Coming to Cooperstown

Monday's Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown will be the last one of the series, and it's easy to see why: The players like visiting Cooperstown, but they don't enjoy traveling to Central New York.
Major League Baseball cited scheduling difficulties in January when it announced that the 68-year-old Cooperstown tradition will cease after Monday's game between the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs. The Fame Game was the only remaining in-season exhibition game in the majors, and the combination of interleague scheduling, a long bus ride to Cooperstown and the unwillingness of the players to give up one of their off days led to the game's demise.
But once they get to Cooperstown, some players change their minds about the trip.
"The game itself is a bonus," said Padres first baseman Tony Clark. "But it's the chance to come to the Hall of Fame that means something."
Clark, a literal gray beard, and the rest of his teammates toured the Hall of Fame after arriving Sunday night. All the Padres came away impressed with the Hall.
"Just to look up and see my name as a Cy Young Award winner was special to me," said Padres pitcher Jake Peavy, who won the award last season. "To see Cooperstown was special."