Our Own Cooperstown: The Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame [VIDEO] – WJON News

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ST. CLOUD — If you love our nation’s past-time then you’ll love the next stop on our hometown tourist series: The Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.

The baseball tradition in our state dates back to 1857, when the town of Nininger formed the first “town team“. Now it’s one of the most common sights any summer day in almost every town across Minnesota.

Bob Karn is the Treasurer and Secretary of the Hall, he says if you’re a baseball nerd, the Hall of Fame is like heaven.

“We have a number of pictures from the early part of the 20th century, we have uniforms, trophies, bats and balls, we have a great timeline going from 1857 to 1960 when the Twins arrived showing the history of amateur baseball in Minnesota.”

The Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame has a slightly different goal than most halls according to Karn.

“The goal of the hall when it was started was to honor and recognize people who helped start and maintain town team ball, it was never to celebrate the best players who ever played, although there were a lot of very good ballplayers.”

The hall started back in 1963. It sits on the top floor of the River’s Edge Convention Center. It’s open from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday – Friday and no admission is required.

While there are hundreds of items on display at the hall, they’re constantly rotated. The hall even has an archive room filled with baseball treasures that haven’t been displayed.

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