Ever since the first Hall of Fame class was named back in 1936, no one has unanimously been inducted. New York Yankees legendary closer Mariano Rivera will not be the first player to receive that honor.
There is no question that New York Yankees legendary closer Mariano Rivera will be receiving the call of immortality early in 2019. Armed with one of the most devastating cutters in the history of the game, everyone in the ballpark knew he was going to throw that one pitch. Yet, he had such impressive command of that offering, that even though everyone knew it was coming, no one could hit it.
That sheer dominance, and Rivera’s stature as the greatest closer in baseball history, has made his enshrinement into Cooperstown an inevitability. In fact, his induction is seen as such a sure bet, that some are speculating that Rivera would be the first player to be unanimously elected into the Hall of Fame.
Rivera certainly had the stats to back up such a lofty thought. In his impressive career, he notched a record 652 saves, with a sparkling 2.21 ERA and a 1.000 WHiP. Over his 1283.2 innings, Rivera struck out 1173 batters with only 286 walks. He was a 13 time All Star, the MVP of the 2003 ALCS, and the MVP of the 1999 World Series. Rivera finished in the top three of the Cy Young vote four times, including a third place finish as the Yankees setup man in 1996.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
While the notion that Rivera could receive every vote in honorable, there are two factors working against him. Ken Griffey Jr. currently has the highest percentage of votes for the Hall of Fame, being selected on 99.3% of all ballots submitted. Even all time greats like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Greg Maddux, and Sandy Koufax did not get 100% of the vote. Hell, DiMaggio had to wait three years to be inducted.
Secondly, Rivera was a closer. Yes, he was the most dominant closer that the game has seen, but the position is still very underrepresented in Cooperstown. Only six pitchers have been inducted as closers, with Rivera soon to become the seventh. Of those closers, Goose Gossage received the highest percentage of the vote, being named on 85.8% of the ballots in his ninth year of eligibility.
The past does not often predicate the future, but it is a very strong driving force in baseball, particularly amongst the voters. They look back at the players that had come before, and decree from their lofty perches that if Player X was not unanimous, then it would only be over their dead body that Payer Y would get every vote. This innate logic leaves those voters *cough Murray Chass cough* to leave deserving candidates without a vote. To have a closer break that streak would be impressive, but it seem incredibly farfetched, no matter how dominant they were.
New York Yankees legendary closer Mariano Rivera is just a few short weeks from getting the call welcoming him to the Hall of Fame. He just won’t be the first player to be inducted in unanimous fashion.