Players and coaches stay in bunk houses on the Cooperstown Dreams Park premises. This is GREAT for the kids...not so great for the coaches.
Food is provided cafeteria-style. It was hot-and-humid-as-heck! The weather provided MUCH incentive to get in your air-conditioned car and drive into town regularly to stock up on t-shirts, caps, jerseys and a few classic photos and autographs. Our players got to meet and have a nice long conversation about "what it takes" with Clete Boyer, former NY Yankee and member of their 1961 WS team. One of our players upon seeing a photo of him with Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris naively asked, "Are you still friends with those guys?" 
I thoroughly enjoyed the Baseball HOF (1st trip for me). It is well worth a 1-day diversion for any of you travelling to the East Coast on business or vacation. I'd like to show every young kid Joe Morgan's glove (smaller than small) and I got to proudly correct a museum worker who pointed me to the 1976 "Yankees" World Series trophy (the Reds swept the Yankees 4-0 in that Series). The HOF plaques were awesome!...and inspiring. The photographs throughout the Hall were hard to walk by and I could have spent hours in my favorite corner focused on the Big Red Machine. It seemed like there's a corner like that for nearly every baseball fan.
On the field, our team did ok...finishing in the top 32 (out of 80). Its about what I expected as we are a good team made up almost entirely of kids from one community. The top teams were built for one thing...to win. The Broward Bulldogs (coached by former MLB pitcher Alex Fernandez...they didn't stay in the dorms with the other teams) won it over the Washington State Shockers (with an equal number of players from the Dominican Republic as the state of Washington). Have you ever seen a 6 ft. 4 in. 12-year old?
I have now (at least I guess I have ). East Cobb was there as well...we played them, holding them to only a 2-0 lead until very late in the game with a slow, crafty lefty and nearly causing their coach to come apart at the seams on several occasions as their hitters could only muster some weak ground balls. We faced another team from Georgia who chanted all game long...chants I've never heard before and those chants were pretty sick if you ask me...but to each his own I suppose.We had some highlights too. Our goals were to be in the top half (accomplished) and to be playing on the final day (Thursday)...also accomplished (sort of) as our final game was extended past midnight Wednesday due to rain. We had a kid throw a 1-hitter in the playoffs. Most fun game I've ever coached in?...we lost it to a team from Orlando, 6-5 in extra innings on a play at the plate...that team went on to play in the final-8. I also had a parent or two get mad at me (whats new?) about playing time although as I look at it from every angle, I don't think they have a beef. And a first for me...out of my 4 sons, finally one who led a high level team in hitting (.555 with NO strikeouts)...he's a pretty good pitcher too, by the way.
I've thought a lot over the last week about whether or not its a good thing to take 12-year olds across the country to play in a baseball tournament. Not sure I feel confident about my answer...but I think in this case, combined with the Cooperstown experience, it was a good thing. Our kids are tired now as they begin their league all stars, but they gained some pretty cool memories which is all that mattered to me. And so did us dads.
