Before all of the Santana news, MLB announced that this year will be the last year of the Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown. The two teams that will be playing in this historic game are the Cubs and the Padres. The series has been played since 1940 and now also includes a home run derby at the start. As you probably guessed, the game is played at Double Day Field.
The reason that this is a big deal is because I feel that they are missing an obvious solution. The game is an exhibition game and should stay that way. There is nothing wrong with moving the game to March though. When major league clubs are playing games in Bejing and Tokyo for Spring Training, and now with the Civil Rights game in Memphis, there is nothing wrong with having two teams play a game in Cooperstown. The game already is mostly minor leaguers because major league clubs want their players to get rest.
Hopefully the administrative departments of baseball have had an idea similar to this and hopefully they will act on it. It is a shame to see a tradition like this go to waste. I know that many people do not pay attention to the game, but it brings in business for the town, and the game is generally sold out, so it is still viable.