Hot Stove Sizzled! Wrapping Up a Fantastic Weekend

friendsofdoubleday
1 minute ago
2 min read

Months in planning, Hot Stove Weekend 2026 came and went in a blur. It was tremendous fun, nearly 50 baseball fans built a new community of friendship in Cooperstown.

We lead off with a welcome event at Upstate Bar and Grill. In a room with maximum seating of 40, we had 40, but it didn’t feel tight. Old friends and new shared good food, good drinks, and great stories.

Saturday was the big day. Tom Shieber pinch hit for Howard Bryant (who ended up on the IL) and talked about the 1857 rules committee that met to codify, and close loopholes, in the game as it was. And there was a Beatles tie in (or at least Tom made one).

Adam Darowski followed with details and background on Baseball Reference and the Immaculate Grid. He led the crowd through an interactive grid that he had prepared for us, using frequently requested new categories that have never been rolled out.

Todd Radom finished us off with an overview of his storied career in sports design, and a preview of his new book.

We shifted from inside to outside, making our way to Doubleday Field itself, where everyone played catch, milled around, and took pictures. It was nice to see the field enjoyed by all.

Then, Pack Night! (You can read in detail about Pack Night here https://www.friendsofdoubleday.org/post/what-is-pack-night)

We all convened at Cooperstown Coworks for pizza and beer and baseball cards. Massive piles of unopened packs were divvyed up. The very best part was that 7 kids were there. Now, supposedly these kids don’t exist. We hear that baseball doesn’t appeal to youth, and that cards are only collected by Boomers. Not so! Every kid left with armfuls of cards, from the early 80’s to 2026.

The weekend ended at the Cooperstown Bat Company factory for a tour and a crash course on how bats are made and hand painted. Over 30 major leaguers use Cooperstown Bat Company bats, and 500 minor leaguers swing Cooperstown lumber!