Staff Report

Notes for the 61st annual Hall of Fame Game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays. Game time is 2 p.m. today.

... Former Baltimore standout Cal Ripken Jr., who will be inducted into the Hall on July 29 at the Clark Sports Center, appeared in Cooperstown for the 1998 Hall of Fame Game between the Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays. Ripken, who holds the major league record for consecutive games played (2,632) did not play in the 1998 Fame Game. His streak, which started May 30, 1982 and spanned 17 seasons, stood at 2,583 at the time.

... Baltimore’s Brady Anderson sent six balls out of Doubleday Field to win the 1998 Home Run Derby, which featured Jose Canseco competing for the Blue Jays.

... Baltimore will make its sixth scheduled Fame Game appearance today, while Toronto will make its second. Baltimore is 2-2 in Fame Games; its 1990 appearance against the Montreal Expos was rained out.

... The Blue Jays replaced the New York Mets after ESPN selected Sunday’s Yankees-Mets game as its marquee matchup for Sunday Night Baseball. ESPN’s selection caused a travel conflict for the Mets.

... The Fame Game will run independent of the annual Hall of Fame Weekend for the fifth straight year. From 1977-2002, the exhibition ran the Monday following the annual Induction Ceremony.

... The first Fame Game was played in 1939, when "The Wagners" beat "The Collins," 4-2. The teams were named after Fame Game managers Honus Wagner and Eddie Collins, two of the first 26 men elected to the Hall in the classes of 1936-39.

... According to the website weather.com, today’s game-time temperature will be near 60 degrees. Skies will be partly cloudy with a 10-percent chance of precipitation.

... The May 15, 2006 Hall of Fame Game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates was stopped in the third inning because of rain.