Derek Jeter wants accountability from Hall of Fame voter who snubbed him

Derek Jeter was accountable as a player throughout his Major League Baseball career and he wants media members to be held to a similar standard.

Jeter joined the latest episode of Jimmy Traina’s Sports Illustrated Media Podcast and during the conversation, the five-time World Series champion was asked about falling one vote shy of being unanimously inducted into the Hall of Fame. While the former Yankees captain said he didn’t mind being left off a voter’s ballot, he does believe that person should be the one having to answer these questions.

“Members of the media always want us to be accountable as players,” Jeter told Traina. “Good game, bad game, you have to stand in front of your locker and you have to address the media. I did it every single day. You may not have liked what I said…but I was accountable, and I was there.

“And I think you should expect the same from the members of the media. I don’t care that someone didn’t vote for me. I really don’t,” Jeter insisted. “But I do think what becomes annoying is I have to constantly answer the question. And I don’t think I should be the one answering the question. Whoever it is should answer the question. I don’t have a problem with it, but I get tired of being asked that question.”

Accountability from sports media members should extend beyond Hall of Fame ballots. League award voters should similarly be held accountable, just as Mark Jackson was last year when he admitted his Nikola Jokić MVP snub was a mistake.

Recently, it’s become more common for voters to offer transparency by sharing their ballots on social media. But not every voter does, and the person who left Jeter off their ballot never revealed themselves.

While it’s never been confirmed, it does, however, seem likely that Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune was the lone writer who didn’t vote for Jeter. In 2022, Canepa wrote a column stating he left his 2020 and 2021 Hall of Fame ballots blank. After reading that column, someone claims to have inquired why Canepa didn’t vote for the Yankees shortstop and his alleged response stated, “Derek Jeter isn’t up for the Hall yet. He’s a Hall of Famer first ballot. Has to be out 5 years.”

Jeter was already in Cooperstown at the time of this alleged response from Canepa. An unconfirmed email where the writer naively admits to not knowing when Jeter was eligible for the Hall of Fame probably isn’t the type of accountability the current Fox broadcaster is looking for from the media.

[Sports Illustrated Media Podcast]