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Sports

Brookfield Boys Will Play In Cooperstown

Brookfield Varsity Baseball Will Play Danbury In Doubleday Field On May 21

Is there any young baseball player who wouldn't relish the opportunity to put on a uniform and play on the hallowed turf at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York? The Brookfield High School team will get that chance when it travels to the birthplace of baseball to face neighboring Danbury in a regulation game on May 21.

Bobcats coach Dan McKee tried - and failed - to get a game in Cooperstown for the past three years and also was turned down by the local high school team.

The plan finally came to fruition when Danbury coach Shaun Ratchford, McKee's friend, asked if the Bobcats would be interested in playing the Hatters in Cooperstown. It was an offer McKee couldn't refuse, and he says the game now will become an annual event.

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While the season doesn't start until April 7, the Brookfield players already are looking forward to it. "All the kids are working their butts off because they want to make that trip," McKee said.

There is one problem, however. May 21 just happens to be the day of Brookfield's senior prom and there are five seniors on the Bobcats' team.

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"We got the game to be at 10 (a.m.), instead of 1 p.m.," McKee said. "That way, the seniors can get home and go to the prom."

The lure of Doubleday Field, named after Abner Doubleday, a Union Army general who, according to legend, invented the sport in the quaint upstate New York village of Cooperstown in 1839, has captured the imagination of baseball fans for generations.

With its wooden grandstand and 19th century ambience, walking through the gates of Doubleday Field is like taking a journey back into time. The Brookfield and Danbury players are in for a thrill of a lifetime when they first step on to the beautifully manicured diamond and jog through the lush outfield grass.

In addition to the varsity squad, McKee plans to take an extra four or five players. After the regular game, he hopes to scrimmage for a few innings with the younger kids just to get them on opportunity to play at Doubleday Field. Except for the prom-going seniors, the traveling party will then visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.

"Every kid wants to go to that game," McKee added. "Every parent wants their kid to go to that game so they can go to that game. It is very exciting."

It actually is quite common for high school teams to make the trek to Cooperstown. According to the Town of Cooperstown, which operates Doubleday Field, most come from the Northeast, but a few travel from as far as California.

In Cooperstown, a day without baseball in the spring, summer and early fall is unimaginable. While the Cooperstown High team gets priority, the town schedules three games a day at Doubleday, seven days a week, from early April until early October.

But it is not cheap. McKee estimates the total cost for the trip, including bus fare, lodging and field rental, is $3,200, which breaks down to about $150 per person. The players helped defray some of the costs by conducting fundraisers. McKee also runs a golf tournament in the fall.

The trip to Cooperstown will cap a busy week for the Bobcats, as it will be their third game in as many days. Following their contest at New Fairfield on May 20, they will board a bus for the four-hour journey to the heart of central New York State.

It actually won't be the first time they play on a big field in 2010. Their opener against Ridgefield is at the Arena at Harbor Yard, the home of the Bridgeport Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League.

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