August 14, 2016

Visiting Cooperstown, Part II: Parade of Legends

It was a thrill to see the Parade of Legends, featuring all the hall of famers who made the trip for Induction Weekend. I snagged my spot about an hour before the parade started, and stood several rows back from the road. Everyone in front of me had brought chairs and staked out spots much earlier in the day, so I still had a great view as most of them remained seated for the parade.

The parade route goes from Doubleday Field to the Hall of Fame, traveling down Chestnut Street to Main Street. The parade started right at 6:00 PM after the induction of broadcasters that took place at Doubleday Field at 4:30 PM. There were 52 hall of famers in the parade, and they all rode in trucks provided by the local Ford dealership. Some had family members accompanying them.

I got photos and video of almost everyone in the parade – check out all my pics here.

Of course, I cheered the loudest for the Cardinals hall of famers who made the trip: Tony LaRussa, Bruce Sutter and Ozzie Smith.

Fans asked Ozzie to do a backflip but he indicated he didn’t have enough room in the back of the truck.

Other highlights included…

Whitey Ford led the parade.

Fans imitated Carlton Fisk’s famous gesticulations when he willed his home run to stay fair. Fisk laughed.

Great ovations came for this year’s inductees: Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey, Jr. Mets fans dominated the crowd as it wasn’t too bad of a journey to get from Queens to Cooperstown. But I was also impressed at how many Mariners fans made the trek.

Seeing Randy Johnson up close, I could really appreciate how tall and dominant he must have seemed on the mound.

Seeing Jim Palmer made me think of his old underwear ads.

I had an awesome time at the parade. It was really kind of overwhelming to see so many legends up close. It was also neat to see the fans in the crowd showing their appreciation for all the hall of famers, disregarding team rivalries. Everyone was just celebrating baseball!