Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony for Class of 2020 Moved to September 8

The Baseball Hall of Fame is moving its induction ceremony to Sept. 8 and opening up the sale of a limited number of tickets for the outdoor event.

"On behalf of our Board of Directors and our Staff, we are thrilled to be able to welcome our Hall of Famers—the living legends—and fans back to Cooperstown to celebrate the Induction of the Class of 2020," Hall of Fame chairman Jane Forbes Clark said in a statement. "Returning the Induction Ceremony to an outdoor event will provide the baseball community with the opportunity to visit Cooperstown and celebrate the Induction of four of the game’s Greats."

With nobody voted into the Hall for 2021, the induction ceremony will honor only the 2020 inductee class: Derek Jeter, Marvin Miller, Ted Simmons and Larry Walker.

In February, the Hall of Fame initially announced it planned to stage an induction ceremony on July 25, albeit indoors without fans amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

With more and more Americans getting vaccinated, large public gatherings have become more viable again. The New York Knicks, for example, had 16,512 fans inside Madison Square Garden for their last NBA playoff home game.

Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson told USA Today's Bob Nightengale how the United States was "moving in the right direction" with regard to vaccines, which has "afforded us the opportunity to bring in some fans, and the Hall of Famers who are comfortable coming back."

The Hall of Fame said Wednesday it has typically had around 50,000 fans at each of its last six induction ceremonies. Nightengale wrote initial projections forecasted at least 90,000 fans for the 2020 induction given Jeter's status as a legendary member of the New York Yankees.

With the attendance limits in place, it's unclear how many tickets will be allotted for fans to attend this fall.