Village is overtaken by O's fans

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (Map, News) - A black sport utility vehicle pulled up outside Doubleday Field Saturday afternoon, and the crowd reaction would indicate a rock star was in town.  As Cal Ripken Jr. emerged from the vehicle, fans went crazy, pushing as close as possible to the railings that separated them from the Hall of Fame inductee.

In true Iron Man form, Ripken stopped to sign autographs.

One of the lucky recipients was Anthony Pianta, who traveled from Chicago with his uncle, Baltimore native Larry Baker. Pianta’s first Ripken autograph was on the orange bill of his Orioles’ hat, sitting neatly above his wide-eyed face and beaming smile.

“He came right by, it was awesome,” Pianta said.

He was one of just a handful of lucky fans to get Ripken’s autograph before Ripken threw out the first pitch at the New York-Penn League game — which featured the Aberdeen IronBirds

As always, Ripken wouldn’t let anything get in the way of brightening a fan’s day.

“It just shows you how accessible he is,” Baker said. “He’s in a suit, its hot out here. He went out of his way to go in a complete circle to get a whole group of people. He’s an unbelievable person.”

While Ripken’s presence dominated the scene at Doubleday Field, it was also present in every shop that lined Main Street.

Chad Demma, who lives in Utica and owns a shop on Main Street, designed an orange T-shirt that red “Bronzed because he was Iron” — a reference to the Iron Man’s streak of 2,632 consecutive games. That T-shirt, and anything else involving the Orioles, is the store’s biggest seller.

“There are Padres fans, but this is an Orioles town right now,” Demma said.

Wearing an Orioles hat, Demma couldn’t deny that business was booming with Ripken in town.

“This is my sixth year in town and this is by far the busiest I’ve seen it. The only thing that even compares to this was the year after the Red Sox won the World Series.”

Norman Johannsen runs a bookstore next to the Baseball Town Motel, just a few doors down Main Street from the Hall of Fame entrance.

“Its one of the busiest Hall of Fame weekends we’ve had,” Johnannsen said. We’re busy, for sure, but its manageable.”

Johannsen is a resident of Cooperstown, and remains calm despite an extra 60,000 people in town.

“For three days, we can handle it,” said Johannsen, who admitted the business season lasts about 12 weeks. “Winter comes too soon in Cooperstown.”

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