A nice thing happened last weekend when Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn and about 75,000 of their closest friends visited Cooperstown.

The nice thing that happened was that nothing really bad happened.

No murders. No mass confusion over transportation, housing or Hall of Fame information.

No rioting because there weren’t enough portable bathroom facilities.

Cooperstown and the entire surrounding area did themselves proud while taking the immense Baseball Hall of Fame induction weekend in their stride.

Oh, there were some medical issues, but nothing the emergency personnel couldn’t handle.

Cooperstown Fire Chief James Tallman said there were 40 calls for emergency assistance at the induction, and 13 people were taken to a hospital, mostly with bee stings and heat-exhaustion issues.

That’s certainly to be expected with so many people in one place at one time.

The throngs of people who came to watch Ripken and Gwynn enter the list of players enshrined in the Hall of Fame were there to honor their heroes, not to make trouble.

"It was a record-setting weekend," said Cooperstown Mayor Carol Waller on Sunday night. "The baseball fans were great and very complimentary toward Cooperstown, our homes, residents and hospitality."

About the worst thing that was reported to have happened was some people left Cooley’s Stone House Tavern without paying their bills of $150 and $75.

They were described as in their 20s and 30s and wearing Baltimore Orioles clothing. That hardly helped in hunting them down, given that Cooperstown was awash with Baltimore fans on hand to honor Ripken, who played his entire career with the Orioles.

The description "only describes about 50,000 of them," said village Police Chief Diana Nichols.

The success in handling such a huge throng of visitors did not come by accident.

Months and months of planning went into making sure things went smoothly. Police, fire and emergency personnel must come in for praise, along with Cooperstown officials and those in surrounding municipalities.

While traffic congestion was a big headache, Otsego County’s plan for shuttling fans into Cooperstown from remote locations was essentially successful.

The many volunteers who gave their time and effort also played a vital role.

The folks at the Hall of Fame itself showed once more how competent they can be when it comes to staging this annual event.

Ripken and Gwynn are two of the classiest former players ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and their popularity was the main reason for such a big attendance.

Those all over America who watched the ceremonies live on ESPN Classic and those who were fortunate enough to attend in person saw a village and an event as classy as the inductees.

Because of the great number of people who were accommodated this year, it will be the yardstick for future inductions.

When the inevitable post-mortem is done by the organizers, improvements will and should be suggested.

But for now, everyone involved deserves a hearty "well done."