Should Mariano Rivera Have Been the First Unanimous Hall of Fame player?

On Tuesday, the BBWAA officially announced that Mariano
Rivera would be entering the National Baseball Hall of Fame with 100% of the vote. Should Mo have been the first to unanimously be voted into the Hall of Fame?

It’s hard to believe that it took this long for a player to be unanimously elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. It’s also fitting that Mariano Rivera, the last to wear #42, will be the first ever to do it.

Of the many accolades Mariano Rivera has in his career (i.e. the all-time saves record, 13 all star appearances, 4 World Series rings), the one that stands out the most is how many runs he has allowed in postseason games: 11.

I know you’re probably tired of hearing it but, “more people have walked on the moon (12) than have scored an earned run off of Mariano Rivera in the postseason.”

So, to answer the question: Should Mariano Rivera have been the first to be unanimously elected into baseball’s Hall of Fame?

Well, the answer to the question is bit more complicated than that.

For one, Mariano Rivera absolutely deserves 100% of the Hall of Fame vote. So too, however, did Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson, and any other legend of the game who didn’t receive the honor before the greatest closer of all time.

It’s more surprising to me that the man responsible for breaking Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record, Hank Aaron, only received 97.8% of the vote; that Cal Ripken, who played 2632 consecutive games, only received 98.5% of the vote; that Nolan Ryan, who struck out more batters than any pitcher in the history of the game, only received 98.8% of the vote.

I think you get the idea.

The real question is: why did it take so long for a player to be properly acknowledged for his undeniable accomplishments as a Major League Baseball player? Even better, why do some members of the BBWAA feel the need to refrain from voting for an irrefutable hall of famer?

The short answer is anonymity.

Voters who hold personal grudges against players, who perhaps didn’t like a player’s “shortcomings”, who wouldn’t vote for black players and let a player’s race factor into the decision simply do not have to go public with their vote.

Any effort that has been made to make ballots public, have been shot down. In fact, in 2016 members of the BBWAA voted to make all Hall of Fame ballots public beginning in 2018, but, According to Anthony Reiber of Newsday, “the Hall of Fame rejected this change and voters still can keep their ballots private if they choose.”

Thankfully, change is coming.

With a new crop of voters being given the privilege of voting, Ryan Thibodaux’s Tracker which keeps track of all the votes that have been made public, and the advent of social media, fans are more aware of how BBWAA vote (or don’t vote).

The mounting pressure to vote for an unquestionable Hall of Fame player, despite a voter’s bias, is now a reality, and who better than Mariano Rivera to be the first to receive the honor.

So, now the question is: Who’s next?