COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — As he neared the last stop on his first guided tour of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Scott Rolen stopped several strides shy of the plaque gallery, just out of view, so that he could take a photo of his family at the threshold to forever.
He had just come upstairs from the Hall’s behind the scenes collection, where he held a Babe Ruth bat and snapped a pic of Don Mattingly’s Gold Glove Award. A morning that began with a hike through the history of baseball had brought him here – a few steps away from where he becomes a permanent part of that history.