Hall of Fame won’t have induction ceremony until 2021

Derek Jeter, Larry Walker and the rest of this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame class will have to wait another year for their big moment at Cooperstown.

The Hall of Fame announced Wednesday that it has canceled the July 26 induction ceremony because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead, the class will be included at next year’s induction festivities — along with any additional new choices — on July 25, 2021.

A record crowd of over 70,000 had been expected this summer at the small town in upstate New York to honor Jeter, the former New York Yankees captain who came within one vote of unanimous election by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in January.

Jeter and Walker were to be inducted with catcher Ted Simmons and the late Marvin Miller, the pioneering players’ union head who negotiated free agency and transformed the sport.

“Induction Weekend is a celebration of our national pastime and its greatest legends, and while we are disappointed to cancel this incredibly special event, the Board of Directors’ overriding concern is the health and well-being of our new inductees, our Hall of Fame members, our wonderful fans and the hundreds of staff,” Hall Chairman Jane Forbes Clark said in a statement.

This will be the first year without an induction ceremony since 1960. The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum closed at the end of the day on March 15 due to the virus outbreak.

Next year’s first-time eligible players have no oddson favorites: Torii Hunter and Mark Buehrle are among the players who will be on the BBWAA ballot for the first time. Holdovers include Curt Schilling, who fell 20 votes short this year, and steroids-tainted stars

Roger Clemens (56 shy) and Barry Bonds (57). All three will be on the ballot for the ninth time, one shy of the limit.

NFL

FAVRE SAYS PACKERS

“BURNED A BRIDGE” WITH RODGERS >> Former Packers quarterback Brett Favre says Aaron Rodgers was surprised by Green Bay’s decision to draft a quarterback in the first round.

Favre said Wednesday on “The Rich Eisen Show” that he had spoken with Rodgers since the Packers traded up four spots in the first round to take Utah State’s Jordan Love with the 26th overall pick in the draft Thursday.

“I’m not going to talk about all that we talked about, but he was, let’s just say, surprised that they went in that direction,” Favre said. “I think that (the Packers) burned a bridge that’s going to be hard to overcome. At some point, I think it will rear its ugly head.’’

Favre told Eisen that “my gut tells me” Rodgers won’t finish his career in Green Bay. Rodgers, a two- time MVP, has four years remaining on his contract.

“I think maybe two years from now they reassess what the future is and Aaron may be reassessing where he wants to play,” Favre told SiriusXM NFL Radio in a separate interview.

The selection of Love came 15 years after the Packers drafted Rodgers at No. 24 overall when they already had one of the game’s top quarterbacks in Favre. Rodgers spent three seasons as a backup quarterback before becoming the Packers’ starter in 2008, leading to Favre’s exit from Green Bay.

Basketball

THORN SAYS THOMAS JUST DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT >> Isiah Thomas calls the Dream Team omission the biggest hole on his basketball resume and insists he should have been part of the 1992 United States Olympic goldmedal roster.

Thomas believes players, including rival Michael Jordan, influenced the decision of the personnel executives who assembled that team, including Rod Thorn.

Thorn was responsible for putting the team together but said ohe never talked to Jordan or anyone else about Thomas’ inclusion.

Thorn, who served as general manager of the Chicago Bulls when Jordan was drafted third overall in 1984, said he did call Jordan. However, Thorn said Thomas never was brought up in their conversation. He also said no other players on the Dream Team mentioned Thomas to him.

“My conversation with Michael was strictly about Michael, about Michael playing,” Thorn said in an ESPN interview. “Obviously, the committee was hopeful that Michael would play, because he was the No. 1 player in the league at that time and the No. 1 player in the world and the most popular player in the world at that time.”

The situation has come to light recently because of the docuseries “The Last Dance,” which featured an episode on the Bulls-Pistons bad blood and will also have a look at the 1992 team that blitzed the competition in Barcelona to win gold.

Thorn said Thomas wasn’t the only “great player” left off the 10-man roster. Atlanta Hawks perennial All-Star Dominique Wilkins, Indiana Pacers shooting guard Reggie Miller, and Jordan’s friend and college teammate James Worthy (Los Angeles Lakers) were also part of the cut.

Thorn said there was no specific reason any of those players didn’t make it, noting, “When we ended up going with the first 10 guys, he did not end up making the team.”

Colleges

PLAYERS CLEARED TO CASH IN >> The NCAA Board of Governors voted to support rule changes that would allow athletes to cash in on the use of their fame, as long as schools were not paying athletes for any of these money-generating opportunities, the NCAA announced.

The board’s recommendations will be forwarded to the NCAA’s three divisions, which are expected by next January to adopt name, image and likeness rules that would go into place at the start of the 2021-22 academic year.

The NCAA had been under increasing pressure in recent years to allow athletes to capitalize on the use of their abilities, just like other students can if they have exceptional talents but do not compete in sports. The plan would let athletes, for example, make deals as social media influencers, appear in commercials or hold paid autograph sessions.

But the NCAA’s opening of financial opportunities for athletes did not come without restrictions. The most significant one is that students would not be paid directly by universities, something the NCAA will go to Congress to ask for federal protection on, on the idea that athletes are not university employees.

Golf

LPGA DELAYS RESTART >> The LPGA Tour bought itself an extra month to make sure it’s safe to resume playing, releasing a new schedule that could end with two of its biggest events and finish five days before Christmas.

The LPGA hopes to restart on July 15-18 at a team event in Michigan and play every week except for the week of the Masters (Nov. 12-15) and Thanksgiving until the season ends in blockbuster fashion — the U.S. Women’s Open followed by the CME Group Tour Championship, with a combined $10.5 million in prize money. The midJuly start, however, means there’s nowhere to put tournaments if there’s another delay. Any more delays likely would mean a hybrid season that ends in 2021.

Motors

MOTOCROSS ICON SMITH KILLED >> Marty Smith, an AMA Motocross Hall of Famer and one of the sport’s earliest icons, has died in a dune buggy accident with his wife. He was 63.

Smith won three AMA championships during the sport’s early years in the 1970s and was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 1990.

College basketball

USC LOSES WEAVER >> USC guard Elijah Weaver has entered the NCAA transfer portal. He averaged 6.6 points and 1.8 assists in 31 games last season, coming off the bench for the final 17 games. He shot 41% from the field and 33% from 3-point range. The sophomore was expected to be a key part of the Trojans’ lineup next season.