With a special dedication to Hall of Famer Juan Marichal on the 25th anniversary of his election to Cooperstown, an exhibit titled "See you at the Park! Baseball and Culture in the Dominican Republic" officially opened Friday in the Centro Le?n museum. Centro Le?n's general director Rafael Emilio Yun?n described the exhibit as a journey through the history and organization of baseball in the Dominican Republic and a look at how the native population has adopted the sport as one of its most signature cultural expressions. Baseball, said Yunen, is more than a game in the Dominican and has become a vital element in daily life on the island which was the impetus for putting together the exhibition. Also on hand for the event was Dale Petroskey, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and Rub Ruck, a professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh who has written several books on Dominican and Caribbean baseball and helped with the creation of the exhibit.

Former Astros' second baseman Craig Biggio will be among five athletes honored Feb. 5 at the 28th annual Thurman Munson Awards Dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Joining Biggio in being recognized at the gala will be New York Mets' All-Star third baseman David Wright, New York Yankees' center fielder Melky Cabrera, New York Knicks' guard Jamal Crawford, and Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi. All five will receive "Thurmans" for their success on the field of play and their work within the community. The award is named in memory of the former Yankees' captain who died in a 1979 plane crash. Biggio, who grew up in the New York area, idolized Thurman Munson as a child.

Jim Rice, the former star of 16 seasons, all with the Red Sox, barely missed by 16 votes as he fell 2.8 percent (72.2) below the necessary 75 percent to gain admission to the hallowed red-brick Hall on Main Street in Cooperstown. He'll undoubtedly go in next year when Rickey Henderson will be an obvious first-time favorite. Rice then will be on the writers' ballot for his 15th and final year.

A year after Tony Gwynn was a first-time electee along with Cal Ripken Jr., the induction ceremony on July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y., will again have a distinct Padres' flavor. Rich "Goose" Gossage, who may be better known for his first tour with the Yankees (1978-83), was elected on Tuesday in his ninth year on the ballot. He'll join his former Padres' manager Dick Williams on the stage behind the Clark Sports Center this coming summer. Williams, who won the World Series twice as manager of the A's and will go in wearing an Oakland cap, teamed with Gossage in 1984, as the Padres won the first National League pennant in franchise history.

Goose Gossage is filled with confidence. Always has been. "I came into situations that God couldn't get out of, and I got out of them," he said Wednesday. "I'm not blowing my own horn, but this is just fact. Nobody did it like me." After falling short eight times in balloting for the Hall of Fame, the Goose could make it in when this year's results are released Tuesday. Only four pitchers who were primarily relievers have been given baseball's highest honor: Hoyt Wilhelm (1985), Rollie Fingers (1992), Dennis Eckersley (2004), and Bruce Sutter (2006). Last year, when Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn were voted in, Gossage's percentage increased from 64.6 to 71.2 and he fell 21 votes short of the 75 percent needed for election.

Most players dream of getting to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Shawon Dunston is on this year's ballot, but he may be the only one who is already in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. The "Shawon-O-Meter," a cardboard sign which Chicago Cubs' fans created to chart Dunston's batting average, is enshrined in the Smithsonian. Dunston will find out Jan. 8 if he's headed to Cooperstown. Results will be announced on MLB.com's Hall of Fame Election Show. Dunston, on the ballot for the first time, possessed a rifle arm, speed and hustle, running hard to first whether it was a groundout or double in the gap. The slender shortstop was the first overall pick in the 1982 First-Year Player Draft by the Cubs after batting .790 for Brooklyn's Thomas Jefferson High School. He played 18 seasons, starting in Chicago from 1985-95 and 1997. Dunston also played in San Francisco (1996, 2001-02), Pittsburgh (1997), Cleveland (1998), St. Louis (1999, 2000) and with the New York Mets (1999).

There was a time in the 1990s when Chuck Knoblauch appeared well on his way to becoming enshrined in Cooperstown, N.Y. A .304 hitter in seven seasons as the Twins' second baseman, Knoblauch was on a similar statistical path of Rod Carew, a Hall of Famer and former Twin. Add that to his trademark defense and all-around heads-up play on the diamond and Knoblauch seemed to fit the perfect mold of a Hall of Fame player. But following a trade to the Yankees before the '98 season, Knoblauch's career endured some setbacks that put his candidacy in danger. And now it will be up to the voters to see if that early success for Knoblauch will be enough to gain him induction into the hallowed halls of Cooperstown. This year marks Knoblauch's first opportunity to be on the ballot. He's joined by fellow first-time players Tim Raines and David Justice.