Hall: Wednesday induction was best option

By GREG KLEIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

COOPERSTOWN — A National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum official said the rescheduling of Induction Weekend to a Wednesday in September came down to one simple factor: the calendar.

“Looking at the calendar, we just had a very limited amount of options,” Jon Shestakofsky, vice president of communications and education, told Iron String Media, Friday, June 11.

The exclusive interview took place two days after the Hall announced it would shift from a virtual induction on the traditional Sunday afternoon in July to a limited capacity, ticketed-only induction Wednesday, Sept. 8, at the Clark Sports Center in the town of Middlefield.

Shestakofsky said the date was the best available option. He said there was no weekend date in September that worked for all of the induction stakeholders, including Major League Baseball, the MLB Network, the inductees and their families, the Hall and the Hall of Famers.

With the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah beginning the evening of Monday, Sept. 6, the induction conflicts with the Jewish High Holy Days, something that might keep some fans and Hall of Famers from attending the ceremony.

Shestakofsky said the conflict was noted and he mentioned that he and Interim President Jeff Idelson are of Jewish descent, but he said the Hall’s decision came down to the one factor, the best available date for all the stakeholders.

“Our number one goal in making the decision was to do what is best for the game of baseball, what is best for major league baseball and what is best for the institution,” he said, and the decision was to hold
an in-person event in a limited capacity on the date identified as
the best available day.