Save the Hall of Fame game

After 70 years of playing the annual Hall of Fame game in Cooperstown, Monday marked the last one, as Bud Selig has issued an edict that the game be canceled.

Kristen Connolly, a former Cooperstown resident, has put together this Web site: http://www.savethefamegame.com/
a grassroots campaign attempting to get Selig, Don Fehr, Bob Dupuy and the rest of MLB to continue the long standing tradition of the game.

It used to be played on HOF weekend, and for the past few years, has been played from the end of May to the middle of June. Many HOFs have played in a HOF game, including Hank Aaron, Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and the list goes on and on. It's the very fabric and history that baseball has.

Baseball fans should be outraged by Selig's decision.

(BTW, I am in no way associated with the site)

Sign the petition to return the HOF game to Cooperstown. If a player's greatest desire is to be enshrined there, why can't players play an exhibition there once a year? Doesn't seem like too much to ask. Even some of the players say it's a "big loss." http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2008/06/rained_out_of_cooperstown.html

EDIT: to add Syracuse link.

 

Use two minor league teams or play a regular season weekend series there.

 

It may be... but it still is a horrible reason to end a long standing tradition, IMHO.
And if you said back in January, it would get rained out, you really are TheSportsPredictor.

 

An in-season exhibition game is a terrible idea. MLB teams finally got away from playing those exhibition games against one of their minor league affiliates.

They were a joke, with the MLB team putting trainers in the game. The idea has always been to get it over as soon as possible with no one getting hurt.

The Hall of Fame game is going the way of the College All-Star game in football, and it should.

 

Fine, let Bud's pet team play in it every year then.

 

Call some recently retired stars and have some sort of old timer game.

Would that be too difficult?

 

Smasher -- your pic RULES!

 

That field is ridiculous. I covered a high school regular-season game there. Final score was like 11-10.

 

A nice take on the (non) issue that mirrors most of our sentiments.

http://hirejimessian.com/index.php/2008/06/17/people-who-dont-agree-with-me-are-idiots-round-128-the-hall-of-fame-game/

The only other time I've heard about this game taking place was when Tom Verducci played outfield for the Blue Jays during it. Was it last year?

 

Tree.

Falls.

Forest.

No. One. There.

 

Here is a better idea, designate a specific regular season game (preferably one involving a team or teams of some HOFers), the Hall of Fame game and have the inductees be honored by the fans who couldn't make it to Cooperstown. Maybe play it right before the All-Star Break.
As for Cooperstown, I'd select two amateur teams from hometowns of inductees, maybe a semi-pro team, to play during the weekend. I'm sure they'd appreciate it.