It's not by unanimous consent, but The Captain is still a Hall of Famer.
Former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, results revealed Tuesday evening showed, falling just one vote shy of being the second unanimous pick.
In his first year of eligibility, Jeter was named on 99.7 percent of ballots, the second-highest total ever. Last year, teammate Mariano Rivera became the first player to be voted in unanimously. Eligible members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America voted on the Hall of Fame class. 75 percent, or 298 of the 397 ballots this year, was required for induction.
Jeter was named on all public Hall of Fame ballots revealed before the vote results were announced Tuesday evening, but players usually see a drop in their final results. After Rivera was a unanimous choice last year, many predicted Jeter would follow.
The 45-year-old is a near-consensus pick after a career that included:
- Five World Series titles
- The 1996 American League Rookie of the Year award
- MVP of the 2000 World Series
- 3,465 hits, sixth-most all-time
- A .310 career batting average
- A WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of 72.4
- 14 All-Star Game appearances
The Bronx Bombers drafted Jeter in the first round of the 1992 MLB Draft. Within a few years, he was the central member of a core of homegrown Yankees players who helped the team win four championships in five years between 1996 and 2000.
Jeter played 20 seasons with the Yankees before he retired at the end of the 2014 season. The former shortstop is the Yankees all-time leader in hits, games played, and stolen bases. The club retired his number 2 jersey in May 2017.
Several of Jeter's old teammates missed out on induction into the Hall of Fame, including pitchers Andy Pettite and Roger Clemens. Clemens had 61 percent of the vote, while Pettite clocked in at 11.3 percent. Clemens has two more years on the writers' ballot, while Pettite has eight more years.
Pettite, who admitted to using HGH before it was banned to rehabilitate an elbow injury, has the most wins in MLB postseason history and finished his career with 256 wins and a 117 ERA+. He spent 15 seasons in pinstripes had his number 46 jersey retired by the Yankees.
Clemens — whom has been dogged by allegations of performance-enhancing drug (PEDs) use and has become, along with home run king Barry Bonds, the face of the debate over admitting players suspected of using PEDs — had a 143 career ERA+, 4,672 strikeouts, and won a record seven Cy Young awards in a 24-year career that included six years with the Yankees.
Jeter will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in a July 26 ceremony. He'll be joined in this class by former Rockies' slugger Larry Walker. Catcher Ted Simmons and the late players' union boss Marvin Miller were elected by the Modern Baseball Era Committee in December and will be honored in the ceremony as well.
Walker was named on 76.6 percent of ballots, just clearing the threshold for induction on his final year on the ballot. Walker, who has been dinged by some writers for playing a decade in the launching pad of Denver's Coors Field, hit .313 for his career with three batting titles, the 1997 National League MVP, and accumulating 72.7 WAR.