April 10, 2008 09:17 am
—
By ERIC AHLQVIST
Cooperstown Crier
Major League baseball commissioner
Bud Selig has responded to
lawmakers who support recent efforts
to save the Hall of Fame
Game, which will be played for the
final time in June.
Major League Baseball announced
in January that scheduling
the Game, which has been a
nearly 70-year tradition in Cooperstown,
had become too difficult
and would be discontinued after
this year.
In response, Cooperstown native
Kristian Connolly started the
website savethefamegame.com,
encouraging baseball fans to send
e-mails to Selig, the Hall of Fame
and other baseball officials to voice
their displeasure with the decision.
Among those who supported
Connolly’s mission were Representatives
Michael Arcuri, Maurice
Hinchey and Senator Hillary Clinton.
Major League Baseball commissioner
Bud Selig recently responded
to requests made by those and
other politicians to reverse the decision
to end the annual Hall of
Fame Game in Cooperstown after
2008.
Selig sent a form letter of response
to those politicians, explaining
the reasons behind the
decision.
``While I appreciate the sentiments
expressed in your letter, allow
me to elaborate on some of the
reasons that went into the decision
to eliminate the annual Hall
of Fame Game in its current format
after this year,’’ Selif wrote.
``As you know, our teams play 162
games in 180 days. With interleague
play and interdivision
matchups, finding two teams that
could be scheduled into Cooperstown
during an off-day has become
exceedingly difficult. As you
know, for several years the game
has not been played in conjunction
with the Hall of Fame Induction
ceremony, making the logistics of
presenting the game that much
more complicated.’’
But Connolly said Selig’s, and
baseball’s, reasoning, is flawed.
“To say that the Hall of Fame
Game creates a scheduling problem
is completely ludicrous,’’ Connolly
wrote in an e-mail to the
Town Crier.
He continued: ``The CBA specifically
allows for the Hall of
Fame Game, and even allows for it
to be factored into consecutivedays-
played and off-day provisions,
so saying that the game
takes place on an off-day is disingenuous,
at best. If the commissioner
was so concerned about giving
players days off in lieu of
maximizing profits during a 162-
game, six-month season, then perhaps
his office could craft a schedule
which contained a few
doubleheaders mixed in, to create
further opportunities on the calendar
for players to get some rest.
But simply throwing in the towel
on a nearly 70-year-old tradition
rather than making it work -- in
the interest of what is best for the
sport -- should be embarrassing
for those making that decision.’’
Selig went on to write that MLB
is supporting the Hall of Fame in
other ways, including committing
$8 million dollars over a threeyear
period to assist the Hall in its
funding requirements, and ``embarking
on a program to make our
fans more aware of the Hall of
Fame and its importance.’’
Beginning this year, Selig
wrote, MLB will use the Hall of
Fame’s Induction Ceremony as a
special event in all major league
parks where games are played
that day, complete with video and
on-field tributes and recognition of
what is going on in Cooperstown
that day.
``Frankly, we think this is a
much better deployment of our resources
in terms of ensuring the
Hall of Fame’s long-term success,
and will attract far more visitors
to the area than a single game,
played on a variable date each
year, with the Major League players
participating for a only a few
innings,’’ Selig continued.
Again, Connolly disagreed with
Selig’s reasoning.
``I am in complete and utter disbelief
that the commissioner of
baseball believes that people need
to be made ‘more aware of the Hall
of Fame and its importance,’ Connolly
wrote. ``As someone who grew
up in Cooperstown and has traveled
all over the country and met
many different people -- baseball
fans and otherwise -- I feel confident
that there is not a single village
in America that is more well
known than Cooperstown, and
baseball and the Hall of Fame are
the main reasons why.’’
Selig concluded his letter by
stating that he knows Cooperstown
residents are disappointed
in the decision, but they should remember
that minor league baseball
can be found in nearby locations
like Oneonta, Binghamton,
Troy and Syracuse.
Connolly said Selig’s lack of
caring for about fans is ``appalling.’’
“Commissioner Selig’s identical,
form-letter response to members
of Congress is stunning in its
refusal to directly address the lawmakers’
concerns, and in the way
it sweeps the central issue (money)
under the rug in favor of self-congratulating
or hollow statements,’’
Connolly wrote. ``It’s insulting to
the senators and representatives
that have expressed their desire to
see the tradition continue, and insulting
to baseball fans across the
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