1940 Hall of Fame Game Launched a Tradition

It was a travel day for both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. The teams were to play the first-ever game between two major league teams in Cooperstown, an exhibition contest approved and arranged by the major leagues while cooperating with the Cooperstown Baseball Committee.

Thus the Hall of Fame Game was born.

In 1908, the Mills Commission had determined (incorrectly, it turns out) that the first baseball game had occurred in 1839 in Cooperstown. A century later, the National Baseball Museum – now known as the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum – opened its doors to the public on June 12, 1939, as part of Baseball’s Centennial Celebration.

That same day, a “pick up” game between a batch of then current big leaguers was played at Doubleday Field – with Hall of Famers Eddie Collins and Honus Wagner serving as managers. A year later, the tradition of the annual exhibition game in Cooperstown began in earnest.

To get two major league teams to Cooperstown at the same time during the middle of the season was a problem – but a solvable one. The New York Central Railroad ran through Central New York, and the Cubs and Red Sox were traveling that same railroad through the Mohawk Valley on June 13: With the Cubs coming from Chicago on the heels on a series with the Giants, while the Red Sox traveled west from Boston after sweeping a two-game series from the Indians, leaving them in first place in the American League.

The village itself, described as a “place of beauty,” was a small marketing center for the rural area (as well as a moderately-sized seasonal vacation destination). Players walked half a block south from the Cooper Inn to Main Street, then strolled by a variety of small-town shops, stores and offices on their two-block walk to the Hall of Fame: A bakery, a Victory market, Smalley’s Movie Theater (advertising Dorothy Lamour in “Typhoon”), a lawyer’s office, Augur’s Corner Bookstore, a diner, the Ellsworth & Sill department store, a pharmacy, another market, a local bank (“1% return on FDIC insured deposit”) and a gas station selling 1940 Play Ball baseball cards for a few pennies (slab of gum included).

Meanwhile, the fourth-place Chicago Cubs, accompanied by three reporters, arrived from Fort Plain at the Cooper Inn shortly after noon. They ate a quick lunch, then were off to Doubleday Field on Main Street. The field was situated on a cow pasture where Abner Doubleday was thought to have laid out the original baseball diamond in 1839. Amateur and youth teams used the field for decades until a major upgrade was completed prior to the 1939 festivities – in part by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Now seating 7,000 fans, Doubleday Field featured a special raised section on the third base side reserved for 50 expected reporters and connected by four Western Union wires. Grandstand seating cost $1.50, with first and third base seats for $1. The not-too-distant “bleacher” seats in the outfield could be had for 55 cents.

A large crowd was expected at the Thursday game. Most local merchants chose to close their stores while the game was in progress even though Father’s Day was just three days around the corner. A general holiday spirit was evident on Main Street as colorful flowers and 48-starred flags decorated the sidewalks.

Intermittent showers had been predicted – and some rain had fallen in the morning – but it was dry by the time game time rolled around.

The small dimensions of Doubleday Field portended a high-scoring game, and it didn’t take long for each team to dent the scoreboard. Cubs leadoff batter Stan Hack hit 40-year-old Lefty Grove’s second pitch out of the park, and Bill Nicholson followed four batters later with a two-run shot to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead.