Class of 2020 Hall of Fame ballot. It's gonna be a long couple months

[Guest 41Forever]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/sports/baseball/hall-of-fame-ballot-2020.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/sports/baseball/hall-of-fame-ballot-2020.html



Mr. Intangibles is on the ballot this year, with not a lot of strong first-timers. It's going to be rough for us to endure the endless gushing.



From MLB.com:

1. Will “Captain Clutch” achieve voting perfection? The aura of Jeter -- given his five World Series rings, his 14 All-Star selections, his 3,465 hits, his 1,923 runs and his many postseason exploits -- dominates the BBWAA ballot. No. 2 won't have to wait for a second try. The question is not whether he'll get in but whether he'll join teammate Mariano Rivera, who last year became the first unanimous selection, as a 100 Percenter. Now that the barrier has been broken -- and the ballot is not quite as loaded as it had been in some years past, compelling the concept of “strategic voting” in which a no-doubt-about-it Hall of Famer is left off a particular voter's ballot to make room for somebody who needs the help more -- it's a distinct possibility.

Notable hold-overs:

NAME, YEAR (2019 vote total, percentage) Curt Schilling, 8th (259, 60.9%) Roger Clemens, 8th (253, 59.5%) Barry Bonds, 8th (251, 59.1%) Larry Walker, 10th (232, 54.6%) Omar Vizquel, 3rd (182, 42.8%) Other names returning to the ballot are Manny Ramirez (97 votes, 22.8% last year), Jeff Kent (77, 18.1%), Scott Rolen (73, 17.2%), Billy Wagner (71, 16.7%), Todd Helton (70, 16.5%), Gary Sheffield (58, 13.6%), Andy Pettitte (42, 9.9%), Sammy Sosa (36, 8.5%) and Andruw Jones (32, 7.5%). Players who receive less than 5% of votes are removed from the ballot the following year.

Edited November 18, 2019 by Guest

[LWFS]

Hey, good news! It may be Jeter AND Schilling AND Clemens!

[G-Fafif]

#RE2PECT to whoever doesn't make it unanimous.

[nymr83]

=G-Fafif post_id=26749 time=1574105257 user_id=55]
#RE2PECT to whoever doesn't make it unanimous.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

=LWFS post_id=26733 time=1574099996 user_id=84]
Hey, good news! It may be Jeter AND Schilling AND Clemens!

[Edgy MD]

Andy Pettitte will go in in 20 years when somebody way too influential for his own good gets a notion in his head.

[Guest 41Forever]

Bonds and/or Clemens going in could actually overshadow Jeter, I think.



I also think if Jeter isn't unanimous, there will be collective sportswriter outrage the likes of which we have never seen.



Part of me is OK with the notion that if a player is a slam-dunk, first ballot Hall-of-Famer, then he should be elected unanimously. The other part of me wishes this trend had started with Tom Seaver, Cal Ripken or Ken Griffey Jr. instead of with a couple MFYs.

[Centerfield]

=41Forever post_id=26766 time=1574115918 user_id=69]


Part of me is OK with the notion that if a player is a slam-dunk, first ballot Hall-of-Famer, then he should be elected unanimously. The other part of me wishes this trend had started with Tom Seaver, Cal Ripken or Ken Griffey Jr. instead of with a couple MFYs.

[MFS62]

I mean, whoever didn't vote for Edgar Martinez can't for Jeter, right? Because if you won't vote for a DH how can you vote for someone with even less defensive value?

Still laughing at this. A truer truth has never been posted.

I'm sure there are players in the Hall who built up numbers because of only a few peak years in band-boxish home fields (Lefty O'Doul comes to mind), why should Larry Walker's career in one be held against him?



My votes go to players who haven't gotten their due: Walker, Kent, Vizquel (If Ozzie is there, he should be, too), Sammy Sosa (not a drop of evidence) and Manny Ramirez (my homie from Upper Manhattan just for "Manny Being Manny" - and great).



Later

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Jeets won't be unanimous. Too many smarty-farty voters in their mom's basement now

[bmfc1]

=G-Fafif post_id=26749 time=1574105257 user_id=55]
#RE2PECT to whoever doesn't make it unanimous.

[MFS62]

=bmfc1 post_id=26779 time=1574169989 user_id=73]
=G-Fafif post_id=26749 time=1574105257 user_id=55]
#RE2PECT to whoever doesn't make it unanimous.

[Lefty Specialist]

Eh, it's gonna be Jeter, Jeter, Jeter nonstop until next July. Hope it rains at his induction.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Let's do this right. Here's the 2020 full ballot. First timers are in bold.



Bobby Abreu, Josh Beckett, Heath Bell, Barry Bonds, Eric Chávez, Roger Clemens, Adam Dunn, Chone Figgins, Rafael Furcal, Jason Giambi, Todd Helton, Raúl Ibañez, Derek Jeter, Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent, Paul Konerko, Cliff Lee, Carlos Peña, Brad Penny, Andy Pettitte, J.J. Putz, Manny Ramírez, Brian Roberts, Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling, Gary Sheffield, Alfonso Soriano, Sammy Sosa, José Valverde, Omar Vizquel, Billy Wagner, Larry Walker.

[Ceetar]

Lefty Specialist wrote: Eh, it's gonna be Jeter, Jeter, Jeter nonstop until next July. Hope it rains at his induction.

Maybe we should just let schilling in with him so he can ramble off some racist hateful nonsense and overshadow the lovefest.

