The 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame class was announced yesterday, and it features names that surely are deserving in Edgar Martinez, Roy Halladay, Mike Mussina, and Mariano Rivera. How deserving each of them are is another question for another day, but what I found to be the biggest news of the day was that Mariano Rivera became the first player ever to be elected unanimously. Why it has taken this long for someone to receive 100% of the votes is the result of many things, but I am glad that Rivera was the first one to appear on every ballot, because I think it will open doors for future Hall of Famers, and eventually shine the light on how foolish it is that some voters have refused to do this before.
I thought that the first player to receive 100% of the votes would be Derek Jeter, but the fact that it was Rivera is totally fine in my eyes. The only reason I believed that Rivera might not be selected unanimously is because he spent his entire career as a closer, and that was really a position that didn't exist decades ago. While it is no doubt a very important position in the game today, relief pitchers in the early 20th century were usually just the guys who were not good enough to be starting pitchers, and I thought that a few old, crotchety voters would therefore see that as reason enough to leave Rivera off their ballots. Thankfully though, I was wrong.
Mariano Rivera is easily the best closer of all time, as he is the career leader in saves, has a career ERA of 2.21, and an amazing career postseason ERA of 0.70. It isn't like he only pitched a few innings in the postseason either. He was a member of the New York Yankees during a run in which they won multiple World Series championships, and he was a staple of the team. If you think Rivera isn't a Hall of Famer, then you simply just don't know baseball. The fact that he received 100% of the votes shows that.
Baseball fans everywhere might have their beliefs about why no other player has ever been selected to the Hall of Fame unanimously, and I think there are multiple reasons this has happened. The first reason is probably the easiest, and that is simply because most players just aren't good enough to be selected by every voter. There are borderline Hall of Famers, there are the good ones, and then there are the immortals. The immortals don't come around as often as those other ones, but Rivera certainly fits into that category. You can't mention the best players in the history of the game without eventually bringing up his name. His numbers show it, his accomplishments show it, and his character shows it.
Obviously, there are the steroid era players like Rafael Palmeiro and Barry Bonds who easily have the numbers, but have a glaring hole in the character category, and that has kept them out of the Hall of Fame so far. The same goes for Pete Rose and Joe Jackson, who are two of the greatest hitters to ever play, but were banned from the sport for gambling. You could make a legitimate argument that Ty Cobb is the greatest all around player in the history of the sport, but his temper and attitude, both on and off the field, turned many people in the game against him. Burleigh Grimes is a Hall of Famer, but was known for throwing a spitball, which is now outlawed, even though when he was playing, it was actually a legal pitch. You could even say that Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle could possibly have small flaws because they worked at casinos after their careers were over, even though it was in a very limited and innocent fashion. Outright racism could be another factor, as even though Jackie Robinson is a surefire Hall of Famer, some of the voters still did not like him only because of his skin color. The same goes for other black and Hispanic ballplayers. Thankfully though, Rivera's unanimous selection has finally broken down one of the barriers that has marred Hall of Fame voting for decades.
The initial elections that took place in 1936 were very loosely organized, and even though the first Hall of Fame class in 1939 contained nothing but all-time legends, none of them actually received 100% of the votes. Originally, some voters were chosen to elect 20th century players, while some were chosen to elect 19th century players. Also, there were no rules governing whether or not you could vote for active players. While the first class (Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, and Honus Wagner) contained nothing but legends of the game, because there were no standardized rules, no one actually received the vote of every writer, although they all did receive over 80% of votes, with Cobb receiving nearly unanimous selection, at 98%. Another reason that some of those old, crotchety voters throughout history had never selected anyone with 100% of the vote until yesterday was because none of those legends in the initial class received 100%, so therefore they believed no one should receive 100%, since in the eyes of many, Ruth or Cobb still could today be considered better than anyone on all the ballots after that.
Another reason I have heard discussed today is that ballots can be made public now, which was not the case in the past. Therefore, over the years, someone could be a contrarian and leave a legend off their ballot, and no one would know they did so. Now, voters can reveal their ballots, so the public can see who it is that may not have voted for someone who is clearly a Hall of Famer, and the embarrassment of being exposed would be bad for the careers of those stubborn voters.
I think a combination of all of these things is why Rivera was the first person to be unanimously elected yesterday, and I hope that it opens the door for it to happen in the future, maybe even starting next year with Derek Jeter. If Rivera, as a pitcher who did not play every day in a position that did not exist at the dawn of the sport, is elected by every voter, I really have no idea how any of these same people could justify not voting for Jeter next year. As I look ahead to future ballots, I think Ichiro Suzuki might have a chance to receive 100% of the vote, and maybe Albert Pujols could as well. It is too early to tell on guys like Clayton Kershaw and Mike Trout, but they could potentially be unanimous selections as well.
That tier of Hall of Famers I spoke about before really has broken the ground on an even higher level now, and that is the unanimous Hall of Famers. The first class will obviously always be special, and the first ballot inductees deserve to be separated from the rest as well. It is far too late to turn back the hands of time and place the legends of the game who deserve to be there in their earned place as unanimous inductees, but at least that place now exists. It by no means should be a large group, but there is a group of people who will live on long after their time as the best of the best. Rivera is now the first, but my hope is that when the next ones are up for election, they can join Rivera in the class that he has now created.
Daily Rangers Update: No more games until after the All Star break, so it will be about a week before the Rangers are back in action.
Daily NBA Update: Trade deadline talk has begun, and it seems like the Memphis Grizzlies, who are in the midst of a very disappointing season, will be sellers. Carmelo Anthony was also dealt away by the Houston Rockets in a somewhat surprising move, and might end up as a free agent who can sign with another team, most likely one with hopes of a deep playoff run. I think this says a lot about Anthony, and it also brings about something that I am not really a fan of, as star players are dealt and then their contracts are bought out. I will have to write about those things another time, maybe if or when Anthony signs with a contending team.
Daily NFL Update: The Pro Bowl is this Sunday, and it is surely my least favorite game of the entire season. I would rather watch preseason games than the Pro Bowl. We are still over a week away from the Super Bowl, so it will be a long wait until we get that final taste of the NFL season.
No comments:
Post a Comment