Around Cooperstown, N.Y., population 1,769, they still talk about the 82,000 folks who poured into the tiny village at the southern end of Otsego Lake in 2007, clogging the two-lane roads for miles. They came to thank as much as honor Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn upon their induction to the Hall of Fame. Both players in a free-agent era never played for anything but their hometown team and represented in their industry and comportment the aspirational version of a baseball player. Not before or since have so many descended upon the Hall of Fame ceremony, and it’s not close.
Derek Jeter's Storybook Career Wraps in Near-Perfect Election
