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Longtime New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter earned baseball’s highest honor being elected into the Hall of Fame Tuesday night and fell one vote short of a unanimous decision.
The Five-Time Champion
Jeter appeared on 396 of 397 ballots cast by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. In his 20 seasons in pinstripes, Jeter was named an All-Star 14 times, five-time gold glover, five-time silver slugger, the 2000 World Series MVP and the 1996 Rookie of the Year.
With the sixth pick in the 1992 amateur draft, the Yankees selected Jeter. He debuted on May 29, 1995, and didn’t play a single position other than shortstop for his entire career. His career was defined by more than numbers and accolades. Instead, he lives by clutch moments as a player and a leader.
A Bronx legend. A baseball legend. #HOF2020 pic.twitter.com/tNMQ0o779x
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) January 21, 2020
His backhanded flip to get Oakland’s Jeremy Giambi out in the 2001 ALDS; a home run in the 10th inning of the 2001 World Series in game 4 that solidified him as Mr. November; his walk-off in his last home game. These are just a couple of his greatest moments as a player. Though it was expected, Jeter was still honored when he got the call.
Jeter finished in the top 10 of AL MVP voting eight times and finished as high as second in 2006. He was a different kind of player when the calendar turned to October. Jeter played in a record 158 playoff games, 33 more than the next highest player. Also, his .838 postseason OPS is 21 points higher than his .817 regular season mark.
Derek Jeter is a legend who delivered on the biggest stage for the Yankees and the fans. Still, he appreciates all that the organization has done for him.
Jeter is the ninth player elected into the Hall of Fame that played their entire career with just the Yankees. The most recent was Mariano Rivera who has elected last year as the only unanimous player.
Teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera on Derek Jeter: pic.twitter.com/qscSskaoGo
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) January 21, 2020
How the rest of the vote went
Larry Walker is the other member of the 2020 class being elected in his final year on the ballot. Walker got 304 votes, six more than he needed. He is a seven-time gold glove winner, five-time all-star, three-time silver slugger and the 1997 NL MVP with the Colorado Rockies.
A few names just missed the 75% mark but their upward trend in votes, signals a good thing for them. Curt Schilling at 70%, Roger Clemens at 61% and Barry Bonds at 60.7% all saw an uptick in their votes.
There are those that argue Derek Jeter is overrated. He was put in a good position, made lucky plays or was bailed out. This is just all noise to the five time champion who now ranks second in Hall of Fame voting percentage (Rivera at 100% and Ken Griffey Jr. at 99.3%). Jeter is a legend and it will become official on July 26 when his name is revealed in Cooperstown.
