DJ: Baseball royalty reigns in Cooperstown

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - It was as if the "Field of Dreams" corn had parted revealing apparitions of Hall of Famers. This was no mirage though.

A text request to Johnny Bench for comments about this weekend's induction of Barry Larkin yielded a prompt response and invitation to meet Johnny at the Hall of Fame at 9 p.m. to finalize our appointment. Johnny also extended an invitation to former Channel 9 Sports/News Anchor Bill Hemmer, now of Fox News.

Hemmer and I arrived on time and were met by only one familiar face; that of Bobby Bench, Johnny's eldest son, a recent Boston University graduate who is doing freelance TV production work. He's wrangled an assignment as boom man for a crew, entrusted with holding a microphone above the subjects but out of frame. At 6 foot, 7 inches tall Bobby is a natural.

After catching up with Johnny's firstborn, things returned to the tedium associated with a TV shoot. Incessant repositioning of lights, scrims, the table itself, all to capture the perfect angle of the ultimate remark. In short order, everyone but Hemmer and I realized the precious nature of what was about to happen.

The tip off was when Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn ambled in and took a place at the table. Now the head Baseball Coach at San Diego State, Tony revealed the evenings agenda: A discussion with some "other guys" of the "Fastball," baseball's most mythical, befuddling icon.

Whereupon the "other" members of the panel began to trickle in.

Al Kaline, followed by Joe Morgan, Johnny and George Brett. Mike Schmidt someone explained, was running late but was on his way.

As this pantheon of power settled in for an off the cuff chat about who had the best, the sneakiest, the most un-hittable, a quiet coterie of onlookers sat in rapt attention. Producers, audio technicians, camera operators, directors, handlers, all knew they were seeing and hearing something magical. Like listening in as Matisse, Picasso, Renoir, Gauguin and Rembrandt mulled brushstrokes.

Where and when the round-table will eventually air and in what form, I'm not certain. Though there was some talk that it was an MLB Network project. I didn't want to be so gauche as to ask. Until it does, people who hear my account of it will think it a total fabrication.

In a way it was. Things like this don't happen. Except on Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown, N.Y. When if you're in the right place at the right time, you will see and hear great men discuss a boys game they played like gods.