Finally official. Jeter in HOF with Larry Walker. Jeter misses being unanimous by ONE vote.

It’s finally official. SS Derek Jeter is headed to Cooperstown.

ONE voter kept Jeter from being unanimous. ONE. Sorry, Joel Sherman and Ken Rosenthal, but I welcome a witch-hunt to find out who the jerk was.

Really. I want to know who and what stupid rationale he or she has. See below for more comments and my opinion.

Jeter is sixth all-time with 3465 hits. Two of the five players above him (Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker) were born in the 1880s and last played in 1928. A 5x World Series Champ, Jeter hit .310 in his career. His 162 game average was .310-15-77 with 21 SB. OPS+ 115.

He also played in 158 postseason games, hitting .308 with 20 HR.

He was SI’s Sportsman of the Year for 2009.

The 1996 ROY was also a 14x All-Star, won 5 Gold Gloves, 5 Silver Sluggers, and was both the 2000 All-Star Game and 2000 WS MVP.

He finished in the Top 10 of MVP voting eight times.

He spent his whole career with the Yankees, 1995-2014.

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Larry Walker joins Jeter (as well as Ted Simmons and Marvin Miller, both voted in by committee last month). Walker played for Montreal (1989-1994), Colorado (1995-2004) and St. Louis (2004-2005). He was a 5x All-Star, 7X Gold Glove, 3x Silver Slugger, won 3 batting titles and was the 1997 MVP.

Besides winning the 1997 MVP, Walker had three other top 10 finishes.

He hit .313 in his career with 383 HR. His 162 game average was .313-31-107 with 19 SB and a fabulous 141 OPS+.

The right fielder played in 28 postseason games, hitting .230 with 7 HR and 15 RBI.

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From MLB.com: (298 needed for induction)

COMPLETE VOTING TOTALS

Derek Jeter: 396 votes (99.7 percent)   1 vote short of unanimous.

Larry Walker: 304 (76.6)  Made it barely.

Curt Schilling: 278 (70.0)  Missed by 20.

Roger Clemens: 242 (61.0)

Barry Bonds: 241 (60.7)

Omar Vizquel: 209 (52.6)

Scott Rolen: 140 (35.3). Big drop off from the publicized ballots, here down.

Billy Wagner: 126 (31.7)

Gary Sheffield: 121 (30.5)

Todd Helton: 116 (29.2)

Manny Ramírez: 112 (28.2)

Jeff Kent 109: (27.5)

Andruw Jones: 77 (19.4)

Sammy Sosa: 55 (13.9)

Andy Pettitte: 45 (11.3)

Bobby Abreu: 22 (5.5)

20 votes were needed to stay on the ballot. Abreu barely made the cut.

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The following drop off of the ballot:

Paul Konerko: 10 (2.5)

Jason Giambi: 6 (1.5)

Alfonso Soriano: 6 (1.5)

Eric Chávez: 2 (0.5)

Cliff Lee: 2 (0.5)

Adam Dunn: 1 (0.3) Guy below?

Brad Penny: 1 (0.3)

Raúl Ibañez: 1 (0.3)

J.J. Putz: 1 (0.3)

If the same guy who voted for Putz didn’t vote for Jeter, then who IS the Putz?

Josh Beckett: 0 apparently he did get ONE vote, see below. IS BELOW REAL OR FAKE?

Heath Bell: 0

Chone Figgins: 0

Rafael Furcal: 0

Carlos Peña: 0

Brian Roberts: 0

José Valverde: 0  As with Beckett, apparently he did get one vote, see below.

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Ok, here are some thoughts. It’s a shame that Jeter did not join Mariano Rivera as unanimous selections because to me, it was important, after all that went on this week with the cheating allegations from Houston and Boston, three managers and a GM fired as a result of it, and after all that has gone on with steroid allegations over the last two decades or more, to send a message.

That message is to not only play the game well, but to play the game RIGHT.

To carry yourself a certain way. To gain and EARN the respect of your teammates and opponents.

Mariano Rivera did so and was awarded with a unanimous selection.

Derek Jeter did so as well, and should have been rewarded the same way.

