2021 Baseball HOF Ceremony Featuring Derek Jeter to Be Held Without Fans

The 2021 Baseball Hall of Fame ceremony, which is scheduled for Sunday, July 25, will be held without fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic, per the Associated Press. 

Ex-New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, former MLB outfielder Larry Walker, ex-MLBPA executive director Marvin Miller and former catcher Ted Simmons form the Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2020, whose enshrinement ceremony last year was canceled because of COVID-19.

The class of 2021 will not have any new members after all eligible players failed to hit the 75-percent threshold needed on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballots.

Jeter, Walker, Miller and Simmons will be honored in a private, indoor and televised ceremony in Cooperstown.

Per the AP, over 55,000 people attended the 2019 Hall of Fame ceremony, which featured a stacked class including ex-pitchers Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Mike Mussina and Lee Smith and former power hitters Edgar Martinez and Harold Baines.

Jeter was one of the most popular players of his generation, and Walker was particularly beloved as well, so tens of thousands arriving in Central New York wouldn't have been a surprise this year. However, out of an abundance of caution, the Hall of Fame will keep the ceremony indoors without fan attendance.

Per Hall of Fame chair Jane Forbes Clark, the "continuing uncertainties" of COVID-19 contributed to the decision. She also noted that the indoor ceremony will abide by "required New York State guidelines."