2020 HOF class will get its moment in 2021
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The 2021 Hall of Fame voting results were announced on Tuesday, and there were no new players elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA this year. But don't forget -- there's still going to be an induction ceremony in Cooperstown in July.
The Hall of Fame Class of 2020 had its ceremony canceled last summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So instead, those new members of the Hall will get their induction ceremony in 2021 on Sunday, July 25, as the main event of Hall of Fame Weekend, which runs from July 23-26.
Three players will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in July: Derek Jeter and Larry Walker, who were voted in on the 2020 Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot, and Ted Simmons, who was elected via the Modern Baseball Era Committee. So will the late Marvin Miller, the longtime MLB Players Association executive director, who was chosen by the Modern Baseball Era Committee along with Simmons.
Joining them will be the baseball writers and broadcasters honored with the 2020 and '21 J.G. Taylor Spink Awards and Ford C. Frick Awards. Those four are late Red Sox writer Nick Cafardo (Spink Award '20), longtime Cardinals and Royals beat writer Dick Kaegel (Spink Award '21), former White Sox announcer Ken "Hawk" Harrelson (Frick Award '20) and former ABC Sports national broadcaster Al Michaels (Frick Award '21).
David Montgomery, who worked his way up to the top of the Phillies front office over a five-decade career in baseball, will also be honored this summer as the recipient of the 2020 Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award.
Here's what you need to know about the four electees from the Class of 2020 who will be inducted in 2021.
Derek Jeter
The Yankees icon and captain was elected to the Hall of Fame nearly unanimously in his first year on the ballot. Jeter was named on 396 of the 397 ballots submitted, getting 99.7% of the vote -- the highest share ever for a position player ahead of Ken Griffey Jr. and just one vote shy of matching longtime teammate Mariano Rivera, the only unanimous Hall of Famer.
Jeter had 3,465 hits, ranking sixth all time, and he led the Yankees to five World Series championships and seven American League pennants over a two-decade MLB career. He was a 14-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove Award winner at shortstop. No. 2 is one of nine Hall of Famers to play his entire career in pinstripes, along with Earle Combs, Lou Gehrig, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle and Rivera.
Larry Walker
Walker, elected in his 10th and final year of Hall of Fame ballot eligibility, will become the first player inducted into Cooperstown in a Rockies cap. He's also just the second Canadian Hall of Famer, joining Fergie Jenkins, and the first Canadian position player in the Hall. He received 76.6% of the vote, just surpassing the 75% threshold for election thanks to a huge jump in support in his final year.
A star right fielder for the Expos and Rockies, Walker was one of the most feared sluggers in the game throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. He was the 1997 National League MVP for Colorado, when he hit .366 with a National League-leading 49 home runs and 130 RBIs, and he was also a three-time MLB batting champion in 1998, '99 and 2001. Walker finished his 17-year career with a .313 batting average, 2,160 hits and 383 home runs, and he was a five-time All-Star, seven-time Gold Glover and three-time Silver Slugger.
Ted Simmons
Simmons was one of the best hitting catchers of his era, a switch-hitter who hit for both average and power. He played 21 seasons in the big leagues from 1968-88, the first 13 of those with the Cardinals, and he was an eight-time All-Star and the inaugural NL Silver Slugger Award winner at catcher in 1980.
Simmons was a lifetime .285 hitter and amassed 2,472 hits, 248 home runs and 1,389 RBIs. He batted over .300 seven times and had six 20-homer seasons. Simmons has the second-most hits of any catcher ever, behind only Ivan Rodriguez, as well as the second-most RBIs behind Yogi Berra.
Marvin Miller
The trailblazing head of the Players Association from 1966-82, Miller became one of the more influential figures in MLB history. He negotiated the first Collective Bargaining Agreement between the players and owners in 1968, established the arbitration system, helped increase salaries for players and pioneered modern free agency when he counseled Curt Flood in his challenge of the reserve clause.
In recognition of all his contributions to the game, Miller, who passed away in 2012, was elected posthumously to the Hall of Fame in 2020.