Congratulations to the Newest HOF Members!

Derek Jeter and Larry Walker are the two newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.  I count myself fortunate to have not just watched both of them play but to have watched them in person.  I saw Walker on a number of occasions at Busch Stadium II in downtown St. Louis and that's where I also watched Jeter play with the New York Yankees against the Cardinals on June 11th, 2005.

#2 Derek Jeter - "The Captain"

Jeter's selection was a given.  The only question I have is who didn't vote for him?  Jeter was one vote away from unanimous selection.  As I write this the identity of the Hall of Fame elector is unknown and what that voter was thinking is even more difficult to comprehend.  Jeter had a career with almost 35 hundred hits in over 11 thousand at bats and a lifetime .310 batting average.  The image of Jeter to the left is from a trip I made to the Bronx two years ago.  The image of him is on the exterior right field wall of Yankee Stadium.  I was standing on River Avenue when I took the photo.

The day I saw Jeter play against the Cardinals in St. Louis he was 2-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.  In the field he handled five chances flawlessly.  Normally I wouldn't remember one players day from 15 years ago, but I remembered he had a good day and went back to look it up.  "The Captain" was not a favorite of mine at the time, but as the years passed he earned my respect and now I am proud to be able to say I saw him in person and believe him to be one of the best to ever play shortstop in the history of the game.

The Yankees beat the Cardinals 5-0 the day I saw Jeter play.  But, he wasn't the only future Hall of Famer on the Field.  Larry Walker also played that day coming into the game as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 8th for Cardinal outfield So Taguchi.  And who you ask was on the hill for the Yankees when Walker came into the game?  Why none other than HOF reliever Mariano Rivera who was elected unanimously to the Hall last  year.

The match up ended up in Rivera's favor with Walker being called out on strikes that afternoon. As it turns out Rivera got a four out save and another Hall of Famer, Randy Johnson, got the win.

Larry Walker playing for the St. Louis Cardinals

Walker was near the end of his career that afternoon, but he had an illustrious one.  Walker had a lifetime average of .313 in 17 seasons with 383 home runs and 230 stolen bases.  He started his career with the Montreal Expos then moved to Colorado to play for the Rockies and ended it with his last two years in St. Louis.  In 2004 Walker was a trade deadline pickup and he helped the Cardinals to the World Series that year against the Boston Red Sox.  Walker hit .293 in the 2004 post season including six home runs with two of them coming against the Red Sox in the World Series.

Walker retired after the 2005 season and in those two years he became a huge fan favorite in St. Louis.  Walker says he will enter the Hall with a Colorado Rockie hat on his plaque.  Walker will become just the second Canadian to enter the Hall.  He will join former Chicago Cub pitcher Ferguson Jenkins who was inducted in 1991.

Walker and Jeter will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 26th along with former Cardinal Ted Simmons and labor leader Marvin Miller who were selected by the Modern Era baseball committe a little over a month ago.

Congratulations to the Hall of Fame class of 2020!