The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Hall of Fame Game History: 2000-present

Diamondbacks hex Hargrove's Tribe, 12-7 -- July 24, 2000

Mike Hargrove's Cleveland Indians came into Cooperstown to play against Buck Showalter's Arizona Diamondbacks, in the 1998 expansion team's maiden voyage to Cooperstown. There would be no rookie jinx, as Arizona rolled to a 12-7 victory against one of the American League's eight original franchises. The game was a see-saw battle from the start. After spotting the Indians a run in the top of the first inning, Greg Colbrunn hit the first home run of the day, a three-run shot to give Arizona a 3-1 lead. The Indians charged back in the top of the second with back-to-back home runs by Travis Fryman and Alex Ramirez. Tied at three in the fourth inning, Ricky Ledee's solo blast put the Indians up 4-3, but the Diamondbacks countered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, to take a 5-4 lead. Cleveland once again tied up the game in the sixth inning and the Diamondbacks scored once in the bottom half of the frame. The Indians tied the game at 6-6 in the seventh inning. In the eighth inning the Indians made a bid to tie the game or take the lead, but Game MVP Luis Terrero, playing center field for Arizona, made a great diving catch to preserve the tie. The Diamondbacks put up six runs in the bottom of the eighth to seal the victory, with Terrero leading off and scoring the go-ahead run. The Indians loaded the bases in the ninth inning, and Alex Ramirez lined a rocket to center field and Terrero made another splendid play to hold the Indians to just a sacrifice fly. Mike Hargrove started his 6'7'', 250 pound lefthander C.C. Sabathia, who pitched three innings. Cleveland also started Jim Thome and Richie Sexson as the two split time at first base. Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Alex Cabrera won the home run derby preceding the game, with seven long balls.

Brewers upend Marlins, 6-2 -- August 6, 2001

The Milwaukee Brewers, in their first Hall of Fame Game appearance as a National League club and second overall (beating the Mets in 1976), took on the Florida Marlins and came away the victor, 6-2. Milwaukee Manager Davey Lopes started often-injured pitcher Everett Stull against sophomore Hall of Famer Tony Pérez' Marlins. Stull pitched brilliantly, allowing one hit in six innings of work, while going 2-3 at the plate, scoring a run. Stull earned Game MVP honors as a result. Four Marlins allowed 14 Brewers hits, but two were home runs, including one by outfielder James Mouton. The Brewers scored single runs in the second and fourth innings and added a pair of runs in the fifth inning, to take a commanding, 4-0 lead, never looking back. The Marlins runs were accounted for by two young players, as Adrian Gonzalez laced an RBI-double and Miguel Cabrera -- at the ripe age of 18 -- smashed a solo home run. The winner of the home run derby was Chad Mottola of the Marlins as he went deep six times to win the contest.

Offensive records fall as Rockies top Sox, 18-10 -- July 29, 2002

The Colorado Rockies were used to scoring runs in bunches when they made their inaugural appearance in the 2002 Hall of Fame Game. With a game-time temperature in the mid-90s, the Rockies' bats stayed hot as well, pounding out a Game-record 24 hits en route to an 18-10 slugfest over the Chicago White Sox. Chicago's two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning put the Pale Hose out-front, 6-5. From there, a seven-spot by the Rockies in the top of the seventh busted open a tight game, while six more runs in the top of the ninth made the game the highest scoring contest in Hall of Fame Game history. MVP Mark Little became the first player in Game history to record five hits in a game, going five-for-six with four RBI. Ben Petrick also drove in four runs and Bryan Peck collected four hits. Greg Norton won the pre-game Home Run derby. Seven Hall of Fame Game records were established on the afternoon. The next day, Colorado's starting pitcher, John Thomson, was traded to the New York Mets, along with Little.

Phillies' farmhand fans nine to down Devil Rays, 7-5 -- June 16, 2003

The Philadelphia Phillies relied on the arm of minor-league lefty Cole Hamels, and the Phillies' bats provided just enough muscle, to down the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, skippered by Lou Piniella, in their Hall of Fame Game debut, 7-5. Hamels fanned nine batters in five innings of relief. Although the win was credited to Frank Brooks, Hamels dominance allowed the Philadelphia bats time to rally for the win. Home runs from Pat Burrell and Nick Punto in the seventh and eighth innings accounted for the winning runs in the contest, as Philadelphia held Tampa Bay scoreless in the final two innings. The two teams combined to strikeout a Hall of Fame Game record 25 times. The Home Run Derby produced the day's most excitement as Tampa Bay teammates Travis Lee and Ben Grieve matched each other swing-for-swing for three rounds. Grieve prevailed with a 13-12 home run advantage in the most prolific contest in Game history.

