Yankees: Jeter’s vote for the Hall of Fame dramatically enhances his aura and stature

The Jeter vote controversy

The outcome of this year’s voting for recent eligible ballplayers was announced on January 21, 2020, and only two former baseball players out of many were elected. Jeter received 396 out of 397 votes (99.7 percent), one short of a unanimous vote.

Larry Walker, primarily of the Colorado Rockies received 304 votes or 76.6 percent of the vote, just above the 75 percent threshold. This was Walker’s 10th and final year of eligibility on the ballot.

There are now 29 Yankees in the Hall, more than any other MLB team. The old New York Giants and the San Francisco Giants combined, have the second most members elected at 25.

Suffice it to say, the failure of Jeter to receive a unanimous vote, as Yanks’ relief pitcher Mariano Rivera deservedly did last year, has sparked heated controversy.

A considerable majority of baseball analysts, including nearly all the major sports writers across the country, are incensed and believe it is unconscionable that someone would leave Mr. November off the ballot. Clearly, he was shortchanged by one of the voters for some unexplained reason.

But classy Derek doesn’t care and has publicly stated such, thereby increasing the great respect baseball analysts and the fans already had for him. Although he did not receive a unanimous vote, he nevertheless received the most votes by any position player in the history of voting for the HOF.

According to Jack O’Connell, the secretary-treasurer of the BBWAA, the Writers Association made a request several years ago to make all the ballots public. However, the Hall of Fame denied the request, arguing that if voters are forced to make their choices public, they could be susceptible to outside pressure and not vote their conscience. Instead, it is up to individual voters to decide whether or not they make their votes public.