Quote:
Originally Posted by bigtrain
I think that what most people don't realize is that while the Hall of Fame is a national institution, it is run by local people. Cooperstown is mostly small businesses that make all their money in about four months of the year. Induction is a very big deal to the locals. A year without a player being inducted is bad for the local economy. So while there have been years without inductions, I think the rules have been changed to make that less likely.
|
This is certainly an angle I hadn't really considered in my first post. The handful of times I've been to Cooperstown were not during induction weekend, and probably would be considered "off" times (although they were during the baseball season). I didn't think about economic impact. It would be interesting to look at sales numbers for induction years versus years without an induction. All of that being said, it seems that if people are being inducted during a given year because an induction is good for the local economy, then it's a bit of the tail wagging the dog.
Cheers,
Mark