 time slots you wish to play on, in priority order.

You can request any date from mid April through Columbus Day. Game times are 10:00AM and 1:30PM And in June, July and August there is an additional game at 5:00PM. Keep in mind that during Hall of Fame Induction Weekend (July 24 through July 26 in 2004) and the Hall of Fame Game (June 14 in 2004) you will not be able to get a field. The exact dates for these events vary each year.

Don't forget to sign the back of the form before you send it in!

Step 3: Get your application in -- fast, but not early.
First, and most important: CALL TO CONFIRM THE EARLIEST DATE applications will be accepted (subject to change each year). In 2004, applications were accepted beginning Monday, January 5; in 2005 the dates were January 4 (Tuesday) to stand in line and January 5 (Wednesday) to hand the paperwork in. Applications received before 1/05 at 8:00AM were rejected without notification. Faxes and emails were not accepted either. There are 3 ways to submit an application:

1. Go to Cooperstown early and deliver it in person.
There are typically 40 people in line when the office opens at 8:00AM. If you arrive by 2:00AM the night before to camp out, you will be one of the first in line. If you want to book a weekend or even a full week for a tournament, standing in line the night before is the ONLY way.

2. Send it via FedEx.
For about $7, FedEx the application and schedule it to arrive on the earliest acceptance date. (Call to confirm dates; they change each year). These applications are processed after everybody who stood in line. Since they receive up 100 applications via FedEx, you risk the order that they get to your application. It could be the first or last of the bunch. However, sending a FedEx will likely get you one or two weekend time slots.

3. Send it regular mail.
Go to the post office on January 5th (assuming that is the earliest date they'll accept applications) and have it postmarked. This will save a day over dropping it in a mailbox. Snail mail will likely grant you a midweek time slot, but a weekend could be tough.


Camped out at 3:00AM in 15 degrees:
Brett Rudy, Boston MABL
Jimmy Rose, Long Island MSBL
Manny Hoffman, Syracuse MSBL

Step 4: Await a response from the Village Office.
Around February, you will receive notification of the time slot(s) and date(s) you received. If you did not received a slot, you will not even receive a letter. So call to follow up to assure the letter did not get lost in the mail.

Note: Sometimes individuals request a date and cancel when they can not field a team. So if you continue to follow up, it is possible you may receive a date that had been canceled. So don't lose hope if you forgot about the deadline or did not get the dates you wanted.

Step 5: Get paperwork to Village Office 30 days before your date -- or they cancel your slots!

A. Send payment.
It is $300 a slot in 2004. Make checks payable to Village of Cooperstown and mail to 22 Main Street, PO Box 346, Cooperstown, NY 13326.

B. Send Hold Harmless Agreement.
Basically, this is an injury waiver that says you won't sue them. Sign the form they send you with your confirmation and send it back.

C. Send Insurance Paperwork.
You need an Insurance Certificate for $2,000,000 in general aggregate and $1,000,000 in personal injury. Email Steve Sigler at MSBL Headquarters at info@msblnational.com. Steve will send you the league's insurance for Doubleday Field for this exact coverage. It is a benefit of being an MSBL member. Alternatively, this would have cost you about $250.

Note: The Village Office will assign you an ID number. Write it on EVERYTHING. Your check, hold harmless agreement, insurance, and any further correspondence that may be required. You are just a number.

Step 6: Don't forget other important tasks.

D. Book umpires.
Call Bob Hall at 315-858-1190. He is the umpire chief in Cooperstown and you MUST use his umps unless you receive permission from the Village Office to use your own. Call him as soon as you receive your dates, so you are sure to get an ump(s). And call Bob in the event of a rain cancellation.

E. Book a hotel.
Especially in the summer, long weekends, or during event weekends, hotels can fill up for 15 miles up to 2 months in advance. And to book a hotel for a team could require 20 rooms. So book early. The cheapest lodging and also the closest to the field (less than 1 mile walk) is the Cooperstown Motel. However, this hotel is nothing more than a bed. They have no phones and no alarm clocks and the rooms are old and tiny. And they don't take credit cards. If you can "rough-it" than this is the best bet. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

F. Book an additional field.
If you were lucky enough to land an entire weekend for a tournament, you may find you could use an additional field. The best bet is to rent a field at Beaver Valley for $400 a day. It is a top notch field about 10 minutes from Doubleday -- and they do this all the time! Call them at 607-293-7324.

Step 7: Show up and play.
Bring copies of all your paperwork with you, just in case. But just show up and play.

You are assigned a 3-hour slot, and that is all you will get. If you need to use 20 minutes to stretch out, that comes out of your 3 hours. So arrive early and stretch in the parking lot. And don't schedule 9 innings if you think you'll only get in 7 innings, because after 3 hours, that is it. There are no lights, so the groundskeeper won't extend a game because then the last game could be cut short.

Anyhow, that's it. Have a great time. It is an awesome trip!

Get driving directions to Cooperstown.

For more information about the HOF, visit the Baseball Hall of Fame website.

Credits
Written and photos by: Brett Rudy.