Mom-and-pop apparel and memorabilia stores have long lined picturesque Main Street here in the town that is home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. When visitors for this year’s induction ceremony arrive in the coming week, they might find something new: Japanese-speaking interpreters to help them shop.
The headliner of this year’s Hall of Fame class is outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, who amassed 3,089 hits in MLB and will soon become the first Japanese player enshrined in the game’s hallowed museum.
The number of visitors to Cooperstown, a town of a couple thousand, fluctuates with the star power of a given year’s inductees. But this year presents a new wrinkle: The area has never anticipated an influx of fans from so far away.
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