January 23rd, 2020 at 9:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka When it was learned that newly-elected Hall of Famer Derek Jeter fell one vote shy of being the first position player to be unanimously voted into the sacred Halls of Cooperstown by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA), social media blew up. I mean, how on earth could the single greatest position player of our generation not receive all 397 first-ballot votes, right? But for whatever his or her reason, that one rogue BBWAA member chose to snub Jeter of perfection.
But whereas fans, fellow writers and even many so-called baseball experts expressed their respective anger and in some cases hostility towards that one idiot, the guy for whom it should matter most – Derek Jeter himself – did as he has always done; he took the high road and completely dismissed the snub.
“Well, I look at all the votes I got,’’ Jeter said. “Do you know how hard it is to get that many people to agree on anything? It takes a lot of votes to get elected into the Hall of Fame.
“That’s not something on my mind,’’ he added. “I’m just extremely excited and honored to be elected.’’
The High Road indeed.
(Photo credit – Anthony Causi)
Well done, ‘Captain.’
Did I mention that Derek Jeter is the single greatest position player of our generation?
Play Ball!
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Amen
Terrific player, he deserved unanimous entry into the HOF. I am likely much older than you Ron, so Jeter isn’t the best position player of my generation (IMHO) Stan Musical, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays are the best position players I have ever personally watched play the game – with the top spot going to Willie.
Wrote this piece geared more towards the majority of our younger readers, not us OG’s.
Most of what I saw as a kid was at the Coliseum and Dodger Stadium, so my recollection is primarily of the National League teams that played the Dodgers. I did, however, go to Game-3 of the 1963 World Series against the Yankees, so I was blessed to have seen Mantle and Maris, two of my favorite non-Dodgers of that era.
I’d have to put Roberto Clemente on your list as well.
BTW: I’ll be 67 in December … hopefully.
Think blue ?
I hope that one individual reveals himself one day.
Even more than who it is, I want to know what their rationale was for not voting for him.
There IS no “valid” rationale. The person is just a contrarian and gets his jollies from it. He/she probably WANTS notoriety from it so in my opinion, pay no attention whatsoever.
It’s not really a “snub” when you consider it was done by someone of no character for no reason.
Congratulations to Derek for a wonderful career and for the maturity and class to handle himself so well.