LEADING OFF: Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Cole ailing
A look at what's happening around the majors today:
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COOPERSTOWN CALLING
Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and the late Marvin Miller will be enshrined at the Hall of Fame, a year after the induction ceremonies were called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The four were chosen last year — no new members have been picked since then.
“As strange as this sounds or may sound, I’m trying not to think about it,” the 47-year-old Jeter, the former Yankees star and now an owner and CEO of the Miami Marlins, said last week. “I just want to go there and experience it.”
In 2007, the inductions of Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn drew an estimated record crowd of 82,000 to the expansive grass field at the Clark Sports Center on the outskirts of this one-stoplight village in upstate New York. When the wildly popular Jeter was elected in January 2020 that mark figured to be in jeopardy because his fans from New York and beyond had been booking reservations well in advance.
With a mid-week ceremony instead of the traditional Sunday afternoon, school back in session and the threat of inclement weather, the Hall of Fame wasn’t offering an attendance prediction.
The deaths of eight Hall of Famers over the past year and a half, including Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson and Whitey Ford, and the lingering pandemic have limited the number of returning Hall of Famers to 31. Two years ago a record 58 showed up.
AILING COLE
The Yankees will see how Gerrit Cole is feeling, a day after the ace was pulled from a game because of tightness in his left hamstring.
Cole exited with two outs in the fourth inning and New York trailing 3-1 against Toronto. He struck out two, tying Philadelphia right-hander Zack Wheeler for the major league lead with...
