The crowds at this weekend’s National Baseball HOF & Museum’s induction ceremony "may rival last year’s announced crowd of 48,000, putting it on the event’s top-five list for best crowds for the second-straight year," according to Joe Mahoney of the Oneonta DAILY STAR. Approximately 50 HOF members are "set to attend the ceremonies." The inclusion of Pedro Martinez "is expected to bring a throng of fans from New England as well as from the Dominican Republic." There are "other positive signs for a big Sunday crowd, too." Craig Biggio "is a New York native who played in college at Seton Hall in New Jersey, and he is the first player to be inducted" as an Astro. Randy Johnson is a "popular pitcher who spent time" with the Yankees and is the "first player to be inducted" as a Diamondback. Meanwhile, John Smoltz is the "last sure-thing HOFer" from the "Braves dynasty." Last year's inductees -- Bobby Cox, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Tony La Russa, Joe Torre and Frank Thomas -- "drew an estimated 48,000 fans to Cooperstown." It was the "third-best induction crowd," behind the '07 induction of Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn (82,000) and the '99 induction of Nolan Ryan, George Brett, Orlando Cepeda and Robin Yount (50,000). Baseball HOF President Jeff Idelson said he is anticipating "a big crowd." However, he "balked at tossing out a predicted attendance number, pointing out that the weather is always the wild card for such summer weekend events." Idelson noted that "about 60 buses filled with visitors are heading to Cooperstown for the weekend," approximately 15% more than the number of buses that arrived last year (Oneonta DAILY STAR, 7/24).
