They say that good things come to those who wait, and that goes for not only Derek Jeter, but also for the tens of thousands of fans who came out to Cooperstown Wednesday to see the New York Yankee legend become a Hall of Famer.
“Thank you to the baseball writers, all but one of you who voted for me,” Jeter said with a laugh.
Jeter entered the hall one vote shy from a unanimous vote.
The annual inductions were cancelled last year because of COVID-19, so Jeter’s Class of 2020 had to wait more than 13 extra months for their big day.
Crowd estimates came in at around 20,000, not even half as big as the crowd that turned out for Mariano Rivera’s induction back in 2019.
But Jeter made it worth their while when he was going through his long list of thank yous, telling all of his fans that he couldn’t have become Derek Jeter without them.
“Originally, we were going to do it and it was going to be in an auditorium, and there was no fans going to be there. Your family couldn’t even be there. To actually have fans show up today. Look, I mean it’s in the middle of the week, the Jewish holiday, COVID, kids are in school. So to have this many fans show up, I really appreciate it,” Jeter said.
Former Utica Blue Sock Larry Walker and ex-Brewer Ted Simmons were also among Wednesday’s inductees.
