Never Too Early: Cooperstown Thinking Ahead For Derek Jeter's Induction
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Derek Jeter still has three games left before retiring, but Cooperstown officials already are thinking about his likely induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The New York Yankees' shortstop will be eligible for enshrinement in 2020. For Cooperstown Mayor Jeff Katz, it's not too early to start planning for what would be a huge crowd.
Katz told WSTM-TV in Syracuse that the attendance that July weekend could top 100,000. When Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. were inducted in 2007, about 80,000 jammed Cooperstown.
"You can say maybe it will be 100,000," Katz told the television station. "Maybe a 120,000? What if it's 200,000? Every ten or twenty thousand is a huge amount ... In 2007, when Cal Ripken Jr. was inducted, we had 80,000 people. The county took a good leadership role and got farmland to park cars and arranged shuttle buses to the induction site."
The mayor says Otsego County emergency services and state police will work with Hall of Fame officials to prepare for the 2020 induction weekend.
"Every induction weekend has its own set of characteristics, and when you're looking ahead to a guy like Derek Jeter, we'll have to plan for large crowds," Baseball Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson told WSTM-TV. "The guy affected and touched so many people that everyone is going to want to share in that special day of July 2020."
A big crowd is also anticipated in 2019 for former Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera's expected induction.
"Depending on how many people Rivera brings out, as Yankees fans are a three-and-a-half to four-hour drive, I think that will help us hone in on the Jeter year," Katz told the station.
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