Honey dripped from the tongues of baseball greats yesterday as they praised this year's Hall of Fame inductees, Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn, for their skills with bat and glove.
But their skills on fairways and greens? Well, not so much.
The rain that had hit Cooperstown for two days cleared just in time for 27 Hall of Famers and two inductees to play in an annual golf tournament yesterday morning. Ripken and Gwynn played but, by their own admission, not at an expert level. They left that to Robin Yount, Mike Schmidt and a few others.
The event isn't about great golf, however. It's among the cherished opportunities Hall of Famers have to enjoy camaraderie. And they're ready to welcome Ripken and Gwynn into their rarefied circle.
"They're both great ambassadors for the game," former Minnesota Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew said. "I can't think of any two players who are more deserving."
Even other stars are amazed at Ripken's streak of 2,632 consecutive games.
"When you talk about all that time not even getting a hangnail or a blister, you've got to be kidding me," Hall of Fame third baseman Wade Boggs said.
"He has to be listed as one of the wonders of the world," Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk said.
Not that Ripken is above a little ribbing from his fellow greats.
"If he'd ever caught 54 games in a row, then I'd say that would be some kind of record," Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench joked. "But I don't think his streak is really all that big."
For his part, Gwynn kept telling his peers that he didn't belong.
"I said, 'Tony, come on,'" recalled Fisk, chomping on a cigar. "I wonder why I'm here, but him?"