9 other ways to experience baseball in Cooperstown.
If you've ever collected baseball cards, hoarded your fave player's stats like a fact junkie, or wondered what it would be like to meet your heroes, then a visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum is long overdue.
In Cooperstown and Otsego County, there are plenty of satisfying ways to experience America's favorite pastime, including:
1. The Art of Baseball
Well, this one's actually in the hall... But with names like Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol, and Leroy Neiman, this tiny room in the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum packs a serious punch with the unique perspective it paints of the game – quite literally – by some of the art world's heavy hitters.
2. Cooperstown's Main Street Shops
Walk into any of the shops located on Main Street in Cooperstown and you'll find everything from baseball curios and signed jerseys, to bats, jewelry, and Christmas ornaments. Cooperstown is your go-to spot to find baseball memorabilia of any variety... if that wasn't already obvious.
3. The Cooperstown Diner
Tiny diner, big heart, delicious food: that's what you and your stomach will find at the Cooperstown Diner, where a variety of Hall of Famers have dined over the years. Located just steps from the hall, visit for a power breakfast to carry you through your Hall of Fame visit, or swing in for a delicious burger after a baseball-filled day.
4. Cooperstown Heroes of Baseball Wax Museum
Think Madame Tussauds, but for baseball! See your favorite players immortalized as wax figures, just a stone's throw away from the Hall of Fame and...
5. Doubleday Field
Some consider it the birthplace of baseball, others know it for playing host to legends of the game during Hall of Fame events like Induction Weekend and the Hall of Fame Classic. Whatever you think of it as, there's no denying that Doubleday Field is sacred ground in the world of baseball.
This is the place to visit for the ultimate piece of memorabilia to take home from your trip to Cooperstown: a baseball bat custom-made for you or another baseball lover in your life.
7. Cooperstown Distillery's Cooperstown Beverage Exchange
The Cooperstown Beverage Exchange is a gastropub and liquor store serving up baseball-themed libations with spirits from the Cooperstown Distillery.
8. Cooperstown Brewing Company
Just outside of Cooperstown, head to the Cooperstown Brewing Company for a lineup of English Ales highlighted by baseball-themed brews like Bench Warmer Porter and Old Slugger Pale Ale. (Image by Mitch Wojnarowicz/Brew Central)
9. Damaschke Field in Oneonta
Located in nearby Oneonta, Damaschke Field is one of the nation's oldest ballparks at 110+ years old, and today is the home field of the Oneonta Outlaws. Head to Damaschke to catch a game during a visit.