It’s too bad one voter disagreed. I have a lot of thoughts and words for that voter which I (for the sake of children who may be reading) won’t repeat here.

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UPDATE:

Apparently Dave Williams was the jerk (and I won’t take it back) who did NOT vote for Jeter.

UPDATE 2: TRYING TO FIND OUT IF REAL BALLOT LISTED OR FAKE

UPDATE 3: FAKE. Apparently Dave Williams isn’t a BBWAA voter, but put up a fake ballot on Barstool blog which people thought was a real ballot (sure looked like one). Now that Jeter fell one short of being unanimous, Williams is (rightfully?) being hammered.

Hey, even if it wasn’t him, serves him right for being a jerk.   So…. yeah, rightfully.

 

 

What is worse is who this guy did vote for:

Josh Beckett? Really?

Barry Bonds

Adam Dunn? Really? And leave Jeter off?

Jason Giambi

Paul Konerko

Jose Valverde? Please.

Billy Wagner

Anyway,

Whoever it was, he/she WILL be found out. — unless the person, in cowardice, requested anonymity.

 

 

 

HOF announcement tonight.

Baseball makes its HOF announcement tonight, as we see who the writers put in the Hall to join Ted Simmons and Marvin Miller, who both were selected by committee earlier.

You need 75% to get in.

As of this writing, 211 votes, 51.2%, are known.

Derek Jeter is still running unanimously at 100%, we will see tonight if that still holds up and if Jeter will join Mariano Rivera as the only unanimous selections.

Larry Walker, in his last year on the ballot, is at 83.7%. Curt Schilling is at 78.7%.

But only a little over half of the votes are known. Usually when the other, non-publicized part comes in, players drop, and someone like Schilling then is really on the bubble.

Barry Bonds and one-time Yankee Roger Clemens are at 71.6 and 70.6% respectively, thus a little short and expected to drop once more votes become known.

So it appears as if Jeter and Walker get in and the question is whether Jeter is unanimous and if Schilling joins them

Other notables: staying on the ballot would be Omar Vizquel, Gary Sheffield (the one -time Yankee at 36%), Scott Rolen, Billy Wagner, Jeff Kent, Todd Helton, Manny Ramirez, one-time Yankee Andruw Jones (23.7%), Sammy Sosa, Andy Pettitte (the Yankees’ great is at 10.4%) and another former Yankee, Bobby Abreu (6.2%).

You need 5% to stay on the ballot. Abreu is on the bubble. Pettitte stays on, but isn’t getting much support.

It appears like these notables will drop off the ballot, among others:

Ex-Yankees Jason Giambi (1 vote), Alfonso Soriano (0). Eric Chavez (one vote). Brian Roberts (0) and Raul Ibanez (0). 

Also dropping off would be Cliff Lee (1), Adam Dunn (0), and Paul Konerko (1).

The bold is players with Yankees’ connections, even if ever so briefly.

Boone AL All-Star Game Mgr.?and Yanks make a minor deal.

OK, with Hinch, last year’s pennant winning manager gone, and same with Cora, does this mean Aaron Boone, who lost last year’s ALCS, now is the AL All-Star game manager?

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The Yanks made a minor deal. When Gardner’s contract was finalized last week, LHP Stephen Tarpley was DFA’d. Today they traded him to Miami for a prospect, James Nelson, 3B. Nelson will most likely be with A+ Tampa.

From MLB.com:

Nelson, 22, spent his 2019 season with Class A Advanced Jupiter, batting .228 (98-for-429) with 36 runs, 13 doubles, two triples, four homers and 36 RBIs in 121 games. Over four Minor League seasons, the right-handed hitter has hit .259 with 14 homers and 147 RBIs in 328 games, playing exclusively at third base.

Tarpley, 26, made 31 Major League appearances (one start) for the Yankees from 2018-19, going 1-0 with two saves and a 5.88 ERA (22 earned runs in 33 2/3 innings).

 

Less than a week to go before the HOF announcement…

With less than a week to go before the HOF announcement, Derek Jeter is still running at 100% with 37.4% of the votes known.

