Derek Jeter stood in front of his locker on July 27, 2014, and didn’t feel much like talking about his legacy.
It was the day his former manager, Joe Torre, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, while Jeter was in the middle of his final season in the majors.
Asked whether he thought about his own candidacy, Jeter said, “I try not to. I really don’t. That’s something I’ll think about when my career is over. My career’s not over. I’m not even thinking about next month, let alone five years down the road.”
Well, five years has come and gone since his last game, and the only drama regarding Jeter’s candidacy on his first year on the ballot is seeing whether he follows Mariano Rivera as the second player to be elected into the Hall unanimously.
With the announcement of the BBWAA’s voting coming Tuesday, Jeter had been named on all 210 ballots made public as of 10 p.m. Monday on the Twitter feed @NotMrTibbs.
It’s hardly a surprise, considering Jeter’s résumé and the fact Rivera reached the milestone figures to make the accomplishment more attainable.
“I think he will be like Mo with 100 percent [of the vote],” Jorge Posada said Monday.
Last week, Hall of Famer Goose Gossage said, “I can’t imagine it won’t be unanimous. He deserves it.”
No less an expert than Rivera himself made his feelings clear during a visit to Yankee Stadium after his unanimous election.
“If it was me, it would be 1,000 percent,’’ Rivera said in August. “Forget about 100 percent. I played with Derek for so many years, and seeing him day in and day out, and seeing the way he played the game and respected the game, I don’t see why not.’’
Only five players finished with more hits than Jeter’s career total of 3,465.
Derek Jeter waves goodbye to the fans in the Yankees’ last game at the old Stadium.APHe made 14 All-Star teams during a 20-year career — all spent in The Bronx — won five World Series titles and the World Series MVP in the Yankees’ victory over the Mets in 2000.
Jeter figures to have some company in Cooperstown this summer.
In addition to Ted Simmons, who was voted in by the Modern Baseball Era Committee in December, former Rockie, Expo and Cardinal Larry Walker appears to have a good shot at election. He was at 83.3 percent as of late Monday, well above the necessary 75 percent.
Old Yankee nemesis, Curt Schilling, was another possibility at 79 percent. Barry Bonds was at 71.9 percent and Roger Clemens at 71.0 percent.
Historically, players with ties to PEDs have seen their percentages drop once all the votes are counted. Older voters, many of whom don’t make their ballots public, have tended to be less likely to vote for players associated with PEDs.
Bonds and Clemens dropped more than 11 percent last year. Schilling fell nearly 9 percent. Walker has also slid in the final vote, the victim of the belief his numbers were inflated by playing most of his career in hitter-friendly Colorado. His percentage also sank by more than 11 percent a year ago.
Jeter, now CEO of the Marlins, was in Cooperstown for Rivera’s induction last summer.
Drafted by the Yankees sixth overall in 1992, Jeter reached the majors in 1995 and went on to win the AL Rookie of the Year award a year later, when he also helped the Yankees to their first title since 1978.
He also began building his postseason reputation as a rookie, but not before the Yankees considered trading Rivera to Seattle for shortstop Felix Fermin — and sending Jeter back to Triple-A — because some in the organization weren’t sold on starting Jeter at short.
They ultimately never made the move and now both Rivera and Jeter will join Torre in Cooperstown.




