We may never find out the lone baseball writer who did not vote for Derek Jeter.
The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) all 315 of the public ballots that helped induct the longtime Yankees shortstop and Rockies slugger Larry Walker into the Baseball Hall of Fame last month.
In total, 397 writers voted on the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 with Jeter receiving 396 of them.
He would have become the second player elected to the Hall of Fame by unanimous decision, joining former teammate at Yankees closer Mariano Rivera — who got the call to the hall last year.
Jeter’s lone negator will continue to hide behind a veil that has been a contested one in recent years.
In 2011, the BBWAA decided that all Hall of Fame ballots should be made available for the public. However, it was overruled by the Hall of Fame.
Since then, voters have had the choice to make their ballots public or not.
Hall of Fame president, Tim Mead, took over the position last year and was caught in the middle of the feud last month at the St. Regis Hotel when Jeter and Walker received their Hall-of-Fame jerseys.
“I think there’s ultimately rules (and) regulations controlled by the BBWAA in the voting process,” Mead said. “And in that ballot, the voter has a choice to make that vote public or not. And that’s kind of the agreed-upon guidelines established by the membership.”
BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O’Connell quickly corrected him.
“The BBWAA made a proposal to the Hall maybe five years ago to be completely transparent with our awards and to make all the ballots public,” O’Connell said. “But the Hall’s board turned that down.”
Regardless, the potential unanimity of his selection didn’t bother Jeter, as he told the media last month at the St. Regis Hotel when accepting his Hall-of-Fame jersey.
“I focus on the [voters] that did,” he explained. “It takes a lot of people to all agree to get you to this point, so I am not thinking about that. I’m happy that I’m sitting up here on this stage right now. And that’s something that just doesn’t cross my mind.”
