NEW YORK (AP) — When it comes to unanimous picks for baseball’s Hall of Fame, Derek Jeter quite appropriately has the chance to be No. 2.
Yankees closer Mariano Rivera became the first player to appear on every ballot when he swept 425 votes in last year’s election. Ken Griffey Jr. was three votes short perfection in 2016, breaking the mark of five shy that had been held since 1992 by Tom Seaver.
Bill Madden, the longtime New York Daily News baseball writer, said attitudes had changed and Rivera’s performance could lead to more 100% results from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, whose 2020 votes are announced Tuesday.