Mariano Rivera Becomes First Unanimous Selection to Baseball Hall of Fame

Since the beginning of the Baseball Hall of Fame voting in 1936, no player, no matter how good he was in his career, has been voted in unanimously. Even all time greats like Babe Ruth (95.13%), Ted Williams (93.38 %), and Henry Aaron (97.83%), were left off the ballots of some voters. In 2016, Ken Griffey, Jr. came close with 99.32 % (437 votes out of 440 voters). There have always been a few voters who have somehow felt these great players should not be in the Hall, or at least not on the first ballot (most of the top vote getters have been voted in on the first ballot). And it’s not like the voters are uninformed, at least not in theory. They are all members of the Baseball Writers of America who must meet certain criteria.

That finally came to an end with the 2019 election. Mariano Rivera, who spent who spent 19 years with the New York Yankees and is the career leader in saves with 652, finally broke through that barrier and was unanimously elected by all 425 voters. Rivera was 82-60 with those 652 saves and an ERA of 2.21 in 1115 appearances, all but 10 as a reliever. In 96 post season appearances, Rivera was 8-1 with 42 saves and a 0.70 ERA. He was a 13 time All Star and five time World Series champion with the Yankees.

Joining Rivera in the Class of 2019 were starting pitchers Roy Halladay who was 203-105 with a 3.38 ERA in 16 years with Toronto and Philadelphia and Mike Mussina, who was 270-153 with a 3.68 ERA in 18 years with Baltimore and the Yankees. Rounding it out is Edgar Martinez, who hit .312 with a .418 on base percentage, 309 homers and 1261 RBIs. Martinez played much of his career as a designated hitter, which may partially explain why it took until his 10th year of eligibility to be voted in. They will join relief pitcher Lee Smith, who had 478 saves in his 18 year career, and Harold Baines, who hit .289 with 384 homers and 1628 RBIs in 22 seasons. They were previously selected by the Veterans Committee, which selects players whose eligibility to be elected by the baseball writers has expired. The 2019 Hall of Fame induction ceremony is July 21st.