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Baseball HOF Expecting Another Large Crowd For July's Induction Ceremony

Baseball HOF President Jeff Idelson said this summer’s induction ceremony in Cooperstown, fueled by another robust class of popular players, will again be among the largest in the institution’s history. The HOF on Thursday formally introduced the three players elected by the BBWAA: Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez. The trio will join MLB Commissioner Emeritus Bud Selig and Braves Vice Chair John Schuerholz, who were elected to the HOF last month by its Today’s Game Era Committee. Idelson stopped short of saying last year’s Induction Weekend draw of 50,000 for Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza, the HOF’s second largest ever, will be matched in July, citing uncontrollable factors such as weather for the outdoor ceremony. However, he said the widespread appeal of the newly elected players and prior history of fans attending from markets where they played left him bullish. “There are a lot of good factors we can draw from,” Idelson said. “We were pleased with the support from Houston when Craig Biggio was inducted two years ago. We’ve drawn well in the past from Puerto Rico when players from there we elected. Montreal’s obviously close to us and Raines still has a lot of support there. So we’re very optimistic.” This year represents the fourth consecutive induction class with multiple players, and each of the last three Induction Weekends have topped 40,000 in attendance. The HOF is looking forward to a continued run of popular players being enshrined with Chipper Jones, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter, among others, set to become eligible in the coming years. “We’re in the midst of a string of really strong induction classes, one that appears to have no end in sight,” Idelson said.

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