Early in the morning of Saturday July 27 about ninety persons gathered in the Pathmark parking lot in Warminster, boarded the two Werner Bus Company buses, and departed on the A’s Society Cooperstown adventure. Former Phillie Don Hasenmayer and his wife rode in the first bus, while Mr. and Mrs. Forrest “Spook” Jacobs sat up front in the second. We arrived in the small upstate New York village shortly after noon, with the afternoon (and money) to spend.

We received VIP treatment at the Baseball Hall of Fame, coming in a side door while the assembled multitudes stood in line outside. For many of the A’s Society travelers it was a first visit to the Hall, and they were enthralled by the plaques of the game’s greats, the many historical and statistical exhibits, and by the Spook Jacobs baseball/philatelic display.

Cooperstown is nearly bursting at its seams on Induction Weekend, and this was no exception. Many of the baseball memorabilia shops had sidewalk sales, and anyone walking around the town could get (costly) autographs from (and talk with) such notables as Mickey McDermott, Bob Feller, Pete Rose, Gene Michael (who had Kent, Ohio, in common with Jack Boyett), Mike Schmidt, Reggie Jackson, and many other stars of the game.

After a long afternoon of baseball - a few folks strolled down to beautiful Lake Otsego (James Fenimore Cooper’s Glimmerglass) for a break in the action - we were rounded up and put back on our buses for the trip to Rome, New York, where we stayed overnight in the Quality Inn.

On Sunday morning, after breakfast, a few history-lovers walked down the street to restored Fort Stanwix, site of a pivotal Revolutionary War battle, and then it was back to the buses for the ride back to Cooperstown. We were blessed with a slightly overcast sky, which kept us all from turning lobster-red, as we gathered with thousands of others on the field at the Clark Sports Center, where the induction ceremony would take place. We were happy to note that there were just about as many wearing Phillies red for Harry Kalas as were wearing Cardinals red for Ozzie Smith.

The induction ceremony itself was impressive. We cheered the introduction of the 49 Hall of Famers on hand, including Robin Roberts, Jim Bunning, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, and - the only living Philadelphia A’s Hall of Famer - George Kell. We booed Bud Selig, as did almost everyone there. We listened politely to Detroit sportswriter Joe Falls get his award, we applauded roundly for Ozzie Smith, and we cheered wildly for our own Harry Kalas, receiving the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting.