The 12 Largest Crowds in Cooperstown for Hall of Fame Weekend

Every summer, fans from all over the world come in droves to watch baseball's greatest players get enshrined in Cooperstown.

But why Cooperstown? After all, it's a village of just 1,819 year-round residents. Not a place that immediately comes to mind to host a huge celebration.

The Baseball Hall of Fame's origin can be traced back to 1935, with the intention of celebrating the sport's supposed centennial. An Army officer named Abner Doubleday was rumored to have invented the game in Cooperstown, but that legend was later disproven. For whatever reason, whether the Doubleday tale was true or not didn't stop the Baseball Hall of Fame from being built in the small Otsego county village anyway. And so fans of the game have no choice, really, but to undertake the arduous task every year of getting to Cooperstown-- the closest international commercial airport being nearly 90 minutes away.

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The small size of the village makes it all the more spectacular when such large numbers gather to see their favorite stars receive their plaque. Generally speaking, the more popular the players, the bigger the crowds. But even a "down year" has the ability to increase the number of townsfolk by ten times or more.

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To date, the largest crowd for an Induction Weekend was 2007, when 82,000 people descended on Cooperstown... more than 45 times the year-round population.

Below are the 12 largest crowds to ever gather in Cooperstown for Hall of Fame weekend:

The 12 Largest Crowds in Cooperstown for Hall of Fame Weekend

Baseball fans from all over the world congregate in the tiny village of Cooperstown for Hall of Fame weekend. Which inductees drew the largest crowds?

Gallery Credit: Will Phillips

Believe It Or Not! Here Are 19 Great Upstate NY Halls of Fame!!

When it comes to Halls of Fame, New York State has a tone of them. And many of them can be found in Upstate New York.

Sure, we all know "the big ones," like the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but there are many others to visit. Some are big, such as The National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester or the Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, but others are located in teeny, tiny towns across the region. They are in hard to find places, with populations of perhaps less than 500 people. But they sure are interesting!

Here are 19 of the best Halls of Fame in Upstate New York. What is the D.I.R.T. Hall of Fame? And what about the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame? And the Convenience Store Hall of Fame? These are all fun to look at and visit. In each "hall" we have included a website link so you can check on dates, times, events, directions, etc. Like I said, some are way off the beaten path. One of them is deep in the forests of the Adirondack park. It is quite a ride trying to find it, but when you do you will be glad you visited it. Very unusual, totally fascinating, and very "tuneful."

Gallery Credit: Chuck D'Imperio

LOOK: MLB history from the year you were born

Stacker compiled key moments from Major League Baseball's history over the past 100 years. Using a variety of sources from Major League Baseball (MLB) record books, the Baseball Hall of Fame, and audio and video from events, we've listed the iconic moments that shaped a sport and a nation. Read through to find out what happened in MLB history the year you were born.

Gallery Credit: Seth Berkman

Source: The 12 Largest Crowds in Cooperstown for Hall of Fame Weekend

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