Why is the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York?

Answer 1

Because that is the town that Abner Doubleday lived in when he invented the game and published the first official rules of baseball. A uniquely American game.

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/about/history.htm

As quoted from the official Baseball Hall of Fame website:

The Mills Commission
The Mills Commission was appointed in 1905 to determine the origin of Baseball. Albert G. Spalding, one of the game's pioneers, urged the formation of the committee, following an article by Henry Chadwick, a famous early baseball writer, who contended that the sport evolved from the English game of rounders.

Answer 2

Abner Doubleday never lived in Cooperstown, New York in the summer of 1839 as is claimed. He was actually attending West Point at the time. The story of Doubleday was based on the story of an 80 year old man who claimed that was how the game was created. A sporting goods company used this man's testimonial in their marketing in order to emphasize the "authentic American origin" of the sport. It became part of American folklore and was widely accepted as the truth. The Hall of Fame was placed in Cooperstown for this reason. The sport of baseball was actually formulated by the New York Knickerbocker's Baseball Club. The club played ball in the Elysian Fields of Hoboken, NJ on the bluffs overlooking the Hudson River. They developed the early rules of baseball and it is their creation which resulted in today's game.

As for the Hall of Fame, why is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH. The musical form did not originate there. The early musical pioneers weren't from there. It's because Cleveland DJ Alan Freed allegedly made up the term "rock and roll". Its just part of the legend. Same with baseball.

Read the whole article under Murph's first link. Even the Hall of Fame webpage admits that the legend of Abner Doubleday is probably not true.

Answer 3

The HOF started out as a scheme by the city of Cooperstown to increase tourism. The erroneous Mills Commission report was used as justification for the location.

Answer 4

cause new york is the home of the yankees

Answer 5

agree with Murph

Answer 6

they donated the land and allowed it to be there.