
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.