World Baseball Hall of Fame Wants to Build Headquarters in Hoboken

The World Baseball Hall of Fame, a new competitor to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY, is lobbying to make Hoboken the location of their headquarters and visiting center.

What’s the draw? Hoboken – not Cooperstown - is the true birthplace of the national pastime, their members claim.

As the Hudson Reporter explains:

“Cooperstown’s claim to that title is based on the thoroughly-debunked fable that Civil War hero Abner Doubleday first drew a diamond there in 1839… By contrast, most baseball historians now recognize the June 19, 1846 outing between the New York Knickerbockers and the New York Nine at Elysian Fields on Hoboken as the first competitive game under modern rules.”

The organization’s president, Bruce Prentice, told the Hudson Reporter that although they haven’t chosen a particular area in Hoboken yet, he envisioned a “circle of seven-foot-tall concrete or granite pillars inscribing a sweeping metal sculpture,” in addition to a gift shop.

COOPERSTOWN COMPETITOR

The World Baseball Hall of Fame describes itself as a “non-profit organization whose mission is to select and honor great baseball players and personalities from around the world.”

Their board of directors and advisors includes members from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, as well as baseball personalities such as Cito Gaston, a former manager for the Toronto Blue Jays.

In a press release, the organization laid out its criteria for its inductees:

• The Selection committee will consist of members of the Board of Governors, Board of Advisors, and others chosen from the baseball community
• Candidates include those from the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Australia, Cuba and Canada
• Aside from the organization’s current total of 24 inductees, a maximum of six will be elected each year
• The formula for voting will “ensure not all elected will be from Cooperstown”

ON THE BALLOT

Current inductees include: Hank Aaron, Sadaharu Oh, Babe Ruth, Roberto Clemente, Ferguson Jenkins, Juan Marichal, Shigeo Nagashima, Bobby Avila, Minnie Minoso, Viktor Starffin, and builders Albert Spalding and Harry Wright.

Nominees from the organization’s last round of voting included: Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Cy Young, Lou Gehrig, Rube Waddell, Carl Hubbell, Connie Mack, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Tom Lasorda, Nolan Ryan, Rod Carew, Luis Aparicio, Pete Rose, Tim Raines, Roger Maris, Joe Jackson, Lefty O’Doul, Jack Morris, James ‘Tip’ O’Neill (Canada), Larry Walker (Canada), Joe Quinn (Australia), Hector Espino (Mexico), Martin DiHago (Cuba), Omar Linares (Cuba), Luis Tiant (Cuba), Tony Oliva, (Cuba); Edgar Martinez (Puerto Rico); Dennis Martinez (Nicaragua).

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