Home Run Chase Rejuvenates Hall

The chase by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa for baseball’s home run record has helped rejuvenate interest in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., where attendance is up for the first time in four years.

“I think it has a lot to do with a general good feeling with baseball this year,” said Ken Meifert, the Hall’s director of sales.

As of Monday, more than 256,000 fans had visited the Hall of Fame, up about 7% from about 240,000 on the same date in 1997. It is the first increase since the 1994-95 strike.

“The last few days have been outstanding,” Meifert said. “Since the record was broken, we’ve really been doing well.”

The Hall’s attendance record of 410,000 was set in 1989 during its 50th anniversary.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, the House on Tuesday congratulated McGwire and Sosa for their accomplishments.

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Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, once a candidate to become baseball commissioner, could join the ranks of ownership instead. Mitchell has indicated he might be willing to own a piece of the Florida Marlins once Boca Raton commodities trader John Henry completes his purchase. . . . The Kansas City Royals, despite uncertainty over their ownership, extended Manager Tony Muser’s contract through 1999. Muser, 51, was hired from the coaching staff of the Chicago Cubs during the 1997 all-star break to replace the fired Bob Boone and is 100-128. . . . The city of New York has agreed in principle to put a New York Met farm team into a new stadium to be built at Coney Island, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said. “After 40 years we have finally brought professional baseball back to Brooklyn,” the mayor said. . . . Seven-time all-star Paul Molitor of the Minnesota Twins is the winner of the 1998 Branch Rickey Award recognizing major league players for their community service.