Krell: How Cooperstown got its name
From SABR member David Krell at The Sports Post on June 17, 2016:
Cooperstown is a destination rooted in myth. Abner Doubleday did not, most certainly, invent baseball on a grassy area while he was a military school cadet.
And yet, it is that myth anchoring the village’s notoriety as the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Indeed, Cooperstown is synonymous with baseball. Its beauty, charm, and allure derives from an old-fashioned aura allowing for a leisurely walk on Main Street, which, of course, is dotted with baseball memorabilia shops. There is no hurry in Cooperstown, no need to be anywhere. One feels as if time is longer, so a quickened step need not be employed. This pace continues when visitors to the Hall of Fame look at the inductees’ plaques boasting short biographies and summaries of statistics. They look with reverence, sometimes awe, at plaques, artwork, and exhibits honoring people, events, and artifacts of the National Pastime.
Cooperstown’s name derives from William Cooper, the patriarch who fathered novelist James Fenimore Cooper, he of an outstanding body of work including The Last of the Mohicans, The Deerslayer, and The Pathfinder.
Read the full article here: http://thesportspost.com/baseball-history-cooperstown-william/#axzz4CB3fZPat
Originally published: June 21, 2016. Last Updated: June 21, 2016.