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MLB Hall of Fame: 10 current players who are locks

By Chris Headrick

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Jul 7, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter (2) singles in the sixth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 7, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter (2) singles in the sixth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Derek Jeter

Even if Derek Jeter doesn’t finish his amazing career with final numbers that in some respects compare to Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, or even Ichiro Suzuki, he has plenty of his own amazing stats that settle him, in my mind, squarely as the best current player to be a lock for the Hall of Fame.

With a 20 year career under his belt (so far), Jeter has an amazing line of .311/.379/.443/.822, and when you can maintain that kind of production (minus the last couple of injury plagued years) over 20 years, you’ve done something astounding.

The table below shows some of Jeter’s numbers, and with a 20 year career the table is HUGE!

Year Age Tm G R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Awards
1995 21 NYY 15 5 12 4 1 0 7 0 3 11 .250 .294 .375 .669
1996 22 NYY 157 104 183 25 6 10 78 14 48 102 .314 .370 .430 .800 RoY-1
1997 23 NYY 159 116 190 31 7 10 70 23 74 125 .291 .370 .405 .775 MVP-24
1998 ★ 24 NYY 149 127 203 25 8 19 84 30 57 119 .324 .384 .481 .864 AS,MVP-3
1999 ★ 25 NYY 158 134 219 37 9 24 102 19 91 116 .349 .438 .552 .989 AS,MVP-6
2000 ★ 26 NYY 148 119 201 31 4 15 73 22 68 99 .339 .416 .481 .896 AS,MVP-10
2001 ★ 27 NYY 150 110 191 35 3 21 74 27 56 99 .311 .377 .480 .858 AS,MVP-10
2002 ★ 28 NYY 157 124 191 26 0 18 75 32 73 114 .297 .373 .421 .794 AS
2003 29 NYY 119 87 156 25 3 10 52 11 43 88 .324 .393 .450 .844 MVP-21
2004 ★ 30 NYY 154 111 188 44 1 23 78 23 46 99 .292 .352 .471 .823 AS,MVP-13,GG
2005 31 NYY 159 122 202 25 5 19 70 14 77 117 .309 .389 .450 .839 MVP-10,GG
2006 ★ 32 NYY 154 118 214 39 3 14 97 34 69 102 .343 .417 .483 .900 AS,MVP-2,GG,SS
2007 ★ 33 NYY 156 102 206 39 4 12 73 15 56 100 .322 .388 .452 .840 AS,MVP-11,SS
2008 ★ 34 NYY 150 88 179 25 3 11 69 11 52 85 .300 .363 .408 .771 AS,SS
2009 ★ 35 NYY 153 107 212 27 1 18 66 30 72 90 .334 .406 .465 .871 AS,MVP-3,GG,SS
2010 ★ 36 NYY 157 111 179 30 3 10 67 18 63 106 .270 .340 .370 .710 AS,GG
2011 ★ 37 NYY 131 84 162 24 4 6 61 16 46 81 .297 .355 .388 .743 AS
2012 ★ 38 NYY 159 99 216 32 0 15 58 9 45 90 .316 .362 .429 .791 AS,MVP-7,SS
2013 39 NYY 17 8 12 1 0 1 7 0 8 10 .190 .288 .254 .542
2014 ★ 40 NYY 82 31 91 9 1 2 25 6 24 53 .271 .323 .321 .645 AS
20 Yrs 2684 1907 3407 534 66 258 1286 354 1071 1806 .311 .379 .443 .822
162 Game Avg. 162 115 206 32 4 16 78 21 65 109 .311 .379 .443 .822
G R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Awards

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/13/2014.

What stands out in Jeter’s career, above anything else, are high levels of production throughout his career, all done with the same team, and that kind of production almost to 40 years of age!

Chipper Jones would be very high on my list if he were still active (remember, this list is for active players only), and as a die-hard Atlanta Braves and Chipper Jones fan, Jeter’s career is very comparable to that of Jones in terms of both numbers and longevity.

As much as I love Chipper Jones though, Jeter has been better. With a whopping 3,407 hits, 14 All-Star selections, five Gold Glove awards, and multiple Silver Slugger awards, is there really any doubt which current player should be my #1 on the list of active players who are locks for Cooperstown? No!

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