Angels notes: Hall of Fame plans, Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, Justin Upton

Longtime Angels public relations maestro Tim Mead, who now is the president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, said in an interview with Dan Schlossberg at Forbes that he’d like to update the museum at Cooperstown.

From Schlossberg:

“Certain exhibits will change,” he said. “We have a general store here. Somewhere down the line – but I have no idea when it’s going to be – we will do something to enhance the layout of the museum. The 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson (integrated the majors) is coming up in 2022 and we’re looking throughout the museum about updating it. A lot of things can be done with updates but not necessarily an overhaul.”

Mead worked for the Angels for 40 years before being hired by the Hall of Fame in 2019.

The Hall of Fame was closed for a few months this year during the COVID-19 pandemic, but reopened on June 26 with enhanced safety procedures.

The induction ceremony, annually the biggest event in Cooperstown, was originally set for July 26, but was postponed. Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons, and Marvin Miller will instead be inducted along with next year’s class on July 25, 2021.

Links

• The Hall of Fame also postponed the era committee meetings that would have taken place in December. Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs and Joe Posnanski at The Athletic were not fans of this decision.
• There is no MLB All-Star Game this year, but Collin Whitchurch at Baseball Prospectus picked full All-Star teams anyway at the halfway point, including starters Anthony Rendon and Mike Trout, and pitcher Dylan Bundy.
• Shohei Ohtani has been practicing recently during pregame in the outfield this season. There are no plans to use him in the outfield this season, but it’s something to consider going forward. “It’s just a practice thing right now for him, but you can see how proficient he is at it,” Joe Maddon said on Tuesday.
• Brent Maguire at Crashing the Pearly Gates examined Justin Upton’s stunning and rapid loss of power and speed.
• Upton talked Tuesday about his efforts to regain his form, as well as serving as a mentor to some of his teammates. Maria Torres at the Los Angeles Times has more.
• Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic wrote about how Upton and Albert Pujols have adjusted to reduced roles this season.