Local Sports
Connolly to meet with baseball leaders
By ERIC AHLQVIST
Cooperstown Crier
Persistence paid off for Kristian
Connolly.
The Cooperstown graduate and
SaveTheFameGame.com founder
announced this week that Major
League Baseball Commissioner
Bud Selig arranged a meeting between
Connolly, MLB president
Bob Dupuy, and Hall of Fame president
Jeff Idelson in Cooperstown
during the Hall of Fame’s Induction
weekend, which begins this
Friday and goes through Sunday.
Connolly sent three separate requests
for a meeting before Selig
finally relented.
The meeting will take place at
the Hall of Fame at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Connolly has been at the front of
the fight to save the annual Hall of
Fame Game, a Cooperstown tradition
for nearly 70 years. In January,
Major League Baseball announced
this year’s game, which
was scheduled for June, would be
the final one. The game between
the San Diego Padres and Chicago
Cubs was rained out.
``While the ultimate goal was to
sit down and talk with Mr. Selig
directly, the opportunity to meet
with Mr. Dupuy and Mr. Idelson is
certainly a very positive development
in the campaign to have the
Fame Game tradition continue,’’
said Connolly.
``I thank Mr. Selig for arranging
this meeting, and I cannot help but
view the upcoming meeting as a
validation of the campaign, as a
recognition of the impact that passionate
baseball fans from all over
the country can have on the national
pastime’s direction and future,
and as a signal of MLB’s and the
Hall of Fame’s willingness to rethink
the decision to end the great
baseball, American and Cooperstown
tradition of the Hall of Fame
Game.’’
MLB officials cited scheduling
problems and a players’ union request
to discontinue the game
among the reasons for cancelling
the contest.
In recent years, mostly minor
leaguers have played in the Game,
unlike in the past when star players
participated.
In June, Hall of Fame spokesperson
Brad Horn said a replacement
for the game was in the works
and should be in place by 2009.
Possible replacements bandied
about include a minor league game,
a Futures Game or an Old Timers’
Game.
In addition, Senator Jim Seward
volunteered to chair a committee of
local leaders to find a possible replacement
for the Game.
Connolly sent Commissioner
Selig three separate letters asking
for “the opportunity to discuss with
you the passion that exists for
keeping a great American and
baseball tradition alive ... and have
an open discussion about options
for retaining Major League Baseball’s
participation in the Hall of
Fame Game, as it has been since
1940.”
- Local Sports
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Pair complete lake swim
EMILY KERR, LEFT, David Bonderoff and Amy Hage Delli-Coli were all smiles after their lake swim on Saturday.
David Bonderoff, 17, of Cooperstown and Amy Hage Delli-Coli, 41, of Exeter, N.H swam the entire length of Otsego Lake last Saturday. They began their 9.2-mile swim at Springfield Landing at 7 a.m. on the north end of the lake, along with their friend, Emily Kerr, of Exeter, New Hampshire.
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Patriots have shot at another stellar season
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Former CCS star to play for Hartwick
Former Cooperstown girls basketball and Herkimer County Community College star Samantha Fox is taking her hardwood talents to Hartwick College next season.
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Deer suggestions made
A citizen task force for the 4F Wildlife Management Unit, which includes most of Otsego County, has recommended the DEC set a no net change in the estimated deer population.
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Hawkeyes players honored
Two Cooperstown Hawkeyes players earned Second Team All-League honors from the New York Collegiate Baseball league on Monday.
Continued ... - Thursday, August 19, 2010
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Girl is in a league of her own
Some may argue that girls do not belong on the ballfield playing among boys, but a 13-year-old Little League girl from Plant City Fla., has proven she can hold her own.
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Perez to represent the East for National Title
Last spring, Elias (E.J.) Perez was the recipient of Cooperstown Youth Football’s inaugural Youth Football Camp Scholarship award, and recently attended the Offense/Defense football camp held in Rochester.
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Benefit golf tournament is Aug. 29
Prizes, good food and fun will be ``par for the course’’ at a benefit Golf Tournament on Sunday, Aug. 29, at the Otsego Golf Course. The Tournament is organized by the newly created Cooperstown Rotary Foundation (CRF), a nonprofit, tax deductible organization.
Continued ... -
Edmonds named athlete of the year
Cooperstown’s Caleb Edmonds did more than enough to earn Daily Star Athlete of the Year honors in track.
Continued ... - Thursday, August 5, 2010
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Petroskey homers, but Hawkeyes eliminated
Cooperstown Hawkeyes owner Tom Hickey said on Monday the team’s inaugural season was a success on every level except for one.
Continued ... -
C’town Legion finishes season 11-8
The Cooperstown American Legion baseball team completewhat head coach Ed Dubben called a successful season by defeating Herkimer, 5-2, last Thursday at Doubleday Field.
Continued ... - Thursday, July 29, 2010
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Dawson has harsh words for steroid users
Andre Dawson entered the Hall of Fame wearing a Montreal Expos cap on Sunday, but it was clear his heart was still in Chicago.
Continued ... -
Hall voting process restructured
Thanks to a restructuring in the way the National Baseball Hall of Fame selects veterans for enshrinement, the late George Steinbrenner might have a plaque in the Cooperstown shrine next summer.
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C’town girls lose first
The Clark Sports Center hosted four games in the girls summer basketball league last Wednesday.
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Hawkeyes will host playoff game
This much is sure: The Cooperstown Hawkeyes will host a playoff game at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Doubleday Field. Who their opponent will be though, is still very much up in the air. Cooperstown clinched a playoff berth with a 4-1 victory over Albany Tuesday evening at Doubleday Field and played two games on Wednesday. They are currently 21-19, a halfgame ahead of fourth place Glens Falls. They played Glens Falls at 1 p.m. on Wednesday and with a win would lock up third place and a likely first round match-up with the Oneonta Outlaws beginning Friday night.
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The Outlaws ended their regular season on Tuesday with an 8-5 win at Albany. - Thursday, July 22, 2010
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'Hawk,' 'Whitey,' 'God' to enter Hall
When former Cubs’ second baseman Ryne Sandberg was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005, he took time during his speech to single out former teammate Andre Dawson, who was in attendance that day.
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Tennis tournament 'a success'
The third annual Chris Gentile Memorial Tennis Tournament was held last weekend at the Clark Sports Center.
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Ozzie to host Play Ball on Friday
He blazed a trail across the baseball world for parts of three decades, forever changing the game with fielding accomplishments never before seen.
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Hawkeyes in playoff hunt as season winds down
If the New York Collegiate Baseball League playoffs were to begin today, the Cooperstown Hawkeyes and Oneonta Outlaws would meet in a first round series. The top four teams in each division qualify for postseason play, and currently Oneonta is in second place and Cooperstown in third with one week left in the regular season.
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Cooperstown All Stars fall in final
The Cooperstown Major League All Star team advanced to the finals of the week-long Oneonta tournament, but fell to the hosts, 15- 8, in the championship game on Sunday.
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