Starting pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, as well as designated hitter Frank Thomas, were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame last Wednesday in their first year of eligibility, leaving out second baseman Craig Biggio, catcher Mike Piazza, and the notorious corps of steroid-era players that include sluggers such as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
Maddux received 97.2 percent of the 571 ballots cast by the senior members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America-far surpassing the 75 percent needed for induction. Glavine received 91.9 percent of the ballots while Thomas received 83.7 percent.
The players this year will be inducted on July 27 at a ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y., along with managers Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Tony La Russa. The managers were elected last month by the Expansion Era Committee.
Maddux, a longtime teammate of Glavine with the Atlanta Braves, recorded 355 wins throughout his 23-year career with the Braves, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, posting an ERA of 3.16 and tallying over 3,300 strikeouts. He won four consecutive Cy Young Awards from 1992 to 1995 and received 18 Gold Gloves. Glavine, a 10-time All-Star, recorded 305 wins and 2,607 strikeouts in his 22-year career-17 of which were with the Braves-while also earning two Cy Young Awards.
Thomas won two-time American League MVP and hit .301 over his career with 521 home runs and 1,704 RBI in 19 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays.
Biggio, a 19-year veteran of the Houston Astros, received 74.8 percent of the ballots, missing the cut by two votes.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed to come that close," Biggio said in a statement released by the Astros. "I feel for my family, the organization and the fans. Hopefully next year."
Several players continued to lose support from the Baseball Writers Association of America in light of the permanent stigma of steroid use. Bonds, the all time leader in career home runs, fell from 36.2 percent in 2013 to 34.7 percent in 2014. Roger Clemens, a 354-game winner, went down from 37.6 percent to 35.4 percent while Rafael Palmeiro, who hit 569 career home runs, fell off the ballot altogether after failing to receive 5 percent of the votes.
Other steroid-tainted players such as designated hitter Sammy Sosa and first-baseman Mark McGwire-renowned for their historic 1998 home run race-received 7.2 percent and 11 percent, on their second and eighth tries, respectively.
Thomas reflected, following the election, on his pride in not having resorted to steroids during his storied career.
"For a seven-year run there, no one basically could compete," he stated. "There were only one or two guys who put up numbers that could compare. But I don't fault anyone for what they did, but hey, I did it the right way."
A number of baseball analysts have been critical of the Hall of Fame voting system, which requires voters to have been members of the BBWA for 10 consecutive years and allows them to place only 10 players on their ballots.
The star-laden class of 2015 will only make voting even more problematic. In addition Biggio and Piazza, star pitchers Randy Johnson, John Smoltz and Pedro Martinez will be considered for induction.
While the debate will surely continue, it is safe to say, for now, the system is intact. In inducting Maddux, Glavine and Thomas, along with a trio of renowned managers, Cooperstown will be bustling for the first time in two years in July.
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