[bmfc1]

https://twitter.com/rshields37/status/1196764548109393921/photo/1https://twitter.com/rshields37/status/1196764548109393921/photo/1

I'm interpreting the Daily News cover in a way that was not intended.

[kcmets]

Potty time!

[Chad ochoseis]

I'm hearing that Jeter should get his own class. Everyone else on the ballot should have to wait a year.

Please tell me that "I'm hearing" means "some drunk in a Yankee cap was yelling it on the subway" and not "an actual journalist with readership and a salary wrote it with a straight face in a public forum".

[Edgy MD]

In fairness, a unanimous election, while laudable, is a very different thing from what it would have been 30 years ago, as the BBWAA voting body has been sharply pared down.

[HahnSolo]

Bobby Abreu looks like one of those guys who gets under 5% of the vote and kicked off the ballot but 15 years down the line will get a lot of support from the Veterans Committee or whatever they call it.

[Guest 41Forever]

Steve Marcus, a Newsday alum, posts a photo of his ballot on Twitter, with only Jeter's name circled.

My Just Jeter Hall of Fame ballot for 2020. #keepthehallsmall

Outrage ensues.

Pat K, @PKellyMLB, Replying to @newsdayalum And how can your hashtag be "keep the hall small" when the Hall isn't small and really has never been. Jesse Haines is in the Hall of Fame. "Make the Hall Small again" would have shown more knowledge of the subject.

Ants @AntsInOK, Replying to @newsdayalum this is bad and you should feel bad

[Centerfield]

Chad ochoseis wrote: I'm hearing that Jeter should get his own class. Everyone else on the ballot should have to wait a year. Please tell me that "I'm hearing" means "some drunk in a Yankee cap was yelling it on the subway" and not "an actual journalist with readership and a salary wrote it with a straight face in a public forum".

Unfortunately, no. See post above.

[Guest 41Forever]

This writer is making the case that Larry Walker is better than Jeter and needs to go in:



https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2863533-larry-walker-outperformed-derek-jeter-and-deserves-to-be-in-the-hall-of-famehttps://bleacherreport.com/articles/2863533-larry-walker-outperformed-derek-jeter-and-deserves-to-be-in-the-hall-of-fame



There does seem to be some momentum growing around Walker, but he's go to make up a lot of ground in his final year.



The Detroit News writer put more thought into his ballot than Steve Marcus did:



https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2019/11/20/heres-my-six-baseball-hall-fame-including-derek-jeter/4248301002/https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2019/11/20/heres-my-six-baseball-hall-fame-including-derek-jeter/4248301002/

[Ceetar]

I mean, Walker WAS better than Jeter, so..



Anthony Rieber joined the 'only vote for Jeter' fray, taking guys OFF his ballot from last year. I assume this is his last ballot and year writing about sports, since he's clearly unqualified.

[Ceetar]

[G-Fafif]

Anthony Rieber of Newsday is another Jeets and nobody else voter. The twist is he voted for a bunch of guys last year who he's not voting for this year because Jeter going in alone is apparently a thing in his mind.

What a flare for the moment he had. A home run and a memorable over-the-shoulder catch on Opening Day as a rookie in 1996. The Jeffrey Maier home run in the 1996 ALCS. The leadoff homer against the Mets in Game 4 of the 2000 Subway Series. The Flip Play in the 2001 ALDS in Oakland. The game-ending Mr. November home run in the 2001 World Series. The dive into the stands against the Red Sox in 2004. The unusual (for him) home run to left-center for his 3,000th hit. The Jeterian line single to right for the walkoff hit in his final at-bat at Yankee Stadium. Jeter was a winner. A leader. An example of how to carry yourself under the brightest lights, as the shortstop and captain of the New York Yankees, from the George Steinbrenner era to the Hal Steinbrenner era. He's not just a Hall of Famer. The Hall of Fame is so watered down now, the plaques of the great are right next to the plaques of the good and the very good. There is no way to change that. Jeter should be on a Mount Rushmore of sports greatness along with Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana –i.e., athletes who were either the best players or the best winners in their sport.

I wish this was clever parody. It is not.



https://www.newsday.com/amp/sports/columnists/anthony-rieber/baseball-hall-of-fame-ballot-derek-jeter-1.38802412?__twitter_impression=truehttps://www.newsday.com/amp/sports/columnists/anthony-rieber/baseball-hall-of-fame-ballot-derek-jeter-1.38802412?__twitter_impression=true



Steve Marcus's “small Hall” bit I can see (distaste for Jeter notwithstanding). But this, though it's Rieber's right as an accredited BBWAA member — I really hate “take his vote away” reactions — is absurd.

[HahnSolo]

Oh, if only we could get one voter to be petty and leave Jeter off his ballot just as a response to this moron.

[Frayed Knot]

=G-Fafif post_id=27023 time=1574452800 user_id=55]Steve Marcus's “small Hall” bit I can see (distaste for Jeter notwithstanding). But this, though it's Rieber's right as an accredited BBWAA member — I really hate “take his vote away” reactions — is absurd.

[batmagadanleadoff]

You know what's really sickening about this? Okay, lotsa things. But what really annoys me is this: take Jeter's best season. Whatever you think is his best season - go with it.



A-Rod had five, six, seven whatever seasons better than Jeter's best.

[Edgy MD]

Jeter should be on a Mount Rushmore of sports greatness along with Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana –i.e., athletes who were either the best players or the best winners in their sport.

Or, alternatively, he might have been as good as Arky Vaughn — though I have my doubts.



I have a feeling the river's going to rise and the city's going to flood from two months of non-stop soft rain.