Paving the Way to 100%

Mariano Rivera Makes History

5 min readJan 25, 2019

On January 22, 2019, Mariano Rivera became the first player ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame unanimously. Put into context, this is an incredibly impressive feat. River did what no other legend could. Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Roberto Clemente, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, excreta, etcetera. None were elected with 100% of the BBWAA vote.

Mariano River signed with the Yankees from Panama in 1990 for a $3,500 signing bonus. Five years later, he reached the major leagues and pitched 10 games as a starter. After struggling in this role, he was sent to the bullpen. The rest is history.

19 years later, Rivera retired. Throughout his career, he has helped the New York Yankees win five World Series titles and still holds the MLB record for saves with 652. Somehow, Rivera’s postseason performances were even better in the regular season ones. He was 8–1 with a 0.70 ERA over 96 appearances that spanned over 141 innings in October alone. More people have walked on the moon (12) than men who have scored against Rivera in the postseason (11).

Rivera after recording the final out of the 1998 World Series

Eventually someone was going to be the first unanimous Hall of Famer, and I cannot think of anyone better than Rivera. Right after his playing days ended, he was already cemented in history, record books, and the memories of fans all across the nation. He was remembered for his extraordinary play, outgoing personality, and sportsmanship. He exemplified grace and respect, even in some of the most pressure filled competitive environments. He is one of the few players that fans would root for, no matter their team allegiances.

Before Rivera, many players were just a few votes short of becoming the first unanimous Hall of Famer. The closest was Ken Griffey Jr. in 2016. Griffey Jr. was drafted first overall, and from that day on, he was expected to be great. 22 seasons, 630 home runs, and a swarm of awards later, it could be safety said that “The Natural” delivered everything that was promised. When he was inducted, Griffey garnered 99.32% of the BBWAA vote with only three members of the BBWAA leaving him off their ballot.

The next closest to receiving 100% of the vote was Tom Seaver whose 20-year career went down as one of the best by any pitcher, ever. While playing for the Mets, many thought it was Seaver who was able to single handedly turn the club from a joke into one of the most feared franchises in the MLB, earning him the nickname, “The Franchise.” In 1969, Seaver won a World Series, the NL Cy Young Awad, and led the major league with 25 victories. He was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1992, receiving 98.84% of the vote when he was left off of five ballots.

Nolan Ryan also almost accomplished this feat in 1999. Constantly dominating opponents made him baseball’s first one million dollar per year player in the 1980s. Ryan’s jersey number is retired by three out of the four franchises he played for over his career. In total, his career spanned over four decades (1966–1993), ending when he was 46 years old and only after he recorded 324 wins, 5,714 strikeouts, and an astonishing 7 no hitters. When inducted into the Hall of Fame, Ryan received 98.79% of the vote, only 6 votes short of 100%.

Most recently, it was Cal Ripken Jr. in 2007 came close to unanimous. Ripken had longevity in baseball, having a 21 year long career. Maybe what’s more impressive is that he played 2,632 consecutive games, breaking the record set by Lou Gehrig. In this time, Ripken redefined the shortstop position, won MVPs and Gold Gloves, entered the 3,000 hits club, and recorded over 400 home runs. Ripken earned 98.53% of the vote and was left off of 8 ballots.

Looking at the big picture, it shouldn’t matter what percentage of the BBWAA votes players get, as long as they received the required 75%. Once a player clears this threshold, the percentage doesn’t matter. Their greatness certainly isn’t measured by it, and many fans won’t ever know what the specific percentages are. Also, some of the lower percentages in the past can be chalked up to protests, changing voting policies, and convictions that some votes have that they’ll never vote for someone whose first year it is on the ballot. But, a unanimous Hall of Famer is a big deal. Looking back at some of the greats who didn’t receive 100% of the vote, it is even more impressive that Rivera did. This unanimous vote has opened the door for more somewhere down the line, and mostly likely, someone will join Rivera as a unanimous Hall of Famer. But for now, this is Mariano Rivera’s year.