In 1999 I made my first trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, with my family. I made return trips in 2000, 2002, and 2005. The pictures from all four trips have been combined on the following pages. Note that the exhibits change from year to year, so not all of the items pictured below will be on display at all times.

Cooperstown is a small town in The-Middle-of-Nowhere, NY. Besides the Baseball Hall of Fame, it hosts the Fenimore Art Museum and the Farmers' Museum, but visitors soon see that the Hall of Fame is the focal point of the small town. When we entered the museum, the first thing we wanted to do was view the museum's video. It's full of baseball sights and sounds, and sets the tone for the whole day. While waiting for the show to start, we walked through the section on modern baseball. There was the uniform shirt worn by Pedro Martinez in the '99 All-Star Game. There was also a jersey from Nomar Garciaparra's 30-game hitting streak in 1997, an A.L. rookie record. The baseballs and shoes from Roger Clemens' two 20-strikeout games were there, as well as artifacts from Wade Boggs' batting titles.

This display case in the "Today's Stars and Season Highlights" section has the uniform Pedro Martinez wore in the 1999 All-Star Game. He struck out the first four batters in the game and five of the six batters he faced, setting a major league record and winning the game's M.V.P. award.

This case displays the home jersey worn by Nomar Garciaparra in 1997. Nomar set an American League rookie record with a 30-game hitting streak, and was a unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year. Also on display are the shoes, hat, and game ticket from a certain former Red Sox player's two 20-strikeout games, and a baseball from the same guy's 200th win.

In 2002, the modern baseball section also housed a ball from Hideo Nomo's no-hitter in 2001, and the bat used by Scott Hatteberg in a 2001 game in which he hit into a triple play and had a grand slam. There were also the shoes, hat, and a ball from Derek Lowe's no-hitter earlier in the season.