Derek Jeter and Larry Walker Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame (Reaching Baseball Immortality)

Introduction

This week the Baseball Hall of Fame announced the two new members that will be enshrined in the 2020 class of players that were voted in to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Those two players that received the necessary 75% of the votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America were Derek Jeter who played his entire illustrious career with the New York Yankees and Larry Walker who split his time in Major League Baseball between the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies, and St. Louis Cardinals.

Jeter who was a first ballot candidate received 396 of the possible 397 total votes was only one vote short of becoming the second unanimous selection to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The only person to ever achieve that height of baseball immortality was his teammate with the New York Yankees, Mariano Rivera, who received 100% of votes last year. Jeter’s 99.7 voting percentage does rank him second in front of Ken Griffey Jr. who received 99.3% when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Larry Walker on the other hand was on his 10th and final ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame voting procedure. He received 304 total votes which was only 6 votes above the 75% threshold needed to become an inductee into the baseball HOF. Which was a significant increase from last years 54.6%.

Other Players Named on the Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

• Curt Shilling – 278 votes (70%)
• Roger Clemens – 242 votes (61%)
• Barry Bonds – 241 votes (60.7%)
• Omar Vizquel – 209 votes (52.6%)
• Scott Rolen – 140 votes (35.3%)
• Billy Wagner – 126 votes (31.7%)
• Garry Sheffield – 121 votes (30.5%)
• Todd Helton – 116 votes (29.2%)
• Manny Ramirez – 112 votes (28.2%)
• Jeff Kent – 109 votes (27.5%)
• Andruw Jones – 77 votes (19.4%)
• Sammy Sosa – 55 votes (13.9%)
• Andy Pettitte – 45 votes (11.3%)
• Bobby Abreu – 22 votes (5.5%)
• Paul Konerko – 10 votes (2.5%)
• Jason Giambi – 6 votes (1.5%)
• Alfonso Soriano – 6 votes (1.5%)
• Eric Chavez – 2 votes (0.5%)
• Cliff Lee – 2 votes (0.5%)
• Adam Dunn – 1 vote (0.3%)
• Brad Penny – 1 vote (0.3%)
• Raul Ibanez – 1 vote (0.3%)
• JJ Putz – 1 vote (0.3%)

A portion of the above listed Major League Baseball players were linked to performance enhancing drugs and / or steroids which were quite prevalent during this era of professional baseball. Some of these ball players include Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Sammy Sosa, Andy Pettitte, and Jason Giambi. Many of these guys were amazing athletes and worthy of the Baseball Hall of Fame even without the advantage they gained over the competition by using PED’s or steroids.

Unfortunately, the Baseball Writers' Association of America and many baseball purists take that issue extremely seriously and will not vote in cheaters no matter how great they were even prior to using drugs. This issue can be compared to all time greats like Pete Rose not getting in due to betting on baseball and Shoeless Joe Jackson for throwing the 1919 World Series (Black Sox Scandal).

Derek Jeter’s MLB Career Achievements and Awards

Jeter played for the New York Yankees franchise from 1995 to 2014. He finished his career with a batting average of .310, 3465 hits, 260 home runs, and 1311 runs batted in. He was a 14 time MLB All Star (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014). Jeter was a 5 time World Series Champion (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009), and he was also the World Series MVP in 2000.

Derek Jeter won the AL Rookie of the Year in 1996. He was a 5 time Gold Glove Award winner (2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010), a 5 time Silver Slugger Award winner (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012), and a 2 time AL Hank Aaron Award winner (2006, 2009). Jeter won the Roberto Clemente Award in 2009 as well. This superstar short stop was named the captain of the New York Yankees from 2003 to 2014 when he retired. His #2 was retired by the Yankees, he is a Yankees Monument Park honoree, and finally Derek Jeter will forever be remembered as a Hall of Fame baseball player.

Walker’s MLB Career Achievements and Awards

Larry Walker played for the Montreal Expos from 1989 to 1994, the Colorado Rockies from 1995 to 2004, and the St. Louis Cardinals from 2004 to 2005. The right fielder hit .313 in the big leagues while totaling 2160 hits, 383 home runs, and 1311 RBI’s. Walker was selected to the MLB All Star team on 5 occasions (1992, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001), and well known for being named the National League MVP in 1997.

Walker won the Gold Glove Award 7 times (1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002), the Silver Slugger Award 3 times (1992, 1997, 1999), and was the MLB Batting Champion in 1998, 1999, and 2001. He led the National League in home runs in 1997 as well. Now this Canadian is an incoming member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2020.

Media Statements

"Well, I look at all the votes that I got," Jeter stated. "Trying to get that many people to agree on something is pretty difficult to do. So that's not something that's on [my] mind."

"I believe I'm going to come up a little short today," Walker said on Twitter.

"I had it when they're going to call, a roundabout time, and that time had come and gone," Walker explained. "And there was two minutes after that when the call actually came."

When Walker's phone rang, he shouted a profanity and then said, "Oh, my God!" He answered, and BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O'Connell was on the line.

"You didn't come up short this year. You passed the 75% threshold, and welcome to the Hall of Fame," Walker recalled.

"Everyone told me it was a foregone conclusion. I didn't buy it. So it was not a relaxing day. There was a lot of anxiety," says Jeter. ''I was nervous -- sitting around, waiting for a phone call is something that is completely out of your control."

"Being Canadian, you're born into this world with a stick in your hand and skates on your feet," Walker stated. "So that's how I was as a kid. You played hockey, and that's all that really mattered. When hockey didn't quite go the way I wanted, baseball more or less found me."

"I had a great relationship and still do with Reggie Jackson," Jeter proclaimed. "And Reggie used to constantly remind me when he when he came to the park, he'd always tell me, 'You're not a Hall of Famer yet.'"

"I would probably be missing a few more teeth," Walker jokingly said.

Larry Walker’s Hall of Fame plaque will have a Rockies cap represented. Walker said the reason for picking the Rockies was that Colorado was, "Where the majority of my damage was done." Although the Hall of Fame makes the ultimate decision after consulting with the player regarding this issue.

"I know I speak for the whole Rocky Mountain region in congratulating Larry for his election into the Hall of Fame," says Rockies owner Dick Monfort. "Larry blessed our region for parts of 10 seasons and we feel extremely fortunate to be a part of his incredible career. Congrats, Larry."

Sources:

“Derek Jeter, Larry Walker elected to Baseball Hall of Fame”, espn.com, January 22, 2020.

“Derek Jeter”, baseball-reference.com, January 22, 2020.

“Larry Walker”, baseball-reference.com, January 22, 2020.