Published: March 26, 2008 04:22 pm         

Officials: No one event caused Hall ouster

By Tom Grace

Cooperstown News Bureau

Dale Petroskey was not ousted suddenly or because of any one event, National Baseball Hall of Fame officials and others said Wednesday, the day after the Hall’s president tendered his resignation.

The Hall’s Executive Committee, its top management, met privately several times to review Petroskey’s, and the Hall’s, performance before a decision was made to sever ties.

``The committee has some influential members and they take their work very seriously,’’ said Edward Stack, a member of the committee and former longtime Hall of Fame chair.

Others on the committee include the current Chair Jane Forbes Clark; Hall of Fame player, Joe Morgan; "Meet The Press" moderator Tim Russert; and former Major League President Paul Beeston.

``There was no criminal activity associated with this,’’ said Stack. ``For the committee, it was a question of management style more than anything.’’

The Executive Committee met several times with all members present to discuss Petroskey’s job performance, and in the end, ``Dale and the committee came to a mutual decision to part ways,’’ he said.

``Dale had been with us nine years, and he’s been a good face for the Hall of Fame. He’s been more of an external person, dealing with the Hall of Famers and the community at large, and he was good at it,’’ said Stack.

Internally however, baseball’s shrine lost money in some recent years. According to Internal Revenue Service records, the Hall lost $1.31 million in 2004, before bouncing back in 2005 to net $1.46 million on revenues of about $13 million.

Then in 2006, the most recent year for which IRS records are available, the institution ran in the red again, losing about $1.93 million.

But Petroskey, who earned more than$300,000 a year, did not lose his job in the midst of a financial downturn.

According to Brad Horn, Hall of Fame spokesman, 2007 ``looks to be one of the strongest years in a long time. The overall financial picture for the museum is healthy.’’

However the former president, who came to the Hall after working as an executive with the National Geographic Society, did lose his committee’s confidence.

And according to one longtime Cooperstown resident with ties to the Hall, ``it wasn’t one thing. It was a lot of little things.’’

Late last fall, Petroskey’s assistant, Darcy Harrington, and her sister, Kim Bennett, director of special events, abruptly left their jobs on the same day. When reached by a Daily Star reporter Tuesday, Bennett said she had no comment. Neither woman could not be reached for comment Wednesday, and Horn declined to discuss their situations.

``I can’t talk about personnel matters,’’ he said.

However the Hall’s interim president, Jeff Idelson, confirmed that the women had worked there and no longer do.

On Tuesday night, the Hall of Fame issued a statement, faulting Petroskey for failing ``to exercise proper fiduciary responsibility’’ in his job.

Horn said he understood ``fiduciary responsibility’’ to mean more than mere financial decisions, but also ``the judgment to act in the best interests of the Hall of Fame.’’

Idelson, who has been with the Hall since 1994, serving as vice president since 1999, said he was not aware that Petroskey was in trouble until early this week. Horn said Petroskey came to work Tuesday morning, hours before employees were summoned to the Grandstand Theatre, where Clark would announce his resignation. The departing president did not attend that session.

Petroskey, who lives with his wife, Ann, and their three children on Fair Street, could not be reached by telephone Wednesday afternoon or evening as it continually rang busy.

Stack said committee members wish Petroskey, a former assistant press secretary with the Reagan administration, no ill will. He said the committee has acted in the museum’s best interest.

``He’s at an age, in his early 50s, when there is time for another career,’’ he said.

When Idelson, 43, was asked if he would like to become the Hall of Fame’s next president, he didn’t say no.

``I’ve enjoyed working here and I want to do anything and everything I can to help the museum with its mission,’’ he said.

On Wednesday, the Hall conducted business as usual, he said, gearing up for future events.