COULD JETER BE THE FIRST UNANIMOUS HALL OF FAMER?

Craig Calcaterra at Hardball Talk is awesome. I love going there for nuggets and he and his crew never disappoint.  And there was another good one yesterday. He broke down a piece from Alan Hoskins of the Kanasa City Kansan, read HERE, in which Alan asked overall “experts” from around baseball, writers, ESPN dudes a big question...”Could Derek Jeter be the first player to be unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame?” And Alan points out that the answer is NO.

Outrageous... I know.  We’ve seen Jeter grow up before our eyes. Jeter is not only a Yankee Icon, there could actually be an argument made that Jeter is a baseball icon.  Not to mention, this guy's name has never been drug through the mud. He’s squeaky clean and what’s the worst thing we’ve heard about the guy? Oh, he gives a gift basket to the women he beds. Is that a bad thing? It’s better then cab fare I suppose.  The point is with all the records Jeter is breaking and all the All-Time lists he's on, not to mention the World Championships, the individual awards, the leadership, the sportsmanship, the respect... you have to be kidding me...I would have predicted Jeter would be the first unanimous Hall of Famer, no doubt.

 I remember asking my friend Scott Ferrall about Derek Jeter and the Hall of Fame while back.  Here is that exchange:

BYB: How quickly will Derek Jeter get voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Scott Ferrall: DJ will go into Cooperstown on the first ballot.

Sure, not the same question, but still relevant. That alone would be anyone's answer. Sure, Scott Ferrall is not an expert, he’s a personality, but he’s a personality in tune with all of sports.  That’s what he does, his opinion matters. 

The point is, how could Jeter NOT get in first unanimously into the Hall? I know how... writers with allegiances and a hatred for the Yankees.  I doesn’t matter if these writers like Jeter or not. To them, it’s whether or not another Yankee gets in.  They will formulate an opinion based on bias against the Yankees rather than the individual. They will take another route because other baseball greats in the past were never voted in unanimously. But I tell you what, Derek Jeter clearly deserves a fair look... and it could and should be the first time it's ever happened, I believe that. 

Check out some of these quotes from Alan Hoskins article:

STEVE STONE, Chicago White Sox broadcaster and former Cy Young winner – “Babe Ruth wasn’t elected unanimously. Who could leave off Babe Ruth? No one should leave Jeter off but probably someone will.”

 JOE POSNANSKI, Sports Illustrated – “Probably not but I don’t know who would vote against him. Greg Maddux too, He has the stats. Someone might say Jeter is overrated but it will be close (to unanimous).”

 STEVE WEIBERG, USA Today – “I would like to hear one good reason not to vote for Jeter.”

 CHRIS BERMAN, ESPN – “Twenty-four voters didn’t vote for Willie Mays. Not everyone voted for Hank Aaron, I don’t get it. Jeter has more hits than anyone in my time. No one has ever thought of Jeter being a .370 hitter but he has more hits than George Brett. Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn; more than Cal Ripken who played 50 years. So the answer is no; no one ever has. What can I say? It’s goofy. But I’m not one of the 500 or 600 voters so they can’t blame me.”

That last quote makes me laugh...somehow Berman always makes it about him. Anyway, back to Jeter and the unanimous vote...  Will it happen? No, because it’s about as corrupt a pyramid scheme. The difference is,  the writers keep their opinions close to the vest and are never challenged once the votes come down.  After all, no one knows who the writers vote for anyway, so they're pretty much protected. 

Yeah, it sounds like I’m ripping on the writers and sure, it may not be fair, but that’s why I believe that writers should have no say in the process.  They’re not neutral, they write for teams all season, they form relationships with those teams’ players and believe it or not, those friendships provide a slant in the voting. 

Look, for all we know Derek Jeter will get in first ballot in the Hall of Fame, but a vote unanimously, well, it's clear he'll be blocked from that type of history.  Does it matter, maybe not, I mean, the guy's going to get in anyway whether it unanimous or not, but the fact that he wouldn’t get it unanimous is puzzling to me, especially after all he's accomplished.  Then again…we’re a Yankee blog, a Yankee fan blog and we love the Captain.

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