COOPERSTOWN, NY: The 2024 MLB Hall of Fame Weekend was held from July 19-21. The inductees came in the form of a backup catcher from the minor leagues for seventeen years, a hometown hero from St. Paul, Minnesota, an infielder from the Dominican Republic's sandlots, and a college quarterback from Tennessee.
Jim Leyland, Joe Mauer, Adrián Beltré, and Todd Helton were all immortalized in baseball history when they took the stage yesterday as the four new members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The estimated attendance total was a staggering 28,000. 346 players are now forever enshrined in baseball history.
The four newest members of the Hall of Fame spent their time on stage recalling on old memories, thanking important people in their lives, and reminding us why baseball is the best sport of them all. Why baseball is considered America’s pastime.
Each of the four inductees had every attendee on the edge of their seats for the entire ceremony. They wasted no time giving the crowd events to look back on and giving them beautiful speeches that left an impact on all. This weekend was a small example of why it is so important to visit the small village of Cooperstown.
No matter what role you play in the sport, we are all fans of the game at the end of the day. One of the four newest Hall of Famers gave us a part of his speech that reminded us all of that.
“No matter which Hall of Famers you’re here to support today, or which team you choose to root for, your presence is always felt. On your feet in the ninth, with the home team clinging onto a one-run lead. Turning on your television for the first game of the World Series and seeing 50,000 fans waving towels, hoping and praying that this may be their year. Or a little boy or girl getting their first autograph, and scurrying back to the fans to show mom and dad. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s you.That’s baseball. And this is the Hall of Fame. “
-Jim Leyland
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