Mariano Rivera: was his unanimous election to the Hall of Fame integrity or bullying?

425. That's the number of people who voted in the Hall of Fame election. Mariano Rivera got a vote from all 425. Was Rivera really that worthy? Or were voters intimidated?

Hall of Fame closers faced bottom of order more: Rivera, Hoffman, Smith. Friday, February 1, 2019

comment:
Joseph Maloney said...

Mariano's unanimous selection will be recognized as nothing more than the historical absurdity. I just wish one voter had the integrity to just say no.

Monday, February 4, 2019 at 12:45:00 PM EST
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The comment is well taken. For months before the announcement voters were practically threatened. Everyone better get in line or else. Had there been a no vote, a search would have begun to out the person. One voter supposedly chose to abstain rather than cast the lone negative vote.

The red herring was that some voters over the years would not vote for a player in the player's first year of eligibility to ensure that no player ever received 100% of the votes. When is the most recent year when such a person actually did this?

Could the voters have coalesced around a less worthy candidate to end this supposed practice? Rivera appeared in fewer than 1,300 innings, less than five percent of his team's innings.

It's really difficult to imagine that all 425 voters really felt that Rivera should be elected to the Hall of Fame.