Two classes of inductees will be combined
Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony Likely To Be Postponed Until 2021
By Steve Adams | April 28, 2020 at 2:59pm CDT
The National Baseball Hall of Fame is likely to announce this week that its annual induction ceremony and all of the surrounding festivities will be postponed and combined with the 2021 ceremony, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports. The Hall’s board of directors is meeting this week to make a final determination. The possibility of a virtual ceremony wasn’t seriously considered, per the report. Induction weekend had been slated to take place on July 24-26.
Earlier this year, the Baseball Writers Association of America voted to induct Derek Jeter and Larry Walker into the Hall of Fame, while the Modern Baseball Committee added eight-time All-Star catcher Ted Simmons and the late Marvin Miller to the class as well.
Last year’s induction ceremony drew an estimated 55,000 attendees to a city of just 1756 residents, and Nightengale notes that the enshrinement of Jeter and Walker led to some attendance projections that approached 100,000. An event of that size at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has led to government regulations on public gatherings has long seemed implausible. Beyond the sheer size of the crowd the event would draw, thousands of attendees would’ve been flying into New York City, the current U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus, under normal circumstances. And, as Nightengale observes, many attendees would be higher-risk due to their age, including a significant number of the game’s legends; there are 38 Hall of Famers who are 70 years of age or older — including 19 Hall of Famers who are at least 80.
Originally Posted by a700hitter
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