‘Mad Hungarian’ Al Hrabosky Forced to Bow Out But Hot Springs Baseball Weekend to Go On August 25 - 26 | Hot Springs National Park Arkansas

HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas — Al “The Mad Hungarian” Hrabosky has been forced to miss this year’s Hot Springs Baseball Weekend but the annual celebration of Hot Springs’ rich baseball heritage will go on as scheduled August 25 – 26 at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

“Al had an unexpected situation arise and will miss Baseball Weekend for the first time since we started it six years ago,” Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison said Monday. “Al has been a crowd favorite every year, and he’s disappointed that he’s forced to miss this year. We hope to see him back next year and into the future because the fans love him.

“But Baseball Weekend is still set to go August 25 and 26, and we’ll have a full schedule of events and activities on tap, including four Baseball Hall of Fame legends: Rollie Fingers, Wade Boggs, Rich “Goose” Gossage and Steve Carlton. They’ll participate in panel discussions and interact with fans.

“And it’s all free and open to the public. What a deal!”

The full schedule for the weekend includes:

FRIDAY, AUGUST 25

• 7 p.m. — Free Screening of the documentary movie “Fastball.”

SATURDAY, AUGUST 26

• 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. — Society for American Baseball Research Meeting. (Nonmembers welcome). Convention Center Room 102.
• 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. — Baseball Card Show Open
• 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. — Talking Baseball with Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers. Hot Springs Convention Center - Horner Hall.
• 11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. — The Goose Is Loose - Hall of Famer Goose Gossage on the State of the Game.
• 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. — Rex Nelson Talks Pitching with Hall of Famer Steve Carlton.
• 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. — Hall of Famer Wade Boggs — Stories From the Batter’s Box.
• 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. — Ask the Pros featuring Goose Gossage, Wade Boggs, Steve Carlton and Rollie Fingers.

Hot Springs Baseball Weekend celebrates the city’s place in baseball history as The Birthplace of Major League Baseball Spring Training. Hot Springs was the first place where — beginning in the late 19th Century — major league teams brought their players to enjoy the good weather, the world-famous thermal waters, the mountain trails and everything else America’s Spa had to offer.

Dozens of future legends of the game from Honus Wagner and Babe Ruth to Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron came to Hot Springs through the 1950s. A Historic Baseball Trail lets fans take a self-guided tour of the locations throughout the city where immortals like Ruth trained and played. An eight-foot bronze statue of Ruth — one of only three in the world — was dedicated this spring at the city’s Majestic Park baseball complex, which is on the site where Ruth, Wagner, Robinson and Aaron played and trained.

For more information call Steve Arrison at 501-321-2027.