ALBANY, N.Y. — The sport known as America's favorite past time is now the official sport of New York State.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the designation into law Friday. The bill was proposed by 4th graders at Cooperstown Elementary School. Cooperstown is home to the Baseball Hall of Fame is is believed to be the birthplace of the sport.
"Growing up a Queens boy, a love of baseball was instilled at an early age. From the '69 and '86 Amazin' Mets to 27 world championships by the Yankees and even having been the home of the Dodgers with Jackie Robinson and the Giants, New York is steeped in an expansive and diverse past with our great national past time," Cuomo said. "The fervor of the sport is as reflective of our great state as a sport can be, bringing together diverse crowds for the love of the game. New York is the birthplace of baseball and I'm proud to finally make it our official state sport."
Baseball now joins other official designations such as milk as the state beverage, apple as the state fruit, yogurt as the state snack and the snapping turtle as the state reptile.
