by Fitzgerald Cecilio

Cooperstown, NY

For only the second time since the first National Baseball Hall of Fame class in 1936, the Baseball Writers' Association of America elected three players in their first year of eligibility to the Hall of Fame

Starting pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine and slugger Frank Thomas have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by eligible members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Maddux, who was eighth-highest in Major League history with 355 wins, saw his name appear on 97.2 percent of the ballots, falling short of the all-time mark of 98.84 percent held by Tom Seaver in 1992.

Glavine, who won 305 games, fourth-most among left-handers, was at 91.9 percent, while Thomas, a first baseman and designated hitter, who batted .301, hit 521 homers and amassed 1,704 RBIs in 19 seasons, 16 of them with the White Sox, finished at 83.7.

Maddux and Glavine are the only first-ballot pitchers to be elected together since Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson were part of the inaugural class of 1936 along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner.

The last starter to be elected by the BBWAA was Bert Blyleven in 2011, his 14th year of eligibility.

On the ballot for the second time, Craig Biggio, who had 3,060 hits in 20 seasons, all with the Astros, did not get the necessary 75 percent, falling two votes shy of induction.

They will be inducted on July 26-27 in Cooperstown, New York together with three of the greatest managers of all time -- Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Tony La Russa, who were all selected by the Expansion Era Committee last month.

The results of this year's BBWAA vote were in stark contrast to that of last year, when the writers didn't elect anyone.

This marked the first time that the writers put three first-time eligibles into the Hall since Robin Yount, Nolan Ryan and George Brett were elected in 1999.

Jack Morris, who won 254 games during his 18-year big league career and World Series titles with the Tigers, Twins and Blue Jays, didn't make it in his 15th and final time on the writers' ballot. He actually lost ground, falling to 61.5 percent.

Writers again rejected players from the steroids era, including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mike Piazza.

Piazza led the pack at 62.2 percent. Clemens and Bonds saw their percentages go down at 35.4 and 34.7, respectively, but Sosa, who hit 609 home runs and is the only player to have hit at least 60 homers in each of three seasons, slipped to 7.2 percent, barely remaining on the ballot.

A player must draw at least five percent of the vote each year to remain on the ballot for a maximum of 15 years.

 

 

Article:
"Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas Elected to Hall of Fame"