The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum led off Induction Weekend 2026 with the traditional fundraiser with Ozzie Smith.
Nearly $20,000 was raised Friday, July 24, at Smith’s Turn Two event at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown.
Smith, a 2002 Hall of Fame inductee who has been the Museum’s Education Ambassador for more than two decades, brought fellow Hall of Famers Tony Oliva, Billy Wagner and Robin Yount for this year’s event, which offers Hall members playing tips from the game’s best players.
“The concept from the beginning was to give people the opportunity to visit with guys that they otherwise would not have the opportunity to visit with on a personal level,” Smith said in a media release. “You’re able to get up close with the players that were your heroes. We’ve been able to do that for over 20 years now, and hopefully we’ll continue to do that.”
In addition to supporting the Hall of Fame’s educational initiatives, Turn Two also raises funds for diversity scholarships for the Hall of Fame’s Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Leadership Development.
White to get O’Neill Award
Induction Weekend will continue at 3 p.m., Saturday, July 25, with the Award Ceremony at the Alice Busch Opera Theater at The Glimmerglass Festival in the town of Springfield.
Former National League President Bill White will become the seventh person to receive the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award.
According to the Hall of Fame, the award is presented by the Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors “not more than once every three years to honor an individual whose extraordinary efforts enhanced baseball’s positive impact on society, broadened the game’s appeal, and whose character, integrity and dignity are comparable to the qualities exhibited by O’Neil. The Award, named after the late John ‘Buck’ O’Neil, was first given in 2008, with O’Neil being the first recipient.”
While played from 1956 to 1969, before becoming a broadcaster with the New York Yankees. He called Bucky Dent’s home run in the 1978 American League championship, one of the famous calls in Yankee and baseball history.
White became NL president in 1989 and served in that role for five years, including during an expansion period that brought Colorado and Miami into the league.
In addition to White, the ceremony will honor Ford C. Frick winner Joe Buck and BBWAA award winner Paul Hoynes. The Hall will also honor Rick Monday and display the flag he saved from protesters in 1976.
Also on Saturday, the Parade of Legends will begin at 6 p.m., with the Hall of Famers riding along Main Street in Cooperstown.
Record number of HOFers expected
Carlos Beltrán, Jeff Kent and Andruw Jones will be inducted at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, July 26, at The Clark Sports Center in the town of Middlefield and Hall officials have said they expect a record number of returning Hall of Fame members to show up in support.
Sixty of the 77 living Hall of Famers have indicated they will attend Sunday’s ceremony. The record for member attendance is 58 in 2019.
The ceremony can be viewed on the MLB Network and heard on the MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.