The BBWAA elected Derek Jeter to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 21, 2020, naming him on 396 of the 397 ballots cast in his first year of eligibility. That's 99.7%, the highest share any position player has ever gotten, and exactly one vote short of joining Mariano Rivera as the only unanimous picks in history. The New York Yankees' captain then waited almost 20 months to actually go in, because 2020 had other plans.
One vote. Out of 397. And we still don't know who.
The Writer Who Said No
A year earlier, Mo had gone 425 for 425 and broken the seal. Nobody could hide behind "nobody's ever been unanimous" anymore. So when the numbers came back for The Captain, everyone went looking for the holdout.
They didn't find one. Ballots stay anonymous unless the writer chooses to publish, and this one never did. (Smart move, honestly. Imagine walking through the Bronx with that on your record.)
Jeter's percentage edged past Ken Griffey Jr.'s 99.3% from 2016 for the best mark ever by a position player. Five years later, Ichiro landed on 393 of 394 ballots -- also one short -- and missed Jeter's share by about two thousandths of a percentage point. The record held.
Jeter, of course, refused to take the bait.
See, this is where our minds are a little different. I think about the ones who did. It takes a lot of people to all agree to get you to this point.
That's the most Jeter answer imaginable. Two decades of giving reporters absolutely nothing, and he wasn't about to start now.
The Rest of the Class
Larry Walker squeaked in on his 10th and final try with 304 votes, 76.6% -- six to spare. He jumped from 54.6% the year before and became the second Canadian in the Hall after Fergie Jenkins.
The Modern Baseball Era Committee had already added two more names on December 8, 2019. Ted Simmons got 13 of 16 votes. Marvin Miller, the union chief who won the players free agency, got exactly the 12 he needed, seven years after he died. (Making Marvin Miller wait on a committee is about the most baseball thing ever.)
That same committee had Don Mattingly and Thurman Munson on the ballot. Both got three votes or fewer. So the Yanks sent one guy to Cooperstown that winter and watched two more get shut out in the same cycle.
| BBWAA Vote | 396 of 397 (99.7%), first ballot |
| Announced | Tuesday, January 21, 2020 |
| Inducted | Wednesday, September 8, 2021 -- Clark Sports Center, Cooperstown |
| Induction Class | Larry Walker, Ted Simmons, Marvin Miller |
| Record | Highest percentage ever for a position player; second only to Rivera's 100% |
| Career | .310, 3,465 hits (sixth all-time), 14 All-Star selections, 5 Gold Gloves (1995-2014, all Yankees) |
| Titles | 5 World Series championships |
| Plaque Cap | New York Yankees |
Then the World Shut Down
The induction was set for July 26, 2020. Cooperstown expected a record crowd. Then COVID hit, and on April 29 the Hall canceled the whole weekend and pushed the class to the next summer.
The writers didn't elect anybody in January 2021, so the Class of 2020 kept the stage to themselves. With COVID still hanging around, the Hall bumped the ceremony from July 25 to a Wednesday afternoon in September. Jeter, a guy who'd spent 20 seasons playing in front of New York crowds, finally went in on September 8, 2021, in front of an estimated 20,000 people -- not even half of Mo's crowd two years earlier. (A weekday in September during a pandemic will do that.)
All But One of You
The Captain got his shot in, though. He thanked "the baseball writers, all but one of you," and that was all he needed to say. Somewhere, one writer probably didn't laugh.
The rest of it stayed on brand. "I had one goal in my career," he said, "and that was to win more than anyone else. And we did." Five rings back that up. His plaque, with the interlocking NY on the cap, opens by calling him "the heartbeat of a Yankees dynasty," and it hangs right next to Mo's.
He closed with "It's been a hell of a ride." From the walk-off in his last home game to the No. 2 going up in Monument Park to a bronze plaque in upstate New York, it freakin' was.
Final Game
Jeter plays his last big-league game at Fenway Park, starting the five-year clock on his Hall of Fame eligibility.
Simmons and Miller Elected
The Modern Baseball Era Committee elects Ted Simmons (13 of 16 votes) and Marvin Miller (12 of 16). Don Mattingly and Thurman Munson each get three or fewer.
396 of 397
Jeter appears on all but one BBWAA ballot (99.7%). Larry Walker gets in on his final try with 304 votes (76.6%).
Ceremony Canceled
The Hall of Fame calls off the July 26, 2020, induction because of COVID-19 and moves the class to 2021.
No New Class
The BBWAA elects nobody, leaving the Class of 2020 alone on the stage.
Induction Day
Jeter, Walker, Simmons, and Miller (posthumously) go into the Hall at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown.
Tribute Night in the Bronx
The Yankees hold Derek Jeter Hall of Fame Induction Tribute Night before a game against Tampa Bay, handing replica plaques to the first 40,000 fans.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Hall of Fame votes did Derek Jeter get?
Jeter received 396 of 397 BBWAA votes in 2020, or 99.7%. It was his first year on the ballot, and he needed 298 to get in.
Was Derek Jeter a unanimous Hall of Famer?
No. One voter left him off, and nobody has ever identified that writer. Mariano Rivera, elected in 2019 with all 425 votes, is still the only unanimous BBWAA selection.
When was Derek Jeter inducted into the Hall of Fame?
The BBWAA elected Jeter on January 21, 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 ceremony. The Hall inducted him on September 8, 2021, at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, New York.
Who was inducted into the Hall of Fame with Derek Jeter?
The Class of 2020 included Larry Walker (76.6% of the BBWAA vote, his final year on the ballot), plus Ted Simmons and the late Marvin Miller, both elected by the Modern Baseball Era Committee in December 2019.
What did Derek Jeter say about the writer who didn't vote for him?
In January 2020 he said he thought about "the ones who did." At his induction speech, he thanked "the baseball writers, all but one of you."
Twenty years, 3,465 hits, five rings, and 396 votes. Somebody out there still owes him an explanation.