Larry Walker is at 85.1%
Curt Schilling 79.9%
Barry Bonds 75.3%
Roger Clemens 74.0%

You need 75%.

But the unknown votes that haven’t come in yet, and the votes that remain anonymous usually drop people by as much as 10%, thus Jeter and Walker could be the only two getting in, and even Walker could be on the bubble.

Will Jeter join Mariano Rivera at 100%?

Others: Despite hitting over 400 HR each, Adam Dunn and Alfonso Soriano have no votes. Jason Giambi has one, as does Paul Konerko.

LHP Cliff Lee has only one. It looks like these players, among others, will drop off the ballot.

You need 5% to stay on the ballot.

Some Notables: Bobby Abreu 7.1%, Andy Pettitte 12.3%, Sammy Sosa 18.2%, Andruw Jones 27.9%, Manny Ramirez 35.7%, Gary Sheffield 39.6%, Scott Rolen 50.6% …..

For the whole list:     http://www.bbhoftracker.com/

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CC Sabathia has been hired by the Yankees as a special advisor. Don’t know about him in the booth, however, as rumors are he doesn’t get along with Michael Kay.

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So Alex Cora and the Red Sox have parted ways. Nice way of saying he resigned before he got fired or suspended. I’m waiting to see what the suspension will be like. After all, he was involved in BOTH places—at Houston, who just got hammered, and Boston, whose investigation is still ongoing. I think his punishment will be quite severe.

WS Perfect Game Pitcher Don Larsen passes away at age 90.

Don Larsen, who authored the only perfect game in WS history on October 8, 1956, has passed away from esophageal cancer at the age of 90. The only other pitcher to throw a postseason no-hitter was Roy Halladay in the NLDS in 2010.

Larsen pitched for the Browns (1953), Orioles (1954), Yankees (1955-1959) KC A’s (1960-1961) White Sox (1961), Giants (1962-1964) Colt .45s/Astros (Houston was called the Colt .45s before going into the Astrodome–1964/1965), Orioles again (1965), and Cubs (1967).

He pitched in five WS, and was part of two WS Champions in 1956 and 1958. He won the 1956 WS MVP.

Pitching on the last St. Louis Browns team in 1953, and the first Baltimore Oriole team of 1954, he went 10-33 in those years, losing a MLB leading 21 in 1954.

But things changed when he was traded to the Yankees, for whom he went 45-24 in the next five years, and for whom he pitched that perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series—-a game my father attended. Things got rough again after leaving the Yanks, as he went 1-10 in 1960. Pitching on poor teams before and after pitching for the Yankees hurt Larsen’s career numbers.

For his career, Larsen had an 81-91 record, ERA 3.78, ERA+ 99. His 162 game average would be 48 games, 20 starts. 9-11, 3.78.

He pitched in 10 WS games, starting 6. He was 4-2, 2.75 in WS play, and started Game 7 of both the 1957 (loss) and 1958 (ND) World Series for the Yankees.

He pitched seven shutout innings in winning Game 3 of the 1958 WS.

Larsen was also a good hitting pitcher, hitting .242 with 14 HR in his career. In 1958, he hit .306 with 4 HR.

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Would be remiss in not pointing out the passing away of David Stern, age 77, former NBA commissioner who suffered a brain hemorrhage 3 weeks ago.

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There hasn’t been much action on the Yankees’ front, so an update on the HOF voting, via a tracker set up by Ryan Thibodaux:

With 115 votes, 27.9% counted, as of now, these ex-players would reach the 75% necessary to get in:

Derek Jeter, 100%
Larry Walker 86.1%
Curt Schilling 79.1%
Barry Bonds 76.5%
Roger Clemens 76.5%

As late ballots come in, and some voters remain anonymous, those numbers generally DROP, thus really putting Schilling, Bonds and Clemens all on the bubble.

Bonds and Clemens will have some voters, especially the anonymous ones, NOT voting on them because of steroid suspicions.

We’ll see if Jeter continues at 100% and joins Mariano Rivera as a unanimous selection.

Not getting one vote so far are sluggers Jason Giambi, Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko and Alfonso Soriano—all of whom hit over 400 HR in their careers.

