Cooperstown Charles Na was welcomed into the world one week ago today, on Jan. 18, the son of James and Cory Na of Seattle, Washington. James is the Director of Baseball Administration for the Seattle Mariners, and said he and his wife started considering the name Cooperstown after a trip to the village a year and a half ago.

``My wife got me a trip to Cooperstown as a surprise for my 30th birthday,’’ Na said Tuesday when reached on his cell phone. ``It turned out to be the best trip we ever took and probably will ever take. We just fell in love with the museum and the village.’’

Na played minor league baseball for the Montreal Expos and Anaheim Angels, while Cory was an art history major and member of the women’s swim team at Washington University, where the two met.

``I’d never really been into memorabilia, but after visiting the Hall of Fame and experiencing the history, I saw it in a new way,’’ James Na said. ``And the museum is a natural for my wife, and she was very impressed.’’

Hall of Fame spokesman Brad Horn said no other records of a child named Cooperstown could be found.

`` We checked with Bassett Hospital and no Cooperstown’ named births are on file there,’’ he said Tuesday. ``We have also researched this elsewhere and have yet to find another Cooperstown’ baby.’’

Na said he and his wife did not officially decide to name their son Cooperstown until it came time to sign the birth certificate.

He said Seattle Mariners General manager Bill Bavasi, a good friend, called him during the delivery saying ``You have to do it’’ and others in the Seattle organization encouraged the couple as well.

``When it came time to sign, we said `Why not?’ and went for it,’’ Na said. ``It’s in no way to put pressure on him to be a baseball player, it’s more to pass on my love of baseball and we both love the sound of ``Cooperstown.’’

Na said Cory experienced some labor difficulties, with the babies heart stopping briefly.

``Everything is fine, and he’s healthy, and that’s our main priority,’’ he said. ``We’ll probably call him Cooper, but everyone within the organization refers to him as Cooperstown or C-Town, which is pretty neat.’’

Mayor Carol Waller said she plans to issue a proclamation commemorating the event.

Exactly what the proclamation will say she isn’t sure, but it will include a number of whereases and therefores, she said.

Having a child named after the village is honor.

``I’ve heard of lots of Coopers, but this is the first person I’ve heard of named Cooperstown.