New York Yankees: Why Derek Jeter deserves unanimous Hall of Fame vote
When the Hall of Fame makes that call to New York Yankees and MLB icon Derek Jeter they will have done their due diligence. But the call is only half the battle.
It’s the votes that have everyone on edge.
It’s not a question if Derek Jeter is a first ballot inductee, it’s a matter of will he achieve the impossible? No player has ever gotten a unanimous vote. Many thought that Ken Griffey Jr would be the first but three voters decided to have brain farts keeping Griffey’s name from Hall of Fame history.
How will they take to Jeter?
Jeter, during his time in baseball, was everything that MLB needed in a face of the league type player. No on or off the field issue, he played the game with grace and style but most of all– he played to win. He was the ambassador of MLB.
Griffey was a great player, one of the best ever but because of the New York Yankees success, Jeter was forced into the spotlight and he played his position better than Barack Obama did the White House. However, is that enough for a unanimous vote?
For his career, Jeter hit 260 home runs, 1,311 RBIs, 358 stolen bases, with a .310 batting average. He was handed accolades as well with 14 All-Star nominations, 5 Gold Gloves, 1 World Series MVP and 5 Championships.
How can you not vote for those accomplishments?
It may seem like an easy choice but there will be doubters. There are those that will look at his body of work and point to the mega-market of the Yankees and host of other All-Stars he had the opportunity to play with. But, they must realize this is not about them. It’s about the icon, the ambassador, the Captain and my favorite one of all– Mr. November.
When the lights shone the brightest in any ballpark during the playoffs, Jeter was at his best. Yes, he had help along the way but so did other greats in the Hall. They just didn’t capitalize on the moment like Jeter did.
I am a huge Griffey fan. I felt he was robbed with the votes but this time they have a chance to make the universe whole again with Jeter.
You make not like him, but as a fan of baseball, you must respect what he did and done for the game. 20 years with the same team says a lot with the way the MLB free agency structure is set up. He took care of the Yankees and the Yankees took care of him.
If he’s not unanimously chosen then we need to unanimously boycott the voting process.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
