NEW YORK -- A former Yankees catcher was inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday, but it was not Jorge Posada, who dropped off the ballot after just one appearance.
Unlike Ivan Rodriguez, who played 33 games for the Yankees in 2008 and appeared on 336 ballots (76 percent) to gain entry to Cooperstown in his first try, Posada was unable to register the necessary 5 percent needed to remain on the ballot. He picked up just 17 votes (3.8 percent) from members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, who elected Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines alongside Rodriguez.
:: 2017 Hall of Fame election coverage ::
With the BBWAA having cast votes elsewhere, Posada's case will next be examined by the Today's Game Committee at the 2018 Winter Meetings, for possible induction in 2019.
"I think I gave it all out on the field," Posada told the YES Network in December. "I'm not a guy to make excuses or anything like that. I went out there. Certain times I played hurt. Being behind the plate, you understand that not every day you're 100 percent.
"I think catchers should get a lot more votes. I'm very comparable to a guy like Ted Simmons. He's not on the ballot. He's not even in the Hall, and we should take into consideration catchers a little bit more."
Spending his entire 17-year career in Yankees pinstripes, the switch-hitting Posada proudly comprised the "Core Four" alongside teammates Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera, securing five World Series championship rings and participating on seven American League pennant winners.
A five-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger Award recipient, Posada retired with a .273/.374/.474 slash line. He hit 275 home runs and drove in 1,065 runs in 1,829 games, 1,574 of them behind the plate.
Posada owns the record for most postseason games as a catcher (119), and he stroked 103 hits in October. In franchise lore, Posada stands as a worthy entry in the catching lineage that features the likes of Yogi Berra, Bill Dickey, Elston Howard and Thurman Munson.
Of the catchers currently enshrined in the Hall, only Berra, Mike Piazza and now Rodriguez posted higher marks in all three Triple Crown categories of batting average, home runs and RBIs.
"I think he's a Hall of Famer," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who helped groom Posada in the mid-1990s. "When you look at his numbers and stack his numbers against the catchers who have been there, what he has meant to this club and the championships, his numbers are incredible."
:: 2017 Hall of Fame election results ::
Though Posada never was a Gold Glove defender, his value to the Yankees was immense after moving from his original position of second base, helping him get to the Majors and develop into a power-hitting threat from both sides of the plate.
Rivera said Posada's impact on those championship clubs may have been underestimated.
"When I hear Jorge Posada's name, it brings me back to all those great games we had," Rivera said. "The passion and the determination that he had to win, the dedication, going through tough times, adversities, family issues. But he was there. He was giving his best. That's what I remember: him being there for us. He was a hard guy to replace."
Including Raines and Rodriguez, there are now 53 Hall of Famers who have either played for, managed, coached, owned or served as general manager for the Yankees.