MEAD TELLS FANS AT Q&A

Leading Hall Of Fame

Is About ‘We,’ Not ‘I’

By JENNIFER HILL • Special to AllOTSEGO.com

COOPERSTOWN  – In a Q&A this morning, Community Day at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Cooperstown’s two other museums, the Hall’s new president Tim Mead told of his humble beginnings.

He was born in Greece, and adopted, along with his sister, when he was 6 months old.

He joined the Los Angeles (then Anaheim) Angels as an intern in 1980 after writing three letters.

Hired, he spent his career on the business side of the team, rising to vice president/communications, and helping start MLB players like Jim Abbott, Tim Salmon, Mike Trout and Garret Anderson along the way.

Then, the orphan from Athens was recruited last spring to the top position at baseball’s mecca, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, succeeding Jeff Idelson after the 2019 Induction in July.

On Community Day, Otsego countians are admitted free to the Hall of Fame, and also The Fenimore and Farmers’ museums.  All are open until 5 p.m.

When an audience member asked Mead, hired only last April, about Mike Trout, a contender for MVP this year.  “He’s the man who will shatter records,” said Mead, adding that Trout is also a great person, “That’s why he deserves the title, the greatest player on the planet, right now.”

“What do you plan to do in your tenure at the Hall of Fame?” someone asked.  Mead first joked, “Stay warm.”  He then said, “I’m not coming in as ‘I’ and saying, ‘Here are my plans.’ I believe things are accomplished as ‘we,’ not ‘I.’”

And about his new workplace?  “I call this The Great Hall,” Mead said.  “What is baseball?  It’s nothing in particular, but it’s everything.  I come to Cooperstown knowing everyone has that passion for the game.”