Monday's Bunts & Boots--Hall of Fame Weekend Wrap-Up

Inevitably, the 2008 Hall of Fame Induction was destined to provide somewhat of a letdown, since there was no way in Hades that 75,000 fans were going to pour through the Cooperstown gates the way they did last year. The Hall announced that 14,000 fans attended the Sunday ceremony, but the institution historically overestimates the crowds, usually by about 5,000. More realistically, there were about 10,000 fans gathered at the Clark Sports Center to watch the induction of Goose Gossage, Dick Williams, Billy Southworth, Bowie Kuhn, Walter O'Malley, and Barney Dreyfuss.

Still, the lack of fans didn't detract from an enjoyable weekend. The weather was terrific, emotions ran particularly high at the ceremony, and scores of former big leaguers descended on Cooperstown to make the weekend the festival of baseball that it has become. In addition to the record 54 Hall of Famers who traveled to Cooperstown this past weekend for the induction extravaganza, hordes of other retired players also made their way into our small, upstate village. Hall of Famers aside, here is a list of the former major leaguers and Negro Leaguers (along with some parenthetical remarks) who were spotted in Cooperstown from Thursday through Sunday:

*Dick Allen (White Sox teammate of Gossage, 1972 AL MVP)

*Jim Beattie (Yankee teammate of Goose)

*Paul "Motormouth" Blair (Yankee teammate of Gossage)

*Vida Blue (played for Dick Williams, 1971 AL Cy Young and MVP)

*Ralph Branca (Brooklyn Dodgers alumnus)

*Dave Campbell (former Padres infielder)

*David Cone (current Yankee broadcaster)

*Steve Garvey (played for Dick Williams)

*Dwight "Doc" Gooden

*Jim "Mudcat" Grant (played for Dick Williams)

*Ron Guidry (Yankee teammate of Gossage)

*Pat Kelly (former Yankee second baseman)

*Denny McLain

*Gene "Stick" Michael (former manager of Gossage; current Yankee executive)

*Graig Nettles (teammate of Gossage)

*Mickey Rivers (teammate of Gossage)

*Pete Rose (argghhh!)

*Joe Rudi (played for Dick Williams)

*Robert "Bob" Scott (Negro Leagues player)

*Bobby Shantz (1952 AL MVP)

*George "Shotgun" Shuba (former Brooklyn Dodger)

*Lee Smith

*Chuck Tanner (Gossage's first manager)

*Roy White (Yankee teammate of Gossage)

There were also a number of current and former executives in town, including Yankee GM Brian Cashman, Yankee advisor Arthur Richman, former Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley (son of Walter), former White Sox owner Eddie Einhorn, and longtime White Sox executive Roland Hemond, who now works for the Diamondbacks...

Other news and notes from the weekend: At Sunday night's annual meeting of the Society for American Baseball Research, several historians noted that Ernie Banks did not attend the Friday afternoon dedication of the new Buck O'Neil statue. That seemed a bit odd, considering that Banks played for O'Neil with the Kansas City Monarchs before being brought to the Cubs by O'Neil. Another former Cubs great, Billy Williams, did attend the O'Neil ceremony...

After the SABR meeting on Sunday night, I ran into three members of the "Dick Williams Lunch Bunch." They're all residents of Nevada and longtime friends of Williams who meet with him for lunch every Thursday afternoon. Fifteen of the "Lunch Bunchers" attended the Sunday ceremony, replete with special T-shirts and vintage Charlie Finley green-and-gold A's caps...

Finally, for those thinking of next year's Hall of Fame induction, expect to see at least two new Hall of Famers on the stage. Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice will very likely be entering Cooperstown next summer. Henderson is a slam dunk choice, while Rice should come in at about 77 or 78 per cent of the vote.