Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 2020

Yesterday evening, the Baseball Writer's Association of America (BBWAA) announced the final members of the Class of 2020.

Derek Jeter and Larry Walker were announced as the final two members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Class of 2020.  They join the Modern Era Committee selections of Ted Simmons and Marvin Miller in Cooperstown as the only four people selected this year.

Derek Jeter was on 396 of 397 ballots (99.7%) and Larry Walker was on 304 of 397 ballots (76.6%).  Unfortunately for Larry Walker, his story seemed to have gotten buried by the "outrage" of media and fans that "The Captain" was not a unanimous selection in his first year of eligibility.

I watched MLB Network all afternoon leading up to the Hall of Fame announcement.  At one point yesterday, Bob Costas said that he would not have Jeter on his ballot (not sure if he has a vote or not).  The reason he gave, is the same reason I would not have voted for him on the first ballot as well.  Costas said for someone to be a unanimous selection, they need to be without a shadow of a doubt the very best at their position.  He said that was the reason Mariano Rivera has been the only unanimous selection for the Hall of Fame.  Costas said that while Jeter is a Hall of Fame shortstop, he is not the very best at the position.  Costas said that you have players like Honus Wagner, Cal Ripken Jr, Ozzie Smith, Ernie Banks and Barry Larkin to name a few are also in the discussion for the best shortstop of all time.

Larry Walker's story is something that needs to be told.  He was in his final year of eligibility.  Last year Walker recieved 54.6% of the vote.  He was behind such names as Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds.  Going into the vote this year, Walker had a slim chance of getting in.  Everyone knew Jeter was going to be getting in on his first year of eligibility.  Last year there were 425 ballots and only 397 this year, which means you had to get 298 votes to get elected this year.

Like a scene out of a movie, in his final year of eligibility, Larry Walker jumped from 54.6% of the vote to 76.6% of the vote, a 22% jump in voting.  Schilling only jumped up 9.1% from 60.9% in 2019 to 70% in 2020.  While Bonds jumped from 59.1% last year to 60.7% (+ 1.6%) this year and Clemens jumped from 59.5% in 2019 to 61% (+ 1.5%) in 2020.  Many speculate that Schilling's outspoken views on politics might have turned some voters off this year.  Speculation on Bonds and Clemens thought that the BBWAA voters might have been softening enough to allow them to get in this year.  However, that speculation proved to be incorrect.

All three players have two more years on the ballot.  The 2021 ballot will have first time names on it like Tim Hudson, Mark Buehrle, Torii Hunter and Barry Zito.  While these are some big names, none of those four are first ballot hall of fame players.  Next year's ballot will be the most interesting since 2017 when there wasn't a guarantee of who was going to get in.

Is 2021 the year Bonds and Clemens finally get their names called?