Braves, Schuerholz win solo-homer battle, 10-7 -- June 14, 2004

Atlanta general manager John Schuerholz doesn't have to look far for some future talent. Jonathan Schuerholz was part of a six-run rally in the ninth inning for the Braves who defeated the Minnesota Twins 10-7 at Doubleday Field in front of a sellout crowd of 9,868 on June 14, 2004. "It's unbelievable to play on Doubleday Field," Schuerholz said. "Anytime you can do something like this in front of your father makes it even better." Schuerholz, one of eight players called up from the Braves class A affiliate in Myrtle Beach (South Carolina), went 4-for-4, scored two runs and drove in one. Jose Cappellan, from Atlanta's class AA affiliate in Greenville (South Carolina), got the win and only allowed one hit while striking out two in two innings of work. Bobby Korecky, from Minnesota's class AA affiliate in New Britain (Connecticut), took the loss after giving up six runs (five earned) in his inning of work. Paul Byrd made a rehabilitation start for the Braves, on his way back from a right elbow ligament injury. Byrd went six innings, allowed six runs (four earned), gave up eight hits, walked none and struck out two. Scott Baker, added from New Britain, started for the Twins and went five innings, gave up two runs and struck out eight. The game featured seven home runs - all solo shots. Atlanta centerfielder Andruw Jones homered in his only at-bat. The Twins had won their three previous appearances in the Hall of Fame Game prior to this loss, which drops their record to 3-2 overall. The Braves evened their Hall of Fame Game record to 2-2. Matthew LeCroy of the Minnesota Twins won the pre-game Home Run Derby, beating Atlanta's Johnny Estrada 7-6. Eliminated in the first round of the contest were Minnesota's Michael Restovich and Michael Cuddyer and Atlanta's Chipper Jones and Mike Hessman.

Walk-off homer lifts Tigers over Red Sox, 6-4 -- May 23, 2005

Derek Nicholson only had one homerun coming to the 2005 Hall of Fame Game. He picked a good time to hit number two. Nicholson hit a two-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Detroit Tigers a 6-4 win over the world champion Boston Red Sox in front of a sellout crowd of 9,773 at Doubleday Field. "I'm on cloud nine," said Nicholson, who was called up from the Tigers class A affiliate in Lakeland, Fla. "This is my 15 minutes of fame, and I'm totally stoked right now. This is awesome." Nicholson came to the plate with Russ Cleveland on second base who lined a two-out double into right-center to keep the Tigers alive in the bottom of the ninth. Nicholson sent his game-winner to the opposite field in left-center. If Nicholson hadn't won the game for the Tigers, it would have ended in a tie. Detroit's Carlos Pena earned game MVP honors by going 4-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI. Mark Johnson started for the Tigers, who called up the right-hander from their class AA affiliate in Erie, Pa. Johnson pitched well, going five innings, giving up six hits, allowing one unearned run and striking out four. The Red Sox rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game at four. Leftfielder Mike Lockwood, added to the roster from the Red Sox class AAA affiliate in Pawtucket, R.I., led Boston with two hits, two RBIs and one run. The Tigers improved to 3-4 in Hall of Fame Game appearances, with their other victories coming in 1968 and 1984, both years where Detroit won the World Series. The Red Sox dropped to 4-3 overall, with their last win coming over the San Francisco Giants in 1975, 11-5. David Ortiz left no doubt to who was the best homerun hitter on this day as he smacked eight out of Doubleday Field - including his first six swings - during the pregame Home Run Derby. Fellow Red Sox' Johnny Damon (four) and Jay Payton (three) competed with Detroit's Craig Monroe (five), Marcus Thames (three) and Dmitri Young (six).

Rain washes out game with Reds leading Pirates -- May 15, 2006

The rain finally fell in Cooperstown in the early afternoon on Monday, May 15, washing out the 60th annual Hall of Fame Game between the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates. Bad weather had been hovering over the area for the entire weekend, but little rain had fell, until the middle of the third inning, when the skies dumped the field with a steady downpour. Officials called the game after both managers expressed their worries over the condition of the pitcher's mound. At the time of the game being called, the Reds were leading, 3-0 (with two runs scored on a second-inning home run by Quinton McCracken), going into the bottom of the 3rd inning, at 2:23 p.m., 43 minutes after the first pitch of 1:40 p.m. As the game did not meet the requirements of an official game, the contest was considered a cancelled game. Cincinnati's Eric Milton, who was on the disabled list, pitched two hitless innings for the Reds, striking out two of the six batters he faced. The rainout marked the fifth time since the game's beginning in 1940 that it had been canceled due to rain, the first time since 1993, when the Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers were rained out. Other rain outs took place in 1990 (Baltimore-Montreal), 1962 (New York Yankees-Milwaukee Braves) and 1944 (Detroit-New Yor Mets).

Orioles outslug Blue Jays in homer-filled game -- May 21, 2007

The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 13-7, on Monday, May 21, at historic Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y., before a sellout crowd of 9,791. Baltimore's Aubrey Huff staked the Orioles to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with a three-run home run scoring Brian Roberts and Miguel Tejada. After two more Orioles runs in the fourth extended the lead to 5-0, the Blue Jays started a rally, drawing first to 5-3 on a three-run home run by John Ford-Griffin of the club's Triple-A affiliate Syracuse Chiefs and 6-5 by the Chiefs' Howie Clark in the top of the seventh. Orioles catcher Brian Bock, who was recalled from Frederick (A) of the Carolina League to start the game, was named the Game's Most Valuable Player, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, two home runs, including a grand slam, and five RBI. Bock caught all nine innings of the game. His first home run extended the Orioles lead to 6-3 and his slam in the bottom of the seventh ran the advantage to 10-5.

Hailstorms cancel final Hall of Fame Game -- June 16, 2008

Even the most meticulous plans don't always come to fruition when they involve baseball and weather. The Hall of Fame, the village of Cooperstown and the local chamber of commerce did their best to put on a memorable show for the 69th and final Hall of Fame Game, but the temperamental weather of Central New York did not cooperate. A series of rain showers and heavy thunderstorms drenched the playing field at Doubleday Field and ultimately washed out the finale, scheduled to be played by the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres, before a single pitch could even be thrown. At 2:37 p.m., it was announced that "today's game has been canceled" and that full refunds would be given to each of the 9,571 fans in attendance. The rainout brings an official end to the Hall of Fame Game, which was first played in 1940 by the Cubs and the Boston Red Sox, but ended in 2008 due to conflicts created by the Major League Baseball schedule.