It was only fitting that closer Mariano Rivera, the last player to wear Jackie Robinson’s uniform number, became the first player to be unanimously elected into the Hall of Fame.
“This is beyond my imagination, just amazing to be the first player to be unanimous,’’ said Rivera. He wore No. 42 in honor of Robinson, who integrated baseball in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. “I can’t even put in words how to describe it.’’
It was a momentous day Tuesday with designated hitter Edgar Martinez and starters Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina joining Rivera in the most diverse Hall of Fame class in history.
Among the class elected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, there are four minority ballplayers, including the first class with two Latinos. There's a reliever from Panama, a designated hitter from Puerto Rico, a starter who spent most of his career in Canada and a Stanford graduate who played his entire career in the American League East. They are joining two African-Americans who were elected by Today's Modern Day Era committee last month – closer Lee Smith and DH Harold Baines.
“It makes it very special for us,’’ Martinez said, “especially with Mariano becoming the first player to be unanimous.’’
The next player to be a unanimous selection may be only a year from now with Rivera's former New York Yankees teammate Derek Jeter expected to garner every vote in his first year on the ballot.
“The thing I respect most about Mo is that what you see is what you get,’’ Jeter said in a statement Tuesday. “There’s no 'persona' with Mariano. He’s never had a character that he portrayed. He’s always just calmly and coolly done his thing. He’s quiet. Thoughtful. Intense. He’s a man of faith.’’
And simply the greatest closer of all time, with a record 652 saves and five World Series championships. He may be the greatest player to wear a Yankee uniform since Babe Ruth.
“It’s humbling to think of the incredible journey that Mariano has had over the course of his life,’’ Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said, “his unassuming beginnings in a Panamanian fishing village to pitching for the Yankees under the brightest lights with the world watching. I speak for every Yankees fan when I say how fortunate we were to have had him on our side for so long.
“Clearly his World Series rings and longtime statistical dominance testify to his standing among the greats to ever play our sport. But no matter how big a star he became, he never failed to carry himself with unerring professionalism and class. Mo was always someone who I could point to and say, ‘That’s what a Yankee should be like.’ ’’
The most heartbreaking facet of the day was that Brandy Halladay, and not her late husband, Roy, was the one who received word that he was elected. Roy Halladay died in a plane crash in November 2017. He becomes the first player to be inducted posthumously by the BBWAA since Roberto Clemente, who was voted in by a special election in 1973.
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