Piniella, Cubs Asked to Please Show Respect for National Pastime

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WASHINGTON, DC (June 14, 2008)-- Responding to various media reports from Chicago in which Cubs manager Lou Piniella makes clear his disdain for making a visit to Cooperstown on Monday for the Hall of Fame Game, the savethefamegame.com campaign is respectfully asking Piniella and Cubs players and management to please show respect for the national pastime when they visit baseball's hometown.

"It is disappointing to read the recent comments made by Cubs manager Lou Piniella regarding the upcoming celebration of the national pastime in the sport's celebrated home," said savethefamegame.com creator Kristian Connolly. "The Hall of Fame Game is about something much bigger than the 2008 Chicago Cubs, and I hope that they understand and respect that on Monday. It is also disappointing to learn that the Cubs are intentionally making the trip to Cooperstown as logistically difficult as they possible could on themselves, and I hope that that they don't expect sympathy from baseball fans because of their poor planning.

"All baseball fans -- especially those who are true Cubs fans who wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to see their beloved team play if not for the 2008 Hall of Fame Game -- want the Cubs to please respect the game and enjoy the event for what it is meant to be: a celebration of baseball on baseball's home field in baseball's hometown."

In both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, it has been reported that the Cubs will remain in Toronto following their 1 p.m. game on Sunday, rather than fly to Albany early Sunday evening and then make their way to Cooperstown. Instead, the Cubs will leave their hotel at 7:30 Monday morning, catch a 1 1/2 hour flight from Toronto to Albany, catch a 1 1/2 hour bus ride from Albany to Cooperstown, and then -- hopefully -- arrive in time for the Hall of Fame Game Parade at Noon that day.

"Leaving yourself 4 1/2 hours to get from Toronto to Cooperstown is not wise under any circumstances, especially when then are 10,000 baseball fans eagerly awaiting your arrival at a celebration of baseball in Cooperstown. We hope that the choices made by the Cubs to travel this way do not affect their participation in Monday's events."

It has also been reported that the Cubs will bring 15 rookie-league players from Arizona to Cooperstown to play in Monday's game. While no one expects Major League players to play the majority of the contest at Doubleday Field, they certainly expect that Cubs Major Leaguers will take part in the game for a respectable amount of time, just as some of baseball's all-time great players -- like Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Cal Ripken Jr., Dave Winfield and more -- have done in the nearly 70-year-history of the game.

The savethefamegame.com campaign was launched earlier this year, following the announcement by Major League Baseball that the 2008 Hall of Fame Game is to be the final such game played, ending a tradition that began in 1940. The site allows people the opportunity to send an email to Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, MLB chief operating officer Bob Dupuy, Major League Baseball Players Association head Donald Fehr and Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson, urging them to reinstate the Hall of Fame Game as an annual part of the baseball calendar.