Mariano Rivera is an obvious Hall of Famer, but do not be surprised if it's not a unanimous choice



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The voting process of the American Association of Baseball Writers in the Hall of Fame is nonsensical, and perhaps it is at the forefront of them: there has never been a unanimous selection at the Temple of fame.

In a way, this most relentless and stupid series of traces dates back to the first promotion of the Hall of Fame in 1936. Here is who made the cut, with the respective voting percentages:

  • Ty Cobb, 98.2%
  • Babe Ruth, 95.1 percent
  • Honus Wagner, 95.1%
  • Christy Mathewson, 90.7%
  • Walter Johnson, 83.6%

While the voters of the time were working without a track record or precedent, imagine watching the assignments of any of these five names and finding them do not deserve to be inducted, as the # 39 made several voters in each case. This confusing seminal moment spawned what followed. Even indisputably, obvious Hall of Fame members such as Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Stan Musial and Ted Williams were not included in every ballot, because, as one might expect, "if the Babe was not 100 percent, so this guy will not be. "

We are still waiting for one player to be named on every ballot. Presumably, one day, it will happen. In 2016, Ken Griffey Jr. set the record with 99.3% of the vote. This is a high figure, of course, but it also means that it has not been named on three ballots.

At some point, we can assume that the arc of history will bow to common sense and that an unassailable Hall of Fame will be treated as such. Maybe this is happening as early as next year, now that Mariano Rivera is one of the 20 new names on the ballot of the BBWAA?

Well, probably not. First, yes, Rivera, thanks to its 652 backups, 205 ERA + (his record of 1,000 career victories), his legendary playoff resume and outstanding reputation, will easily run in the first round. ballot. That said, it seems unlikely to show up for every vote.

First, there is the fact that Rivera is a reliever and voters have not yet figured out how to handle that. Goose Gossage has the highest percentage of ballots. He was nominated for 85.8% of the vote in 2008, but it was his ninth year. Trevor Hoffman, who is so often associated with Rivera (although the Rivera affair is much stronger), was unable to enter his third year on the ballot and, even in this case, he failed to break 80%.

Only one player inducted as a reliever arrived at the first ballot. It was Dennis Eckersley in 2004 with 83.2% of the vote. Eckersley, however, was partly a hybrid candidate. He made 361 starts in his career, launched more than 75% of his career goals and recorded 149 wins out of 197. Yes, he was much better than the starting pitcher, but his work as a starter definitely added to his case in the Hall of Fame.

Once again, Rivera will participate in the first round of voting and will rank first in the top 90%, as per the Hall of Fame Hall of Fame standards. On the other hand, one elector or three voters will be whitening with the idea of ​​taking over the first unanimous choice. Others may watch the Rivera 56.3 career war and find it inadequate. While comparing the pickups to the WAR starters is not a wise choice, but you can reasonably say that even big farmers are worth less than good beginners.

In the end, we speak unanimously, and just a no vote to eliminate the possibility. It is said here that at least one voter will find the reason why he must pass Rivera on the first ballot. This would allow Derek Jeter, his longtime Rivera teammate, to become the first unanimous selection in 2020.

But that's a subject for another day.

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