Boston.RedSox.MLB.com

By Alan Ginsberg / MLB.com

American League Champion Series MVP David Ortiz and teammates will face the Tigers at Doubleday Field. (Amy Sancetta/AP)

The Red Sox will play the Detroit Tigers in the 59th annual Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown, N.Y., on Monday, May 23 at Doubleday Field.

The Hall of Fame Game is the only exhibition game held during the Major League Baseball season. The Red Sox will travel to Cooperstown after hosting Atlanta for a three-game Interleague set May 20-22, and will depart from Cooperstown for Toronto for three mid-week games before a three-game weekend series at Yankee Stadium.

The Red Sox appeared in the first-ever Hall of Fame Game in 1940, losing, 10-9, to the Cubs despite two Ted Williams home runs in a game called after seven innings due to rain.

This year will mark both teams' seventh appearance in the Hall of Fame Game. Boston has a 4-2 all-time Game record, tying the Yankees and Rangers for most wins by a franchise in Game history, and last appeared in 1985, losing, 5-3, to Houston. The Red Sox were scheduled to appear in 1989, but the game was cancelled when the Reds were stranded in Montreal, with Boston instead playing an intrasquad contest.

The Red Sox will become the fourth defending World Series champions to appear in the Hall of Fame Game and first since the Royals faced the Rangers in 1986. Five World Series contestants overall have gone on to appear in the next season's Hall of Fame Game.

Traditionally, the Hall of Fame Game has paired Interleague rivals. The 2005 edition will mark the fourth time in Game history that teams from the same league have squared off, with the most recent occurrence being a National League showdown between Milwaukee and Florida in 2001.

For the last three years, the Hall of Fame Game has been held independently of Hall of Fame Weekend, which will take place July 29-Aug. 1, 2005. Along with the Hall of Fame Game, the Third Annual Cooperstown Game Day Parade will feature both teams participating in a Main Street event. Other, yet-to-be-announced activities will round out Hall of Fame Game weekend. This season's Game will be the earliest in history, breaking the previous record of June 13 -- set four times, but not since 1949 -- by three weeks.

Doubleday Field is some 240 miles from Fenway Park, but much closer to the outer reaches of the New England heart of Red Sox nation in western Massachusetts and Vermont.

Tickets starting at $10 will be available at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Saturday, Feb. 19, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. ET and come with a complimentary admission to the Museum on that day. Friends of the Hall of Fame members will be able to purchase a maximum of six tickets per membership from Feb. 21-25 at baseballhalloffame.org or by calling the mail order department at 888-HALL-OF-FAME. Any remaining tickets will then be offered to the general public beginning March 1, at 9 a.m. ET on the Internet and by phone.

Alan Ginsberg is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

print this page    |    email this page