Wednesday, January 22, 2020

It only takes one to ruin a righteous Hall of Fame vote

We found the one sportswriter in America who didn't vote for Derek Jeter...

He lives outside Sarasota with a Lay-Z Boy and satellite dish. He has the gout, a nose full of burst capillaries, and his prostate is the size of a newborn baby's head. It's been 15 years since he drove a car, and 30 since he filed his last column for the Topeka paper. It was an insightful rant about these uppity, pampered, smart-mouth pro athletes, who think they're so big. They make way too much money. If he ran sports, he'd set things straight. If he can ever remember that internet password, he'll see if the column is still there.

He sleeps with a C-Pap under an erotic poster of Jayne Mansfield beside his sacred pile of vintage Playboys, and the TV, whose knob has been removed, so nobody can tinker with the channel-changer. He listens to one channel, and one channel only. He hates liberals, hates New York, despises George Steinbrenner - who has ruined the game by spending all that money on those uppity, smart-mouths, the ethnics, that's what he'll call them, who think they're so big. Billy Martin knew what to do. Billy wasn't afraid to punch Reggie right in the nose. But now the game is full of Reggies, and damn, it might as well be the NBA. He refuses to watch. 

Once, long ago, he was supposed to interview Derek Jeter. It was Kansas City, back in the 90s. Well, he got snubbed. Jeter was probably out partying, sleeping with his wenches, forgot all about it. That day, he recognized that Jeter was a street punk with a sassy attitude, who thought he was big. He may have fooled everybody else; all you need in NY is an uppity, smart-mouth attitude, and everybody falls all over you, but Jeter didn't fool him, no way! Ever since, he's been waiting for his chance to let Jeter know exactly what he thinks. Hey, who's the big guy now, eh? 

He hates these modern players. The Joe Pepitones, with their hair sprays and perfumes. Jeter had a perfume. What was that about? And what the hell was ever wrong with Vitalis, anyway? Didn't Pete Rose say it: "A man wants to smell like a man!"  Now, there's a guy who should be in the Hall. Pete was never uppity. Who's that guy on the Angels, what's his name, that uppity pitcher? Oh, yeah, Bo Belinsky! Those Hollywood types. They've ruined the game, with their fur coats and their rap music. 

That's another thing. The music. Can you even call it music? He'll be goddamned if he's ever going to vote for another one of these hooligans, who broadcast their crap over the stadium p.a. whenever they step up to bat. Curt Schilling never did that. Next year, Curt will get his vote. He can't wait. Once Curt gets in the Hall, those uppity, smart-mouth - he's not gonna say what they are; you can't say those words anymore - but they will get an earful! Now, that's a speech he'll want to watch, and he'll have time to watch it, now that they're outlawing dog races. (That's another reason not to vote for Jeter; send a message that people are goddamn pissed. Bring back the dogs, Governor Chiles!) 

Last year, he relented with Mario Rivera. (Actually, he forgot to send in his ballot. It fell into the recliner, and he only found it last month.) But that's okay. Mario was a good guy, respectful. He might have even voted for Mario, anyway. But this Jeter punk, he thought he had everybody fooled. Well, who's the fool now?  

19 comments:

HoraceClarke66 said...

Yep. That's him!

ranger_lp said...

Great detective work el duque...

TheWinWarblist said...

You missed your calling, Duque. You should have been a writer.

So endeth this Ju-Ju?

Anonymous said...

Absolutely hilarious (and so true)!
Brett

TheWinWarblist said...

Hi Brett!

Ken of Brooklyn said...

Maybe it's weirdly fitting that Jeter is #2?
And he's ahead of The Babe at 95% (who didn't vote for HIM??), and DiMaggio and Mantle at 88%
Excuse the annoyingly surrealist cut and paste layout of the updated HOF chart below,,,,

