Hall of Fame Weekend--Part Seven

After two picture-perfect days here in Cooperstown, partly cloudy skies are greeting us in the village this morning. There's a threat of rain in the air. but if recent history is any indication, the afternoon induction ceremony will be free of rain, hail, and any other kind of precipitation. A Hall of Fame ceremony hasn't been rained out since 1991, when heavy rains forced the Joe Morgan/Jim Palmer induction to be pushed back to Monday, and even then it had to take place at the Cooperstown High School Gym. My hunch is that the ceremony will go off without a hitch, allowing Goose Gossage, Dick Williams, Barney Dreyfuss, Bowie Kuhn, Walter O'Malley and Billy Southworth to take their places in the Hall of Fame.

Most of the focus will be on the speeches of the two living inductees, Gossage and Williams. I know that Goose will acknowledge Chuck Tanner, his first big league manager. I hope he finds a way to work people like Billy Martin and Bob Lemon into the conversation. As for Williams, he'll always be best remembered for the work he did in leading the A's to back-to-back world championships in 1972 and '73. I hope he mentions Campy Campaneris, Joe Rudi, Reggie Jackson, Jim "Catfish" Hunter and Rollie Fingers, all of whom were central figures to Charlie Finley's dynasty. And yes, for all the headaches that Finley gave him, I hope Williams has a kind word or two for Charlie O, too.

For those who can't be at the ceremony in person, ESPN will provide the TV coverage. Once again, in its infinite wisdom, ESPN has seen fit to put the ceremony on ESPN Classic, its fourth channel.That's another slap in the face to baseball, considering that ESPN will be showing bull riding,--yes, bull riding--on its second channel, ESPN 2.

But let's not ESPN's lack of appreciation ruin the day. It's a supreme day for baseball, a day that the Hall of Fame grows by six, a day that great players and managers will spin stories from bygone eras. The Induction Ceremony is almost hear. It all starts at 1:30 pm Eastern Daylight time. Let's enjoy it.