Michigan’s Cayden Smith, the 2024 George W. Rulon Player of the Year, joined Hall of Famers and other notables at the National Baseball Hall of Fame over Memorial Day weekend.
For Cayden Smith, who grew up around the game of baseball, the opportunity to finally visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., was “amazing.”
“It was really cool to see the history of the game,” said Smith, who earned the Memorial Day weekend visit to Cooperstown after being named the 2024 George W. Rulon Player of the Year in American Legion Baseball.
Smith got to meet some of that history in person, attending a reception Friday night with several Baseball Hall of Famers, among them Legion alumni Rollie Fingers.
“You’re kind of starstruck at first,” Smith said of meeting the Hall of Famers. “It’s pretty cool. Not many people get to do that, I feel honored I got the opportunity.”
The most notable piece of advice Smith received from the Hall of Famers was to “work hard.”
“They all worked hard; they poured their life into it, starting as a kid up to where they are now,” he said.
Smith may already have that lesson down pat. After helping lead Midland (Mich.) Post 165 to a runner-up finish in last year’s American Legion World Series, Smith then played in 51 games as an infielder/pitcher for Central Michigan University as a freshman in 2024-25. He’ll also play in the Northwoods League this summer.
And he’ll take memories of his Memorial Day weekend in Cooperstown with him.
“I thought it was super cool just how much the town lived off baseball. The whole town was baseball. … It was cool to see all the history. We took a trip to Doubleday Field and that was awesome being there where baseball all started.”
- Baseball