This seemed to sneak up on us. The Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in Cooperstown, NY will be held this weekend. One of the better weekends on the sports calendar, the Hall of Fame Ceremonies take fans back to when the game was much simpler.
On Sunday, former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin and the late Chicago Cubs third baseman Ron Santo will have their plaques unveiled. In addition, Tim McCarver will be inexplicably given the Ford C. Frick Award for contributions to Baseball Broadcasting. Toronto Sun columnist Bob Elliot will receive the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for contributions to Baseball Writing.
MLB Network will air the ceremonies live from Cooperstown, NY. Brian Kenny will host. Joining him will be Peter Gammons, Tom Verducci and Harold Reynolds. The broadcast begins at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Here’s the press release.
KENNY, GAMMONS, REYNOLDS & VERDUCCI TO HOST MLB NETWORK’S EXCLUSIVE TELECAST OF THE 2012 NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY
1995 NL MVP Barry Larkin and Nine-Time All-Star Ron Santo Are The Hall’s 2012 Inductees
Coverage to Begin This Sunday, July 22 at 11:30 a.m. ETSecaucus, N.J., July 18, 2012 – Twelve-time Cincinnati Reds All-Star Barry Larkin and the late former Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox third baseman Ron Santo will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York this Sunday, July 22 in a ceremony telecast exclusively on MLB Network. A special Hall of Fame edition of MLB Tonight will air at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday with MLB Network’s Peter Gammons, winner of the 2004 J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing, Brian Kenny, Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci providing live coverage from Cooperstown, including interviews with Larkin, Hall of Famers in attendance and special features on this year’s inductees.
MLB Network’s exclusive live telecast of the Induction Ceremony will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET, including the acceptance speeches by Larkin and Santo’s widow Vicki Santo, an appearance by Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig, and introductions of an expected 43 returning Hall of Famers, including Larkin’s fellow former Cincinnati Reds Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Frank Robinson, and Santo’s fellow former Chicago Cubs Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins, Ryne Sandberg, Bruce Sutter and Billy Williams. MLB Network’s live coverage of the Induction Ceremony will be simulcast online on MLB.com and BaseballHall.org. MLB Network will make footage of the ceremony available live via satellite on July 22. Additional details on the satellite feed will be sent to media from MLB Network.
Larkin was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America vote in January. In a career that spanned 19 seasons with the Reds, Larkin was part of the Reds’ 1990 World Series-winning club and won three Gold Glove Awards, nine Silver Slugger Awards, the 1993 Roberto Clemente Award for community service, and the 1995 NL Most Valuable Player Award. Santo was chosen for induction into the Hall of Fame in December 2011 by the Golden Era Committee election. Throughout his 15 seasons in MLB, fan-favorite Santo reached the 30-home run mark four times, won five Gold Glove Awards and was a nine-time NL All-Star. MLB Network will air the TV premiere of This Old Cub Special Edition, an updated version of the documentary film about Santo, on Saturday, July 21 at 1:00 p.m. ET. The documentary includes Santo’s statue dedication at Wrigley Field in August 2011, his Hall of Fame election on December 5, 2011, and excerpts from an interview with Santo and his son, independent filmmaker Jeff Santo, who wrote and directed This Old Cub, recorded two weeks before Santo’s passing on December 3, 2010.
Leading into its live coverage on Sunday, MLB Network will air the 2012 Hall of Fame Awards Presentation at 11:30 a.m. ET. The presentation, which will be held on Saturday, July 21 in Cooperstown, will honor former Major League catcher Tim McCarver, who has served as a national television analyst for FOX, NBC, CBS and ABC and called local telecasts for Giants, Mets, Phillies and Yankees games, with the Ford C. Frick Award for baseball broadcasting; Toronto Sun national baseball columnist Bob Elliott, who will receive the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for his contributions to baseball writing; and all of the living managers who have managed the St. Louis Cardinals to World Series titles: Whitey Herzog, Tony La Russa and Red Schoendienst.
Founded in 1936, the National Baseball Hall of Fame welcomed its first class that year and opened its doors to the public three years later. The Hall of Fame’s 2012 election results were announced on January 9 live from MLB Network’s studios for the fourth consecutive year and aired exclusively on MLB Network and online at MLB.com.
More coming up. Keep it here.
