Ellicott City native Brian Bentwas one of the estimated 60,000 fans to flock to induction weekend at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. But his seat was a little better than most.
Bent, 21, is a catcher for the Aberdeen IronBirds, which is owned by Hall of Fame inductee and Aberdeen native Cal Ripken Jr., a man Bent admired.
“I looked up to him a lot,” the Mount St. Joseph and CCBC-Catonsville product said. “I remember a lot of when he played and the records he broke and what he accomplished through his career. It?s a great accomplishment for him, his family and his fans.”
The IronBirds were playing the Oneonta Tigers for the weekend. The players were given a treat ? instead of playing in Oneonta?s aging Damashke Field on Saturday, the teams met at Cooperstown?s historic Doubleday Field for the annual New York-Penn League game.
Ripken, his wife, Kelly and children Rachel and Ryan, threw out ceremonial first pitches at Doubleday Field.
“I knew about a week ago we were going to be here,” Bent said. “It was a warm feeling. I just felt awesome, coming in the bus with all these people around.”
Bent routinely plays before sold-out crowds at 6,000-seat Ripken Stadium, but playing in the birthplace of baseball made for a surreal afternoon of short-season Single-A baseball.
“Its overwhelming. Its awesome, ” Bent said. “The atmosphere, being in Cooperstown with all these fans, it?s amazing.”
Orioles fans have been credited with traveling in droves to Cooperstown for past Hall of Fame inductions. While no official attendance is announced at the game, which is free to fans, many estimated it to be the largest crowd in the past 10 years of the game.
“There are a lot of Orioles fans here. The Orioles fans have been great over the years, starting at Memorial Stadium through the years at Camden Yards, with sellout after sellout after sellout.”
