Interesting proposal to say the least.
While it’s too extreme to compare Jeter’s situation to the late great Roberto Clemente, Dan Pietrafesa of the Poughkeepsie Journal makes his case of an early induction of Jeter so that he enters with Mariano Rivera:
“This is a plea to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to bend the rules. It’s been done before, so do it again. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera deserve to be inducted together into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. It’s the right thing to do.”
“So why not bend the rules? It’s been done before and for Yankee greats. Lou Gehrig — the only player on a special ballot — was elected in a special vote at the 1939 Winter Meetings because it was uncertain how much longer Gehrig would live with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — now also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.”
*sigh* Where to start? Let’s just say ‘Bless his heart’ and politely move on.