Although the Hall of Fame Military Classic was rained out, the Memorial Day weekend event in Cooperstown, N.Y., still had an impact.
When he took his position as third base coach for Team Stars to begin the May 23 Hall of Fame Military Classic at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y., Wade Boggs had an appropriate, if not exactly legal, accessory — an umbrella.
Rain forced the cancellation of the Military Classic after just one inning of play — unofficially ending with Team Stripes up 2-1 — but the collection of Hall of Famers, other retired major leaguers, veteran amputees and women’s baseball pros who comprised the two rosters knew this game wasn’t just about baseball.
Not on Memorial Day weekend, and not in a year in which America will celebrate its 250th birthday.
“I am so proud… I’m probably going to be emotional today,” said Mitch Harris, the Navy veteran who became the first graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy to play in the major leagues in nearly a century when he debuted in 2015 with St. Louis. “It’s just special. What an amazing country we’re in, what a great game we’re about to play, and everybody coming together for that kind of culmination, 250 (years), I mean, I just don’t have words that can describe what I’m feeling.
“I’m a kid in a candy shop right now.”
Harris was one of at least eight American Legion Baseball alumni on the two rosters, and virtually every player and coach either served in the military or had family members who did. Each member of the teams wore jerseys with their branch of service, or a family member’s branch of service, embroidered across the chest.
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“I get an opportunity to wear a Navy uniform and honor my dad, who served in the Navy. My grandfather also was a warrant officer, and my brother-in-law served as well. It’s Memorial Day, we get to salute dad and everybody along the way, so it’s great,” said Hall of Famer and Legion Baseball alum Scott Rolen, who joked that he was “doing everyone a favor by coaching and not playing” for Team Stripes.
Rolen’s fellow Team Stripes coach, Hall of Famer and Legion Baseball alumnus Rollie Fingers, said he was “all for the military.”
“Being out here with all these guys is going to be a lot of fun. But I enjoyed the military when I was in (the Army Reserve),” said Fingers, even if that meant basic training in Fort Dix, N.J., in the middle of winter.
It wasn’t completely winterlike in Cooperstown on Saturday, but the combination of cold and rain had spectators bundling up in the stands at Doubleday Field until the game was called. The weather also impacted the pregame Home Run Derby, won by Jonny Gomes.
Boggs, himself a surprise participant in the Home Run Derby, celebrated with Gomes after his win — another part of the lighthearted attitude both teams brought to the game itself. Gomes jokingly yelled at MLB Network’s Brian Kenny for distracting him during an at-bat, while Shane Spencer was the first of several batters to call for ABS replay after disputing strikes called against them.
Ultimately, though, the weekend was “all about the military,” as Jack Morris put it.
“My dad served in the Navy,” said Morris, another Legion Baseball alum and Baseball Hall of Famer. “When I put this (jersey) on today, it’s old school wool, right? I couldn’t help but think of my dad and his service because he didn’t talk about the military too much. He was one of those guys that got out of the service and would rather not talk about his experience, it wasn’t the greatest for a lot of reasons.
“When he became old, he told me some of the stories, and it was like, ‘Wow, Dad, you held that inside your whole life, you should have just told me when you were young and got it off your chest.’ He said, ‘I didn’t feel the need to tell anybody.’
“So war is not cool … but to be here and to honor the veterans and those that served is in itself an honor for me to do it. It’ s my way of thanking them, I guess,” Morris said.
Legion Baseball alumni at Hall of Fame Military Classic
TEAM STARS
DH Rick Monday (Post 123, Santa Monica, Calif.)
Reserve Mitch Harris (Posts 144-266, Gastonia, N.C.)
Reserve David Robertson (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
Coach/Hall of Famer Wade Boggs (Tampa, Fla.)
Coach/Hall of Famer Jack Morris (Christie de Parcq-St. Paul, Minn.)
Manager Tony La Russa (West Tampa, Fla.)
TEAM STRIPES
Coach/Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers (Post 73, Upland, Calif.)
Coach/Hall of Famer Scott Rolen (Post 147, Jasper, Ind.)
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