When it comes to sports talk radio, Mike and the Mad Dog on New York's WFAN are the gold standard.  That said, my favorite show is on Sportstalk 980, and it is cohosted by a Francesa disciple.  I'm speaking of "The Sports Reporters" with Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban.  These guys are homers, but they know when their beloved teams are the butt of a joke.  They keep it balanced, which is why I thought they would never appear on this little slice of the Internet.

On this afternoon's edition of TSR, Andy Pollin was discussing the turnout for the upcoming Hall of Fame induction.  It is expected that 75,000 people will flock to the two hotel town of Cooperstown to see Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn enshrined in the HOF.  This is a record, and Andy points out that this is not likely to be broken until Derek Jeter is inducted.  But we won't have to worry about that "for another six years."

Let's do a little math.  Players must wait five years to be inducted into the HOF.  That means that Andy has Jeter retiring after next season.  Derek Jeter is 32, and he collected his 2000th hit this season.  He'll be playing for six more seasons, at the very least.  There is talk of him reaching 4000 hits.  I don't quite believe it, but if he's close, teams will keep giving him jobs.

Then there's the other matter of what if Jeter actually does shock the world and retires after next season.  People would be quick to say "First ballot HOFer who knew when to get out."  But I have a feeling that after five years, someone will look at the list of 2000 hit guys who are closer to 3000, and not in the HOF.  Buckner, Hernandez, and Baines quickly come to mind.  Why would Jeter leapfrog these guys?  Okay, I know the reason why, it's rhetorical.  Nonetheless, I see the first scenario being more likely, and as such, there will be no doubting his HOF status.  I was just confused by what Pollin was trying to theorize.  Some part of his equation is wholly inaccurate.  I was just trying to guess which part was likelier to be wrong.