hi guys - jimmy kostantakis from the hornets asked me today about playing at cooperstown, how teams go about it. i'm putting a copy of the note i sent him here - in case others in the league want to set up games at doubleday field.
the process is fairly easy. the game that the cubs and peppers played there on friday -for which cubs manager dennis maille - a thousand thanks again - did all the spadework and then coordinated with peppers manager ed obertubessing - came off like proverbial clockwork. and we got sunny weather, blue skies and deep green grass to boot.
it was also, i believe, unique. it was dennis' idea to play a regular-season game there, and - john reel you can correct me on this - it may have been the first regular season game played at doubleday. a good thing too is that our msbl contributed the average cost of field and umpires, thus lowering our costs some.
so here's the note. hope everyone in the league can get the chance to play at doubleday. it's a hoot. plus there's a good burger joint across the street.
- mike hart
_________________________________________________ hi jim:
here are the steps to rent doubleday:
1.) call the village hall in cooperstown (607-547-2411) and ask the clerk who answers the phone for an application to play at doubleday. youll get it in the mail in about a week.
2.) you should also ask the clerk about available dates for this year.
3.) i dont know precisely when the field closes for the year. i suspect that its late september or early october.
4.) there are essentially two application procedures: you can apply NOW to play sometime this summer/fall or you can apply in JANUARY to play in 2008. for both, the paperwork and the costs are the same.
the difficulty with applying now for this summer is that its very likely that most of the available game slots are taken so its hit and miss. there are roughly 500 slots (3 games a day x 7 days a week x 24 weeks of playable weather from april to october.) and the clerk told me when i applied two years ago that there are thousands of applications that come in from around the world.
but, if you want to play this year, you may luck out. there may be some unfilled dates or cancelations. i was lucky: i called two years ago in may and found that there were some open mid-week dates in late september. so i arranged to have my peppers play a visiting team of friends from texas at doubleday on the last day of summer, sept. 21. it was a gorgeous day, sunny, temperatures in the low-70s, with light breezes. great baseball weather and the field was in perfect condition. (good game, too: we tied, 8-8, after 9 innings.) we had the 1:30 p.m. game; games are set off in three-hour blocks.
5.) when you get your application, youll write down the three dates & times (10, 1:30, 4:30) you favor, and enclose a check to cover the rental. i believe we paid about $400 for the 3-hour rental. the prices may have changed since. youll also have to include a copy of the leagues insurance certificate kevin jackson sent me that which tells the village that the teams playing there have some personal/property coverage.
6.) the village also has the number of the local umpires league. that league charges $150 for two umps per game. it also has the name & contact numbers of the photographer, alan lincourt, who takes photos daily there. (you can see photos of the cubs-peppers game at http://tinyurl.com/25opsu, or just google "cooperstown photos" and it's the top listing.)
7.) so the total cost two years ago for field & umps was about $550. if you have 30 guys there, thats about $20 a guy.
8.) now, if you want to pick your date FOR NEXT YEAR, then you enter the first-come, first-serve lottery that the village holds for 30 days - from the first working day of the new year in january till the first monday in feburary.
cubs manager dennis maille can speak to that better than i: he drove to cooperstown early on the first working day of the new year and waited in line and got his application and put down the dates he favored. i understand the village stamps each application it gets and in february begins alloting game space based the date applications landed on the clerk's desk.
denniss work paid off : he chose friday june 15th got it for a regular season game. and with the leagues blessing, set up a regular season game between his cubs and the peppers, managed by ed obertubessing, who coordinated things with dennis. (it was a great game save for the score: the cubs won, 12-8.) again, we had wonderful weather.
9.) there is one other chance to play at doubleday, if guys have the time and thick wallets: starting, i believe last year, a group of former major leaguers got together and created a legends week fantasy camp at doubleday for early october. i dont recall who the players were though they were names everyone would recognize - some hall of famers and like the camps in florida, the former pros instruct guys who ranged in age from early 20s to late 50s. there were weekday games and then a final against the former pros. i believe the cost hovered around $2,500-$3,000 per guy for the week. you can probably google legends at doubleday and see what comes up.
I believe there have been other CDMSBL games played at Doubleday years ago (something about foreign kids calling John Kalinski Babe Ruth). I know that in 1995 when I was a member of Jim Kidd's 30+ Phillies team we went over and played a game on Dean Windsor Field in Milford. A wonderful field 8 miles down the road from Cooperstown-stayed the night, toured the Hall, etc. There is also a campground called Beaver Valley that has a real nice field about 10 minutes from Cooperstown. The field was just built a few years ago. They have cabins right there, spitting distance to the ball field.
Bobby Hall runs the Susquahanna Umpires Association that handles the fields in the area, Doubleday, Milford, Beaver Valley, and a few others. If anybody needs his contact number I can provide it.
