6:18 PM ETESPN News ServicesNEW YORK — Derek Jeter came within one vote of being a unanimous pick for the Hall of Fame, and Larry Walker also earned baseball’s highest honor Tuesday.The longtime New York Yankees captain appeared on 396 of 397 ballots cast by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, falling just shy of the standard set when longtime Yankees teammate Mariano Rivera became the first unanimous selection last year. Jeter’s 99.7% moved above Ken Griffey Jr. (99.3%) for the second highest.It was not immediately known which voter didn’t choose Jeter, who was listed on all 219 ballots made public before the announcement. The BBWAA will release additional ballots on Feb. 4 of writers who chose a public listing.Walker appeared on 304 ballots, six above the 75% needed, in his 10th and final appearance on the BBWAA ballot, up from 54.6% last year.Pitcher Curt Schilling was third with 278 votes (70%) in his eighth ballot appearance, an increase from 60.9% but still 20 votes shy. The steroids-tainted pair of Roger Clemens (61%) and Barry Bonds (60.7%) both showed slight increases. Bonds rose from 59.1% last year and Clemens from 59.5%. Among those who saw sizable gains in their percentages were long-time shortstop Omar Vizquel (42.8% to 52.6%) in his third year on the ballot and third baseman Scott Rolen (17.2% to 35.3%).Jeter and Walker will be inducted on July 26 at the Hall in Cooperstown, New York, along with catcher Ted Simmons and former players’ association head Marvin Miller, who were voted in last month by the Hall’s Modern Era Committee.play1:14Tim Kurkjian reacts to Larry Walker’s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, which took 10 years.”I was speechless when I got the call,” Jeter said. “Quite frankly, I was pretty nervous, and when I got it I really didn’t know what to say.”While Jeter said he didn’t want to jinx things by believing his induction was a lock, Walker’s election was far from a guarantee. He received just 20.3% in his first ballot appearance in 2011 and dropped as low as 10.2% in 2014. He rose to 21.9% in 2017 before jumping to 34.1% in 2018.”Being Canadian, you’re born into this world with a stick in your hand and skates on your feet,” Walker said. “So that’s how I was as a kid. You played hockey and that’s all that really mattered. When hockey didn’t quite go the way I wanted, baseball more or less found me.”Jeter played all 20 of his seasons for the Yankees after being drafted with the sixth pick of the 1992 amateur draft as a high school player out of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Jeter was bypassed by Houston (Phil Nevin), Cleveland (Paul Shuey), Montreal (B.J. Wallace), Baltimore (Jeffrey Hammonds) and Cincinnati (Chad Mottola). He debuted for the Yankees on May 29, 1995, and was installed at shortstop, taking over for Tony Fernandez, the following spring training by new manager Joe Torre.It was a position he held down for two decades, never logging a single defensive inning at another position. He won five Gold Gloves despite defensive metrics that were maligned,Jeter defined himself by moments more than numbers: his unexpected backhand flip from foul territory to throw out Oakland’s Jeremy Giambi in the 2001 AL Division Series; his Mr. November home run in the 10th inning that won Game 4 of the 2001 World Series; his face-first leap into the stands after catching a 12th-inning popup by Boston’s Trot Nixon in 2004; a home run into the left-field bleachers for his 3,000th hit as part of a career-best 5-for-5 game in 2011; a ninth-inning walk-off single in his final home game in 2014; a single in his last at-bat three days later that lifted his career average to .310.A 14-time All-Star, Jeter was named American League Rookie of the Year in 1996 and finished in the top 10 of AL MVP balloting eight times, topping out at second in 2006. He scored 100 or more runs 13 times and ranks sixth all time with 3,465 career hits. While leading the Yankees to five World Series crowns during his career, Jeter played in a record 158 playoff games — 33 more than any other player. His postseason OPS (.838) was 21 points better than his regular-season mark (.817).He was appointed captain by owner George Steinbrenner in June 2003, filling a position that had been open since Don Mattingly’s retirement after the 1995 season. He finished with 260 homers, 358 stolen bases and 1,311 RBIs, earning $266 million from the Yankees.He was the ninth player elected to the Hall after playing exclusively for the Yankees, joining Lou Gehrig (1939), Bill Dickey (1954), Joe DiMaggio (1955), Earle Combs (1970), Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle (1974), Phil Rizzuto (1994) and Rivera.Jeter now is a part-owner of the Miami Marlins and heads up that franchise’s baseball operations department. He becomes the 28th member of the Hall of Fame to represent the Yankees.Walker spent his 17-year career with the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals, winning the 1997 National League MVP for Colorado. He hit .366 that season with a career-high 49 homers, 130 RBIs and a .720 slugging percentage. Walker won NL batting crowns in 1998 (.363) and 1999 (.372). Known for his athleticism and strong arm, Walker won seven Gold Gloves during his career. Walker’s .965 career OPS ranks 15th all time.Walker was born in Maple Ridge, Canada, where he also attended high school. His 72.7 career WAR, per baseball-reference.com, is easily the most among Canadian-born position players. Among pitchers from that country, only Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins had more WAR (82.2). Walker joins Jenkins as the only two Canadian-born members of the Hall.”I know I speak for the whole Rocky Mountain region in congratulating Larry for his election into the Hall of Fame,” Rockies owner Dick Monfort said in a statement. “Larry blessed our region for parts of 10 seasons and we feel extremely fortunate to be a part of his incredible career. Congrats, Larry.”Schilling won 20 or more games three times during his career for the Orioles, Astros, Phillies, Diamondbacks and Red Sox. He finished second in the Cy Young balloting three times and twice finished in the top 10 of MVP voting. He was also known for his postseason prowess while winning titles with the Diamondbacks (2001) and Red Sox (2004, 2007).While Schilling’s on-field Hall résumé is comparable to other pitchers to have been admitted to Cooperstown, such as 2019 inductee Mike Mussina, his controversial off-the-field stances probably have stirred the ire of some voters.Newcomers to the ballot next year include pitchers Mark Buehrle and Tim Hudson, as well as outfielder Torii Hunter. None appear to be slam-dunk selections, which could provide an opening for Schilling, Bonds, Clemens and others such as Vizquel, Rolen, reliever Billy Wagner (31.7%) and slugger Gary Sheffield (30.5%) to get over the threshold.The 2022 ballot will include David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez, who served a season-long suspension in 2014 for violations of the drug program and baseball’s collective bargaining agreementInformation from ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle and The Associated Press was used in this report.
Jeter, Walker elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
