Derek Jeter shades the one writer who didn’t vote him into Baseball Hall of Fame
During his induction speech Wednesday, Derek Jeter called out the one baseball writer who did not vote him into the Baseball of Hall Fame.
“Thank you to the baseball writers, all but one of you, who voted for me,” Jeter said as members of the crowd, filled with Yankees fans, laughed.
Jeter was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2020, his first year of eligibility, with 396 out of a possible 397 votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
The writer who did not vote for Jeter was never identified, and it remains one of the enduring mysteries in sports.
The five-time World Series winner– and postseason MVP for his contributions to the 2000 title — was also a 14-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner, and had his No. 2 retired by the Yankees after his 20 seasons in The Bronx.
He was voted into the Hall of Fame a year after his “Core Four” teammate Mariano Rivera became the first player to receive a unanimous vote for induction, leading to speculation that Jeter could become the second.
He had to settle for closest-to-ballot-perfection-without-getting-it instead, though it wasn’t something he ruminated on after learning he was set to be inducted.
“I look at all the votes that I got,” Jeter said during his Hall of Fame conference call in Jan. 2020. “It takes a lot of votes to get into the Hall of Fame. 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’m just extremely excited and honored to be elected.”