Baseball HOF Expects 40,000 To Attend Induction Ceremony

A crowd of about 40,000 is expected for Sunday's Baseball HOF induction ceremony and ancillary events. HOF VP/Communications & Education Brad Horn said, "Because (the induction) is a free event, weather dependent on Sunday morning, we could have many fans who decide to drive in to see the ceremony. ... It just has the right recipe for a very large weekend here in Cooperstown." The largest crowd ever for induction weekend was an estimated 82,000 in '07, while a "typical induction weekend crowd runs between 15,000 and 20,000" (MLB.com, 7/25).

MLB Network begins its HOF telecast at noon ET Sunday, ahead of the 1:30pm start time for the ceremony. The net's on-air crew will consist of Greg Amsinger, Peter Gammons, Harold Reynolds and John Smoltz, who is "uniquely qualified" as a longtime Braves teammate of inductees Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux. Smoltz also played under inductee Bobby Cox. Frank Thomas, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre round out the class of '14 (TIMESUNION.com, 7/24).