Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas are officially headed to Cooperstown as first-ballot Hall of Famers. The retired MLB stars will form the first three-player Hall of Fame class since 1999 when they are officially inducted July 27.
Craig Biggio came close to making it a four-player class by obtaining votes from 74.8 percent of the 571 voters. The longtime Houston Astros second baseman was just two votes shy of reaching the 75 percent minimum required for induction.
Many other eligible players will have to wait at least one more year. Mike Piazza, Jack Morris, Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Edgar Martinez, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Jeff Kent, Fred McGriff, Mark McGwire, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Don Mattingly were named on fewer than 75 percent of the 2014 ballots.
Bobby Cox, who managed Maddux and Glavine with the Atlanta Braves, will also be inducted this summer. Cox and fellow managers Joe Torre and Tony La Russa were unanimously elected to the Hall by the expansion era committee last month.
Maddux, an 18-time Gold Glove winner, posted 3.16 ERA in 5,000-plus innings of work. He retired with a 355-227 record after a career that included four consecutive Cy Young Awards. Maddux generated 105 wins above replacement during his 23-year career, ranking 25th all-time ahead of Mike Schmidt, Lefty Grove and Randy Johnson.
Glavine compiled a 305-203 career record, winning two Cy Young Awards winner and making 10 all-star teams along the way. Along with Maddux, he’ll presumably enter Cooperstown as a member of the Braves.
Thomas, a two-time MVP, retired with a .301/.419/.555 batting line. The longtime Chicago White Sox slugger hit 521 home runs in his 19 MLB seasons. Palmeiro now falls off of the ballot, since he did not obtain five percent of the vote. While Morris could be inducted to the Hall of Fame, he will now need help from the veterans committee to get there. The Baseball Writers Association of America votes to determine each year’s Hall of Fame class. Writers with ten years of experience are eligible to cast ballots with up to ten names. