Keith Olbermann Vacations In Cooperstown, Blogs About Baseball

Keith Olbermann has been away from the anchor's desk at "Countdown," and his recent blog posts give a clue where he's been (at least for the past few days): Cooperstown, New York.

The trip coincides with Major League Baseball's yearly Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which this year honors players Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice and Joe Gordon and broadcaster Tony Kubek.

Olbermann has been writing about the trip at Baseball Nerd, his official baseball blog. Olbermann, an avid baseball fan, first rose to prominence hosting "SportsCenter" for ESPN in the 1990's.

While the main event of his trip was the induction ceremony, held in Cooperstown, NY, Olbermann also blogged about going to a minor league game in Rochester, and about some of the one-of-a-kind baseball memorabilia the Hall of Fame holds, including century-old jerseys and a promissory note from 1920 confirming the sale of Babe Ruth's contract from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees.

Olbermann also wrote about disgraced legend Pete Rose's continuing quest to be inducted in the Hall of Fame. Rose was barred from baseball in 1990 for betting on games in which he was directly involved, and, if not for the ban would be a surefire Hall of Famer. Olbermann spoke with Rose over the weekend, and, although the MSNBC host was once a self-described "steadfast opponent" of the former Cincinnati Reds' second baseman's reinstatement, he now believes the time has come to give Rose his due, especially in light of recent steroid scandals.

A number of guest hosts have taken Olbermann's place at "Countdown" in his absence. Richard Wolffe hosted this past Friday, and Lawrence O'Donnell will take over tonight. Howard Dean will host Tuesday and Wednesday's shows, and Wolffe will return for Thursday and Friday.