Baseball Hall Makes Call

Every summer, fans from all over gather on a small town in upstate New York to honor the very best in the game of baseball. July 26th is the date and, at the home of baseball, Cooperstown New York is the site. In total, there have been 328 people who have been inducted into the Hall, as being considered the very best that have ever played this game of baseball. This year, the number will grow by four. Marvin Miller, former executive and former catcher Ted Simmons are going in as selected by the veterans committee. Going in this year, as selected by the Baseball Writers Association of America are right fielder Larry Walker and shortstop Derek Jeter.

Larry Walker got into the Hall on his tenth year on the ballot, earning 76.6% of the votes, good enough for induction. Walker spent 17 years playing in the Majors, having played for the Montreal Expos from 1989 to 1994, the the Colorado Rockies from 1994 to 2004 and finally with the St Louis Cardinals from 2004 to 2005. During that 17 year career, Walker was a .313 lifetime hitter, having collected 2,160 hits. He smashed 383 home runs and drove in 1,311 runs. Walker was the 1997 National League MVP and lead the NL in home runs that year with 49 of them. Walker was a five time All-Star (1992, 1997–1999, 2001), a seven time winner of the Gold Glove Award (1992, 1993, 1997–1999, 2001, 2002), was a three time Silver Slugger (1992, 1997, 1999) and a three time MLB batting champion (1998, 1999, 2001).

In short, he could do a little bit of everything. He was known for excelling at all aspects of the game. He had a unique ability to hit for both average and power, and having good plate discipline, speed, defense, as well as throwing strength and accuracy. What makes Walker's induction into the Hall more amazing is he only began playing organized baseball after graduating high school and never went to college. He was also a pretty decent hockey player but managed to give the game up to chase a baseball career.

Then there's Derek Jeter. He received 99.7% of the votes for induction into the Hall. Jeter spent his entire 20 year career with the Yankees, playing in 2,747 games. He collected 3,456 hits, which was good for a .310 lifetime average. He clubbed 260 home runs and drove in 1,311 runs, while scoring 1,923 runs.  Jeter won AL Rookie oof the year in 1996 and a was five time World Series champion, winning in 1996, 1998-2000 and 2009, winning MVP of the 2000 Series. Jeter played in the all star game 14 times in his career (1998–2002, 2004, 2006–2012, 2014), was a five time Gold Glove Award (2004–2006, 2009–2010), a five time Sliver Slugger Award winner (2006–2009, 2012) a two time AL Hank Aaron Award (2006, 2009) and a Roberto Clemente Award winner (2009).

One of the big things that stuck out about Jeter was how consistent he was. He played fewer than 145 games a season only three times in his career: when he dislocated his left shoulder on Opening Day 2003 (119 games), when he injured his calf in 2011 (131 games), and in 2013 when he struggled with a myriad of injuries (17 games). For his career, he averaged 204 hits, 113 runs scored and 21 stolen bases over the course of an average of 162 games. If you think that was good, his playoff numbers are just as impressive. He holds MLB postseason records for games played (158), plate appearances (734), at-bats (650), hits (200), singles (143), doubles (32), triples (5), runs scored (111), total bases (302) and strikeouts (135). Jeter is also third in home runs (20), fourth in runs batted in (61), fifth in base on balls (66) and sixth in stolen bases (18).

He was one of the best defensive shortsopts in the game and made famous "jump-throw", by which he leapt and threw to first base while moving towards third base. He could do a little bit of everything and do it well. It wasn't one aspect of his game that jumped out at you, meaning his power wasn't exceptional, he was just consistent and that's what really stuck out to baseball fans.

Both guys are very deserving of going into the hall. It's interesting to note that four other players cleared 50% of the votes. Former Phillies, Diamondbacks and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling earned 70% of the votes, Roger Clemens earned 61% of votes, earning one more vote than Barry Bonds. Omar Vizquel finished with 52.6%.

So lets hear from you, did baseball get it right as to who's going in and who's on the outside looking in?