MLB Hall of Fame: 5 current players who are HOF locks
Derek Jeter, shortstop, New York Yankees
Derek Jeter is, of course, an obvious choice for the Hall of Fame as most MLB players, managers, executives and fans alike already consider the Yankee Captain a living legend. Having spent 19 full seasons with the Yankees, Jeter will be retiring after this — his 20th MLB season — with the most legendary baseball team of all time.
He came up into the league in 1995 and was named the American League Rookie of the Year in 1996 after batting .314 with 10 home runs and 78 RBI. Jeter became an All-Star for the first time in 1998 and has been to elected to the Mid-Summer Classic a total of 14 times.
Jeter has won five Gold Gloves at shortstop and four Silver Slugger awards proving that he is not just an offensive or defensive standout, but the total package.
When you add to that that Jeter has been extremely clutch in the postseason where he earned yet another nickname, while still being called and officially named the Yankees’ Captain. Jeter is also known as Mr. November for his amazing post season performances.
He has five World Series rings to his name which is five times more than what most players imagine in their wildest dreams. He helped the Yankees win the World Series in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009. He was named World Series MVP in 2000 hitting .409 in that series with 9 hits that included two doubles, a triple and two home runs. Jeter has been to the post season 16 times in his 20 year career and depending on how the Yankees finish out the season, he may be able to add one more post season appearance to his already impressive resume.
On top of Jeter’s many accomplishments he is very well respected by all MLB fans, players and executives. Many have called him the best ambassador to baseball that the game has ever seen. Jeter is a class-act and one of the greatest shortstops of all time. There is no way that he will not be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He mostly likely will receive enough votes to be elected to the Hall on his first ballot. (Editor’s note: What’s disturbing is he won’t be unanimous — though he certainly should be)