USA TODAY Sports Weekly

Jeter snub? Two Hall of Famers may skip next year.

- Dave Clark

You might not see Hall of Famer and former Cincinnati Reds great Tony Perez or Hall of Famer Andre Dawson next year in Cooperstow­n when Miami Marlins CEO and former New York Yankees great Derek Jeter is expected to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller reports that Perez and Dawson likely will skip the ceremony because they’re still unhappy with the way Jeter treated them two years ago.

From Miller:

Hard feelings remain for Andre Dawson and Tony Perez, whom Jeter ordered to be fired from their positions with the Miami Marlins when his group took ownership in September 2017.

“I sincerely doubt (that I will attend) at this point,” Dawson told Bleacher Report last weekend, when the 2019 class was inducted. “All indication­s are likely not . ... I can’t speak for Tony. But I don’t have a sense or feeling like I

want to sit on that stage to hear what (Jeter) has to say.”

Perez was less definite than Dawson, indicating that he has reached a decision but adding that he is reluctant to announce it a full year in advance.

Perez told B/R that if he does boycott, he will not hide behind an excuse, such as feigning an illness. Instead, he said, he will tell the truth: That he is staying away because of Jeter.

“It wasn’t nice, what happened at the end,” Perez said.

In 2017, Jeter confirmed to multiple media outlets including The Associated Press that Perez, Dawson, former Marlins manager Jack McKeon and Jeff Conine all turned down the chance to stay with the team in reduced roles with lower salaries.

Jeter told McKeon there was no spot for him with the team, according to Jon Heyman, and Heyman said a meeting with Perez left the former Big Red Machine great with a bad taste in his mouth.

Heyman reported that Jeter reached out to all four team executives to inform them he was interested in retaining them after reportedly wanting to have them fired.

McKeon managed the Marlins from 2003 to 2005 and again in 2011 after managing the Reds from 1997 to 2000. He helped the Marlins to a World Series title in 2003 and was National League Manager of the Year once with the Reds (in 1999) and once with the Marlins (in 2003).

Perez, a Hall of Fame infielder for the Reds from 1964 to 1976 and again from 1984 to 1986, joined the Marlins in 1993, shortly after a brief stint as the Reds’ manager, and served as a special assistant to the general manager before becoming a special assistant to the team president. He managed the Marlins in 2001.

 ?? BILL KOSTROUN/AP ?? Then-Miami Marlins representa­tives Tony Perez, left, and Andre Dawson work at the 2014 Major League Baseball draft in Secaucus, New Jersey. Both turned down reduced roles under Derek Jeter.
BILL KOSTROUN/AP Then-Miami Marlins representa­tives Tony Perez, left, and Andre Dawson work at the 2014 Major League Baseball draft in Secaucus, New Jersey. Both turned down reduced roles under Derek Jeter.

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