Derek Jeter didn’t get a unanimous election into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The numbers were just revealed and it turns out that one member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America did not vote for him.
It only takes 75 percent of the vote to make the cut and Jeter received 99.7 percent of the vote. One person, who has yet to be revealed, decided that Jeter didn’t deserve to make the Hall of Fame.
There are likely to be a lot of excuses presented as reasons for not voting for Jeter, but none of them really matter that much. Come July, Jeter is going to take the stage and then take his rightful place in Cooperstown.
No matter what the opinion was from that singular member of the BBWAA, Jeter is about to become enshrined with former teammates and legends from the game. While he can’t join Mariano Rivera as the second-straight member of that New York Yankees dynasty to receive a unanimous vote, he still gets that wonderful plaque.
Larry Walker and Derek Jeter have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame ?
Jeter was 1 vote shy of unanimous selection. pic.twitter.com/3JyJJPKbno
— ESPN (@espn) January 21, 2020
Over the years, many of the greats of the game have been inducted without receiving 100 percent of the vote, showing just how inconsequential that particular honor can be. Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Ted Williams, Roberto Clemente, and Bob Gibson all had people who said they should not be elected on their first ballot.
Now, the debate will kick up, again, about what a player has to do to deserve to be a first-ballot inductee and which player might next get that honor.
Could David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox be that person? Maybe it will be Alex Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees? Or will the BBWAA voters and fans of the game have to wait until Ichiro Suzuki is on the ballot for that next unanimous vote?
Only time will tell if this singular vote against Jeter becomes a bigger topic of discussion, but now the time on the calendar just ticks down until Jeter, Larry Walker, Marvin Miller, and Ted Simmons get their induction ceremony in July.