Player Year Voters Votes Percentage
Mariano Rivera 2019 425 425 100.00%
Derek Jeter 2020 397 396 99.74%
Ken Griffey, Jr. 2016 440 437 99.32%
Tom Seaver 1992 430 425 98.84%
Nolan Ryan 1999 497 491 98.79%
Cal Ripken, Jr 2007 545 537 98.53%
Ty Cobb 1936 226 222 98.23%
George Brett 1999 497 488 98.19%
Hank Aaron 1982 415 406 97.83%
Tony Gwynn 2007 545 532 97.61%
Randy Johnson 2015 549 534 97.27%
Greg Maddux 2014 571 555 97.20%
Chipper Jones 2018 422 410 97.16%
Mike Schmidt 1995 460 444 96.52%
Johnny Bench 1989 447 431 96.42%
Steve Carlton 1994 455 436 95.82%
Babe Ruth 1936 226 215 95.13%
Honus Wagner 1936 226 215 95.13%
Rickey Henderson 2009 539 511 94.81%
Willie Mays 1979 432 409 94.68%
Carl Yastrzemski 1989 447 423 94.63%
Bob Feller 1962 160 150 93.75%
Reggie Jackson 1993 423 396 93.62%
Ted Williams 1966 302 282 93.38%
Stan Musial 1969 340 317 93.24%
Vladimir Guerrero 2018 422 392 92.89%
Roberto Clemente 1973 424 393 92.69%
Jim Palmer 1990 444 411 92.57%
Brooks Robinson 1983 374 344 91.98%
Tom Glavine 2014 571 525 91.94%
Wade Boggs 2005 516 474 91.86%
Ozzie Smith 2002 472 433 91.74%
Pedro Martinez 2015 549 500 91.07%
Christy Mathewson 1936 226 205 90.71%
Rod Carew 1991 443 401 90.52%
Roberto Alomar 2011 581 523 90.01%
Jim Thome 2018 422 379 89.81%
Frank Robinson 1982 415 370 89.16%
Joe DiMaggio 1955 251 223 88.84%
Al Kaline 1980 385 340 88.31%
Mickey Mantle 1974 365 322 88.22%
Mel Ott 1951 226 197 87.17%
Carl Hubbell 1947 161 140 86.96%
Red Ruffing 1967 306 266 86.93%
Sandy Koufax 1972 396 344 86.87%
Robin Roberts 1976 388 337 86.86%
Harry Heilmann 1952 234 203 86.75%
Duke Snider 1980 385 333 86.49%
Ted Lyons 1955 251 217 86.45%
Barry Larkin 2012 573 495 86.39%
Jeff Bagwell 2017 381 442 86.20%
Tim Raines 2017 380 442 85.97%
Goose Gossage 2008 543 466 85.81%
George Sisler 1939 274 235 85.77%
Billy Williams 1987 413 354 85.71%
Yogi Berra 1972 396 339 85.61%
Roy Halladay 2019 425 363 85.41%
Edgar Martinez 2019 425 363 85.41%
Eddie Murray 2003 496 423 85.28%
Paul Molitor 2004 506 431 85.18%
Charlie Gehringer 1949 187 159 85.03%
Hank Greenberg 1956 193 164 84.97%

Anonymous said...

The imbecile that didn't vote for Jeter should lose his/her voting privileges.

Looking down this list is mind-boggling. I guess Jeter should feel good. 57 morons didn't vote for Yogi Berra...and that's just one example of many.

Brett

JM said...

How do you not vote for Mantle and DiMag and Ruth and Cobb and Aaron?

By the way, I put up a comment on a previous post about Jeter not being that good defensively. I was not agreeing with that assessment, I meant it to be what critics and statheads have said about him.

If I offended anyone or lost my shot at a morning-after gift basket, I am truly sorry.

ranger_lp said...

Another conspiracy theory...maybe the one writer is female and got a gift basket from Derek and felt insulted? Or, the writer knows a female who received a Jeter gift basket and felt insulted?

13bit said...

Jeter did well. I would have been happy had he gotten 100%, but it wasn't realistic.

What I AM angry about, though, are Munson, Posada, Bernie Williams and a few other Yankees who never even got close to the Hall and that is directly attributable to Yankee hatred.

Anonymous said...

HERE HERE 13...

EXACTLY.

Anonymous said...

I've never really cared for these kinds of things, a player's final game, HOF voting & induction, retiring #s, not even the bronze plaques in Monument Field. The HOF voting is especially nonsense, in my opinion. There certainly are players who belong in there who aren't getting in. Like 13bit above, Bernie Williams and Munson. Not so sure about Posada, I'd have to think about that. I would add Mattingly too.

To me, it's much more meaningful to talk about this play or that play, or this game or that game, or this playoff series or that series. I like to remember the players at their best, during their iconic moments. One of my favorite Jeter moments would be against the Mets. He hit a homer to help win a World Series game in 2000. I think it was to lead off the game, or maybe to lead off an inning. And of course we won that game and that World Series. Good times....

The Hammer of God

TheWinWarblist said...

The inane hypocrisy of the BBWAA makers me want to strangle them. They won't let in the juicers, which is fine, be dicks, who cares, b self righteous assholes. But if you're not going to let in the juicers, why the FUCK WOULD YOU NOT ELECT THE PLAYERS WHO PLAYED CLEAN IN THE STEROID ERA!?! NO, YOU SANCTIMONIOUS HYPOCRITES, BERNIE AND JORGE AND BAGWELL DO NOT HAVE THE SAME NUMBERS AS MCGUIRE OR BONDS OR RODRIGUEZ! BECAUSE THEY PLAYED CLEAN IN THE STEROID ERA!!! YOUFUCKINGASSHOLESYOU'REFUCKINGOVER EVERYONE CLEANANDDIRTYALIKEBECAUSRYOUREEVILLITTLINDEDDICKHEADSMAYYOUALLDIEFROMCHANCROID!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Altuve and Bregman will be locks when their times come. Wait and see.
Brett

Matt P said...

I actually wish that a few more didn't vote for him so we wouldn't have this ONE person thing. I'd say Jeter as a first ballot hall of famer but not unanimous is fine. Don't let the honor/luster of getting in on the first ballot be lost counting the votes. The vote totals shouldn't matter. There won't be another first ballot HOF until at least 5 years from now (maybe Ichiro).

HoraceClarke66 said...

Very true, Bitty!

Definitely on Posada going in. Maybe Bernie, and maybe Munson. Sure, he was almost certainly on the downside of his career, but while he was playing he was every bit the player Fisk was.

Ken of Brooklyn said...

Great point Matt P!

Anonymous said...

It was Lupica!

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