Players help sought to save hall game

WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- A group of 30 Major League players has been recruited to help save Major League Baseball's annual hall of fame contest.

Major League Baseball plans to discontinue the annual contest in Cooperstown, N.Y., following the 2008 contest between San Diego and the Chicago Cubs.

The group includes Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr., who is two short of 600 home runs for his career, and 350-game winner Greg Maddux of San Diego.

"It is clear that many people feel that this decision came about from the players and the players association, despite Major League Baseball's public role in the cancellation," savethefamegame.com said in a letter on Wednesday. "For many people, the idea that players wouldn't want to go to Cooperstown -- a place that most, if not all, players aspire to one day be immortalized -- is unfathomable and makes absolutely no sense."

Since 1940, the contest has been played annually. Among the hall's members are Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle and Joe Dimaggio.