 

A minor trade, and when do we hear about German? Also, it’s early, but a look at the HOF tracker.

Last week, with the official signing of Gerrit Cole, the Yankees designated Chance Adams for assignment.

Today they traded Adams to KC for a minor league infielder, Cristian Perez.

Perez, 21, is primarily a SS who has played a little at 2B and 3B. The righty hitter was at High-A Wilmington last season and hit .252-0-42 in 117 games. He stole 5 bases but was caught 10x.

Adams had some nice minor league seasons in 2016 and 2017 but had arm surgery and in the past two seasons hasn’t been the same. In 33 MLB IP (2018-2019) he is 1-2 with a ghastly 8.18 ERA (ERA+ 55).

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So, when will MLB finally decide on German’s punishment for the domestic abuse incident? It’s taking long enough, isn’t it?

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Only 50 ballots are known so far in the HOF vote, and I do see some surprises.

Now 50 is just 12.4% of ballots known, but neither Jason Giambi (an MVP, 440 HR) nor Paul Konerko (439 HR) have received a vote so far. I can see Giambi being snubbed due to BALCO and the steroids, but Konerko?

Raul Ibanez and Adam Dunn (462 HR) also have not received a vote so far, either.

Neither has Cliff Lee, or Alfonso Soriano (412 HR) for that matter.

Bobby Abreu is at 7.8%, Andy Pettitte 13.7%, enough as of now, to keep them on the ballot.

Andruw Jones (434 hr) 21.6%, Gary Sheffield (509 hr) 29.4%.

Showing that a lot of HR doesn’t matter to the voters anymore. 400 or 500 HR isn’t automatic anymore.

Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are just shy of the 75%, both at 74.5%. Usually the votes that are NOT known about bring Clemens and Bonds further down.

As of now, and it’s still EARLY (vote announced 1/21), the three that WOULD get in are Derek Jeter (at 100% so far), Larry Walker (86.3) and Curt Schilling (82.4).

Pettitte instrumental in getting Cole to NY. Now for other moves.

Hal Steinbrenner called Gerrit Cole five times, but someone else apparently was also very instrumental in getting Cole to sign with the Yankees.

Andy Pettitte, who pitched mostly for the Yankees but who also spent a few years with the Astros, discussed the difference between the teams, how much NY meant to him and helped him, and what a postseason experience—as well as WS titles in NY—meant to him and his career. That supposedly helped tip Cole, who grew up a Yankees and Pettitte fan, to NY.

So Andy, a special consultant, really came up huge for the Yanks in these negotiations.

Now the Yanks turn to other needs. After losing Didi Gregorius to the Phillies, will they be able to keep Brett Gardner, Dellin Betances or Austin Romine?

It looks like a deal with Gardner could be hammered out soon. The concern is that Gardner will turn 37 next August. Gardner did hit career highs in HR and RBI this past season, and since Aaron Hicks will miss at least half of 2020, the Yanks do need a CF.

Betances, who pitched only 2/3 of an inning in 2019, is iffy. Would he re-sign for a year to re-establish value?

Romine is also iffy. Rumors are that the Yanks could be looking at Martin Maldonado, who caught Cole ten times in Houston last year to a 1.57 (!) ERA. Maldonado, 33 and a righty bat, isn’t much of a hitter (.219 career batting average, OPS+ 73) but did win a Gold Glove in 2017 for the Angels. He hit .213-12-27, OPS+ 75 for three teams in 2019. The question about Romine is would he come back to backup Gary Sanchez or does he want to start elsewhere.

Oh yeah, as mentioned in a NY Post article by George A. King III, the Yanks probably won’t be needing that “opener” in 2020 now.

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Ken Harrelson, known as the “Hawk”, was selected to the HOF in the broadcasting category—The Ford C. Frick Award. Many may also remember him as a flamboyant 1B/OF for the KC A’s and Boston Red Sox in the 1960s, and in 1968 he led the AL in RBI while finishing third in the MVP voting. He broadcast Chicago White Sox games for many years. He actually broadcast Yankees games in 1987 and 1988.