Hall of Famers return to baseball’s magical place

Joe Torre turned 85 a week ago. But he still feels like a kid when he returns to Cooperstown.

“You know, it’s like a family get-together,” said the longtime player and manager, who skippered the Yankees to four World Series title in five years between 1996 and 2000. “I’ll never forget when I walked through the front door to go to the Otesaga on the weekend I was inducted and Al Kaline came up to me and said, ‘Welcome to the Hall of Fame.’ It gave me goosebumps. It still gives me goosebumps when I talk about it. It’s a special place, it’s a special fraternity, and it really has a family feel to it.

“I think it was my first dinner here on the Sunday night,” added the 2014 inductee. “You’re a fan of the game, you know all the players, and you know what they did to get here. But the first thing that came to my attention, that first dinner on that Sunday night, was Rickey Henderson going from table to table to get autographs. I said, ‘Look at this. He’s a little boy.’ It was really cool. I was so touched by that.”

While Torre wasn’t the Yankees manager when Class of 2025 members CC Sabathia and Ichiro Suzuki wore pinstripes, he admired their play from afar.

“I can tell you about CC. I was managing the Dodgers, and he came in with the Cleveland Indians. He hit a home run that landed in the bullpen. I remember that one. But CC, obviously, was a team guy. I know he pitched every five days and all that good stuff, but he was there for his teammates during the days he wasn’t pitching. And he’s a special individual and I’m excited for him,” Torre said. “Ichiro, there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. You watch him between innings in the outfield with all his stretching. He hits a ground ball to shortstop, and if it took more than two bounces, he was safe at first base. And then every time you thought he was a singles hitter, then he’d pull one into the seats. He played both ends of the game, offensively and defensively, the same way – with a lot of passion.”

The official start of the 2025 Hall of Fame Induction Weekend began early Friday morning with Turn Two with Ozzie Smith, a fundraiser started by the Education Ambassador for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum the year after his Hall of Fame induction in 2002.

Now in its 22nd year, Turn Two supports the Hall of Fame’s educational mission and the Ozzie Smith Diversity Scholarships for the Museum’s Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Youth Leadership Development.

This year, Smith’s guest instructors included Hall of Famers Tony La Russa, Joe Mauer, Tony Oliva and Jim Thome.

With their decades of diamond experience, the heralded group of enshrinees, after beginning their day with a reception at the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Plaque Gallery, shared their wisdom with nearly 40 participants during a session of stories and instruction at historic Doubleday Field.

“It’s about baseball and this gives us all the opportunity to share those wonderful memories,” said Smith, the defensive wiz with the Cardinals who won a record 13 Gold Glove Awards at shortstop. “I’ve always said that the real blessing for us as players is being able to create memories that last a lifetime. Be it for Cardinals fans, Dodgers fans, Yankees fans. It’s what they remember, so this is a way for us to stay connected. It’s a way for people to get a chance to see guys that they’ve admired from a distance for a while and get to know them more on a personal level.”

Twinning. #HOFWKND pic.twitter.com/gQtbnANS2Z

— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) July 25, 2025

For Mauer, bedecked in his familiar Twins jersey, his first return trip to Cooperstown has already been memorable.

“It’s good to be back. It’s a little more relaxed for me, which is a lot of fun,” Mauer said with a grin. “We got in yesterday with the family and getting settled and now out here with Ozzie. This is a wonderful, wonderful event. This is an opportunity to raise some money and really talk to the kids and get back to the grassroots.”

Asked for a specific memory of his whirlwind 2024 Induction Weekend, Mauer thought for a moment before replying.

“I think the whole thing just happened so fast. Everything since I landed, it felt like I was going right back to the airport,” he said. “But, about last year, I remember about a week leading up to it Johnny Bench gave me some great advice about what to expect, writing some things down that happened and the people that I met, and he was spot on. And I’m glad I did that. Now I’m back here and excited just to kind of relax and take it all in.”

Thome, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018, hit 612 home runs during his 22-year career with the Indians, Phillies, White Sox, Dodgers, Twins and Orioles while earning five All-Star Game selections.

“This is my second one doing this for Ozzie and for the Hall and being able to watch how excited the kids get, but also the families, the moms and dads, get excited just as much as the kids,” said Thome, sporting a Cleveland Guardians jersey. “It’s really a special thing in so many ways. And to be asked to do this, it was a no-brainer for me. It’s an awesome thing.”

Thome has a unique perspective as a contemporary of this year’s three living Hall of Fame inductees – playing against Ichiro and as a teammate with Wagner on the Phillies and Sabathia in Cleveland.

“I know each of the inductees very well. All three were tremendous, tremendous players,” Thome said. “Watching CC grow up in Cleveland, and then being in Philadelphia and watching Billy come out of the bullpen. And then just watching Ichiro. When Ichiro came here, we really knew nothing about him. And then as you watched him, you realized that hit dynamic was off the charts. And what he did for the game of baseball, and what he will continue to do, because he is that type of guy. He knows history and wants to give back.

“As far as Billy Wagner, there was no messing around. He was coming at you. And he had a dynamic arm that lasted for many years. It’s great. And what a wonderful guy. I’m so glad he got in this year. It’s going to be great because he’ll probably get emotional, knowing him like I do, and it means so much to him. And I saw CC pitch when he first came up in 2001 with the Indians. CC was the type of guy, as the game went on, he got better, threw harder. He learned how to pitch later on when he didn’t throw as hard as he did, and I respect that, because there’s like these two different parts of his career. He really knew how to adjust in a great way.”

Back at The Otesaga Resort Hotel on Friday afternoon, Hall of Famers and their families were still arriving to celebrate the induction of the Class of 2025 at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

“I had a chance to ride up here with my oldest son when Derek (Jeter) got inducted in 2020, and that was special. And then I got a chance to bring my other son when he was 12 going to a local baseball tournament,” Sabathia said. “So, we drove up, and that was awesome. But last night, even though we had some car trouble, being able to drive with the both of them to my induction was an incredible feeling.

Car broke down on the way to Cooperstown 🤣🤣🤣 Anyone headed that way? pic.twitter.com/3v6De0Furg

— CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia) July 25, 2025

“There will be a little bit of anxiety delivering my induction speech. Talking in front of people is not my strongest point, but I am excited to be here, excited to be a part of this, my new team, and just excited to get the ceremony going. When I came up here for Derek’s induction, it was my first time ever being here, so that gave me a sense of what it would be like.”

Even for Ken Griffey Jr., who was exposed to many Hall of Famers through his father, All-Star Ken Griffey Sr., there is still a unique joy rubbing shoulders with the greats of the game. 

“It’s so funny for me watching these guys playing and all of a sudden being in the same room. I never thought that was ever going to happen. I’m still that 12-year-old kid when I come here. There was Frank Robinson, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Rickey Henderson. They passed, now I’m still here,” the 2016 Hall of Fame electee said. “Now there’s Johnny Bench, Dave Winfield, Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken, the list goes on and on. And now you have the next generation that is going to come through, which is awesome.”

Bill Francis is the senior research and writing specialist at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum