NEW YORK _ It had been among the worst traditions in sports, and the word "dumb" is not too strong a description either.
Until this past January when Mariano Rivera final broke through, there had never been a unanimous selection to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Deserved, obviously, as there was nothing in Rivera's resume remotely disqualifying.
There, of course, wasn't anything disqualifying on the resumes belonging to Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson ... well, the list goes on and on, either. And none of those iconic players _ and plenty of others _ were unanimous picks though they should have been.
And now it could be two years in a row as 2020 presents the very real possibility of another unanimous selection because Derek Jeter makes his debut on the ballot.
The former Yankees shortstop, who retired after the 2014 season, will present voters with another resume without holes and it's difficult to imagine _ though not 100% impossible _ someone leaving him off their ballot.
Thought the Hall doesn't compel it, just about every ballot is now made public and the beating a voter would receive on social media for leaving Jeter off likely will prove prohibitive. That no doubt played a role in Rivera's breakthrough of being named on all 425 ballots.
"Something I never thought I would see," BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O'Connell said in January of the unanimous vote.
And something very likely to be seen again next January.
