March 06, 2008 03:18 pm
—
Staff Report
Tickets for this June’s final Hall
of Fame Game will go on sale Saturday,
with approximately 2,500
seats available through a one-day
walk-up sale at the National Baseball
Hall of Fame and Museum in
Cooperstown. Museum members
can purchase tickets by phone
starting at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The 2008 Hall of Fame Game
will be played on Monday, June 16,
and will feature a pair of National
League rivals, the Chicago Cubs
and the San Diego Padres. The
Game will begin at 2 p.m., with
pre-game festivities starting at
noon with the Hall of Fame Game
Day Parade on Main Street, presented
by the Cooperstown Chamber
of Commerce and the Hall of
Fame. The always-popular Home
Run Derby will commence at 1 p.m.
at Doubleday Field.
The 2008 Hall of Fame Game,
an exhibition game and Cooperstown
tradition since 1940, has remained
the only in-season exhibition
game for the last several years,
and has been held independently of
Hall of Fame Weekend since 2003.
Major League Baseball has announced
that this will be the final
Hall of Fame Game.
Shortly after the announcement
was made, Cooperstown graduate
Kristian Connolly formed the website
savethefamegame.com. On the
website, he urges fans to send letters
to major league baseball and
Hall of Fame officials asking them
to reconsider the decision.
In an email to the Crier, Connolly
said he and other savethefamegame
volunteers will be at Saturday’s
ticket sale trying to drum
up support for their mission.
``In the coming weeks and
months, savethefamegame.com
will be making its presence felt at
events where we can reach a lot of
people on the ground to help spread
the word and keep the pressure on
MLB and the MLBPA. Check savethefamegame.com for updates,’’
Connolly wrote.
Hall of Fame official Brad Horn
said Monday that they have had no
further communication with Major
League Baseball officials about the
Hall of Fame Game since January’s
announcement. He said Hall officials
are in talks about other possible
scenarios for the Weekend
other than the game, and an announcement
will be made when a
decision is reached.
Ticket prices for the Game are
$12.50 for first and third base seats
and $11 for outfield seats. Chicago
will be the home team and will occupy
the first base dugout at Doubleday
Field. The Padres will occupy
the third base dugout as the
road team. Doubleday Field has a
seating capacity of 9,571. Tickets
will not be available for Internet
purchase this year, due the commemorative
nature of the event.
On-Site Ticket Sale: Beginning
at 10 a.m. Saturday, approximately
2,500 tickets will be available
through a one-day, over-the-counter
sale at the Museum. Tickets are
limited to six per customer. Patrons
will first be permitted to line-up beginning
at 6 a.m. on Saturday,
though access to the Museum will
not begin until 9 a.m. Patrons must
hold their place in line. Tickets will
be sold until the allotment has been
exhausted or until 5 p.m. ET. All
visitors purchasing tickets to the
Hall of Fame Game during the
first-day sale will be admitted free
to the Museum on Saturday.
Hall of Fame Members: Hall of
Fame members will have an exclusive
opportunity to purchase a
maximum of six Game tickets per
membership beginning Saturday
by calling the mail order department
at 888-425-5633, option 2, beginning
at 10 a.m. Phone orders
will be accepted until the supply
has been exhausted or 4 p.m. EST,
whichever comes first. Valid membership
numbers are required for
purchase. No member discounts
apply to this sale. Should tickets
remain after 4 p.m. EST on Saturday,
members will have the exclusive
chance to purchase tickets by
phone from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
EST from March 10-14.
General Purchase: Only in the
event any tickets remain following
the one-day sale and member-exclusive
period, those quantities will
first be available beginning Monday,
March 17 by calling the Museum’s
mail-order department at
888-425-5633, option 2, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., EST, Monday
through Saturday.
The 2008 Game marks the sixth
consecutive year that it has been
held independently of Hall of Fame
Weekend, which is scheduled for
July 25-28. Prior to 2003, the Game
was held in conjunction with Weekend
ceremonies, as a stand-alone
game on the Monday following induction
ceremonies since 1977.
Hall of Fame Weekend 2008:
Hall of Fame Weekend will be held
July 25-28 in Cooperstown and feature
the induction of BBWAA electee
Rich “Goose” Gossage, along
with Veterans Committee electees
Barney Dreyfuss, Bowie Kuhn,
Walter O’Malley, Billy Southworth
and Dick Williams. Induction Ceremonies
will take place on Sunday,
July 27 at the Clark Sports Center,
at 1:30 p.m. ET. There is no admission
fee for the Induction Ceremony.
Dave Niehaus, the winner of
the 2008 Ford C. Frick Award,
along with Larry Whiteside, the
2008 J.G. Taylor Spink Award recipient,
will also be honored. Additionally,
the first Buck O’Neil Lifetime
Achievement Award, named
in memory of baseball’s great ambassador,
will be recognized.
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