COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- One of the wonders of Hall of Fame Week is watching the inductees wander around the place in awe, stumbling into their heroes and friends, ever so slowly beginning to comprehend the size of it all. This happens every year.
"You think you're ready for it," Jim Thome says. "But you aren't."
They come to realize just how small their group is, how rare their achievement. They stumble around the Otesaga Hotel on the lake and run into the heroes of their youth. "Hey, there's Dave Winfield!" "Look, it's Eddie Murray!" "Carl Yastrzemski!" "Wow, Juan Marichal!