Story Created:
Jul 23, 2010 at 4:25 PM EST
Story Updated:
Jul 23, 2010 at 6:31 PM EST
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (WKTV) - The 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Weekend got off to a slow start because of the rain. The Play Ball with Ozzie Smith event, which included Paul Molitor and Bruce Sutter, had to be changed to a Q&A session, and everyone had to adjust.
But no more so than the fans of the national pastime, who braved the wet and soggy conditions in Cooperstown, to meet some of the game's greatest names, but even the Hall of Fame isn't impervious to precipitation.
Rain is the natural enemy of a baseball fan, as well as the players, who know how tough it is to wait through a rain delay.
"It's just a matter of always presuming that you're going to play. I think players get in trouble when they see rain, see storms, let their guard down and all of a sudden it's time to go and you're performance laxes. So it was a matter of keeping your mental edge, regardless of conditions," Molitor said.
"For guys that played every day, we probably laid out and got some more sleep. But for some guys, they played cards, a lot of guys did their mail," added Ozzie.
Fergie Jenkins also chimed in, saying "I think if I'd started a ballgame and it was in hand, I'd be hoping to go back out there. Now in a rain delay, starting pitcher doesn't get a chance to finish his game, but in my era, we went out there and finished it, because we wanted to get a win."
Jenkins signed autographs at the Cooperstown Bat Company, and was joined by fellow Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry, as well as two other big names from the game's past, Bill Buckner and Bert Campaneris.
Buckner added to the rain discussion, saying that rain could be good or bad, depending on how well you're performing. "If you're having a good day, you have a couple hits, you want to get back out on the field, make sure you get credit for those things, make sure the game becomes official, but if you're oh-for-2, oh-for-3, you might hope the game gets rained out."
While rain is in the forecast the rest of the weekend, it's supposed to clear up by Sunday afternoon, just in time for the Induction Ceremony for this year's inductees, Andre Dawson, Whitey Herzog and Doug Harvey.
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