Baseball Hall of Fame denies Yankees icon Don Mattingly his apparent destiny

Anticipation for Sunday night's Baseball Hall of Fame Eras Committee results were higher than usual in the Tristate Area. Unfortunately, after significant fluff and the intensified heat of the spotlight, New York Yankees icon Don Mattingly suffered yet another personal slight, just one month after the lowest of Game 7 lows.

Mattingly was inches from attaining his first World Series ring, only to see it stolen by Miguel Rojas, representing four decades of the game's improbabilities standing in his way. He walked away from the dugout in Toronto, but found himself once again nominated for the Hall, with judgment from a jury of his peers, friends, and fellow legends slated for Dec. 7 to kick off the Winter Meetings.

The Hall has long declined to acknowledge both Mattingly and Dale Murphy, two similar players who owned the decade of the 1980s, met the minimum 10+ year enshrinement requirement, but either succumbed to injury or lost their spark before they could become compilers. Neither has the necessary WAR to stand out on paper. Neither had enough longevity to become undeniable. If you weren't there when they were young and thriving, you might've missed it.

Yet, somehow ... this still felt like the year. Murphy testimonials pored from all corners of the internet. Mattingly, back in the spotlight for anxiety-inducing reasons at the end of Yoshinobu Yamamoto's gem, seemed to be getting feted by those in the know. By Sunday night, he had attained "favored" status. He seemed fated to become this generation's Phil Rizzuto, an electee buoyed by the pinstripes, and a decision equal parts despised and venerated.

Yankees captain Don Mattingly denied entry to Baseball Hall of Fame in what looked like his best chance yet

And yet ... somehow, he didn't. He didn't even come close, really.

Mattingly and Murphy only attained six of the necessary 12 votes for election. Jeff Kent, a 17-year journeyman who shouldn't be part of any Hall that doesn't include Barry Bonds, romped to the finish line with 14. Carlos Delgado, a slugging first baseman whose power numbers dwarf Mattingly's, but who never had half his peak-level cache, captured nine.

Eventually, the nominating body will decide that Mattingly and Murphy's time has run out. For Mattingly, it's a quest that formally began with 2001's vote, and might have ended Sunday night, with a 37.5% showing when he needed 75% (and when the baseball writing world seemed to have prepared him for an outcome that never materialized).

At some point, we'll need to stop getting our hopes up. It's probably much tougher for Mattingly to be repeatedly pulled back in to no avail rather than to never be discussed at all. He's a Yankee captain. He was the leader of the forgotten decade. And he probably isn't a Hall of Famer.