Hall of Fame Game Abolished!

[Pere]

I just noticed this in a thread on another topic, and I didn't see any discussion of it on its own.

no more HOF game after this year

Dang. I had missed this news in January, but you're right. This year's Cubs-Padres will be the last, they say.

Among other things, I liked the fact that players who were participating usually took a tour through the Hall early in the day, or the day before the game. Many were quoted as saying that it increased their sense of the history of the game, and I think it's always good when current players have a greater sense of the history.

I'm glad I got to the one in 2004.

[Williamsburg2599]

That's a shame. Why throwout a 67 year old tradition? There sighting the "the inherent challenges" of scheduling a game now-a-days, how is it tougher? They did it in the 40's before teams relied on air travel, how is it harder now to take one day off and fly to Albany and then drive to Cooperstown?

[Old Sweater]

IMO it is more about money then it is about tradition as far as Selig is concerned. The HOF Game is a commitment from 2 teams every 15 years.


Marketing is fine as long as you can keep some of the old values of the game. Buddy Boy seems to be getting rid of them one by one.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Generating revenue for a museum independent of Major League Baseball is a traditional value?

Is it nice? Sure it is. Is it untochable? No.

[bigtime39]

They probably could make money on it if they treated it like that absurdity known as the "Civil Rights Game" and made the participating teams dress in pathetically bland, one-off uniforms, and promptly auctioned them on mlb.com.

[Old Sweater]

Generating revenue for a museum independent of Major League Baseball is a traditional value?

Is it nice? Sure it is. Is it untochable? No.

Guess it depends on one's own personal view of traditional value. I'm 55, the HOF game is 67. IMO> that is traditional, especially for the townfolk of Cooperstown.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Guess it depends on one's own personal view of traditional value. I'm 55, the HOF game is 67. IMO> that is traditional, especially for the townfolk of Cooperstown.

I guess I place more emphasis on the word "value" here.

[Old Sweater]

Honus Wagner Rules had the best idea when we discussed this last time with the HOF game featuring throw back uniforms.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Honus Wagner Rules had the best idea when we discussed this last time with the HOF game featuring throw back uniforms.

That would definitely be a good idea. Maybe they need to organize something like that.

[lovethegame]

my buddy Bill is a huge Padres fan and is going this year but sadly that is the last game.
Maybe they should move the AAA all star game or something along those lines in to keep Cooperstown remaining vital

[SamtheBravesFan]

my buddy Bill is a huge Padres fan and is going this year but sadly that is the last game.
Maybe they should move the AAA all star game or something along those lines in to keep Cooperstown remaining vital

Cooperstown will have people flock from all over regardless of whether they have the Hall of Fame Game or not.

[Old Sweater]

Cooperstown will have people flock from all over regardless of whether they have the Hall of Fame Game or not.

That is true but not as many will be flocking on the dates they have had the HOF game.

Each year, Doubleday Field hosts the Hall of Fame Game. Originally a contest between "old-timers" teams, it later became an exhibition game between two major league squads. Traditionally, the game was held during the annual induction weekend of the nearby Baseball Hall of Fame, but in later years it has been scheduled in May or June, to accommodate the participating teams' travel schedules. As MLB's last remaining in-season exhibition game, the result does not count in the official standings, and substitute players are generally used to avoid injury to starters.

On January 29, 2008, Major League Baseball announced that the final Hall of Fame game would be played on June 16th, 2008 between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres, citing "the inherent challenges" of scheduling teams in the modern day as the reason for ending the annual contest.[1]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubleday_Field

As you can see in bold print the reason that MLB is using to get rid of the game contradicts what MLB said earlier for changing the date of the HOF game.

Travel in modern day is a heck of a lot better then it was 67 years ago.

MLB and Selig is just blowing more smoke at the fans to get rid of a baseball tradition.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Double Post

[SamtheBravesFan]

That is true but not as many will be flocking on the dates they have had the HOF game.




As you can see in bold print the reason that MLB is using to get rid of the game contradicts what MLB said earlier for changing the date of the HOF game.

Travel in modern day is a heck of a lot better then it was 67 years ago.

MLB and Selig is just blowing more smoke at the fans to get rid of a baseball tradition.

But they must have a reason for doing so. The reason they gave is just PR spin.

[EdTarbusz]

Travel in modern day is a heck of a lot better then it was 67 years ago.

MLB and Selig is just blowing more smoke at the fans to get rid of a baseball tradition.

Travel is better, but drawing up the schedule is harder. Before the Majors moved to the west coast, the schedules (especially the AL) had a real symmetry to them, which they no longer have. This game would be much easier to schedule in the old days then it would be today.