Kids clinic brings fun start to Hall of Fame Classic Weekend

Historic Doubleday Field played host as children aged 7-12 took part in the 2017 Cooperstown Classic Clinic on Friday as Hall of Fame Classic Weekend got under way. With tarps stretched out over the dirt infield, protecting the field of play for the Saturday’s Hall of Fame Classic exhibition game, seven recently retired big leaguers led stations with hands-on training on pitching (Tim Redding), outfield play (Cody Ross), hitting (Jonny Gomes), bunting (Heath Bell), throwing (Steve Woodard), infield play (Wally Joyner) and catching/flip (Sean Marshall).

Rob Nelson, a former minor league pitcher and the founder of Big League Chew, even led a station on the mechanics of bubble blowing.

“I’d probably say that all of these guys that are here right now have done a bunch of these kinds of skills clinics,” said Ross, an outfielder who ended his 12-year big league playing career after the 2015 season. “This is what it’s all about, getting the kids out here and letting them run around and have fun and enjoy. You couldn’t ask for a better day, especially for me, a guy that lives in Arizona. It’s 105 degree back home. So it’s nice to be where it’s a little overcast.”

Ask what he hoped to impart to the group of kids, which included his 10-year-old son Hudson and 8-year-old daughter Haven, the 36-year-old Ross said: “My main thing is for kids to have fun. That’s the main thing. There’s plenty of time to get technical and get serious about the game. I think when they get older and into high school you can start talking a little more about the ins and outs of the game. But right now it’s having fun and letting them enjoy being out here.”

Joyner, who spent 16 seasons as a big league first baseman and the last three years a hitting coach with the Detroit Tigers, agreed.

“I hope that they have fun and to enjoy, but also to maybe get a few pointers from some very qualified ballplayers that they can use to enhance their game and possibly have a chance to be a Major League Baseball player,” said Joyner, who today lives outside Salt Lake City, Utah.

Marshall, a 6-foot-7 southpaw hurler with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs between 2006 and 2014, has experience with skills clinics going back to his youth.

“I grew up in Virginia and we ran the Richmond Baseball Academy, so I did that all though college and my first couple years of pro ball,” said Marshall, who was visiting Cooperstown for the first time. “So I was very familiar with baseball clinics and now it’s pretty much what I do now. I love it.

“I remember being this age and it was so special to meet professional baseball players. I remember meeting Ryan Klesko and guys that came up through the Richmond Braves. The biggest thing for these kids, hopefully, is they take a little bit of the instruction from today and bring it home with them. Hopefully, we’re someone they can look up to and I know we all look forward to being positive role models.”

For a few of the former big leaguers participating in the skills clinic, the trip to Cooperstown will allow them to see artifacts they donated during their playing careers.

“I’d like to go see that again. That will be great,” said Joyner when asked about a bat he used as a rookie in 1986 with the California Angels, a season in which he clubbed 22 home runs and collected 100 RBI. “At least something (of mine) is in (the Hall of Fame), right? Yes, 1986 was a great start for me.”

Ross donated to the Hall of Fame a San Francisco Giants batting helmet he used while hitting five home runs during the 2010 Postseason, a year his team won the World Series and he was named NLCS MVP.

“I remember it was right after the World Series and somebody from the Hall of Fame came up to me - it was a crazy time – and grabbing me asking if I minded if they put my helmet in the Hall of Fame,” Ross said. “I told him I’d be honored. So I haven’t seen it since, but I’m looking forward to taking my family and showing them.

“It’s one of the biggest honors you can have. Obviously being in the Hall of Fame is probably number one, but having an artifact in the Hall of Fame is pretty special. Not many people in the world can say that’s the case. I’m looking forward to taking some pictures with it.”

The big leaguers were also in town to participate in a baseball game – Saturday’s Hall of Fame Classic – a proposition they looked at with both excitement and trepidation.

“Nope, not ready for it. I’ll get through it,” Joyner said with a laugh. “I’m strictly here for my defense – not the hitting anymore. We’ll see. We should have fun.”

Bill Francis is a Library Associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum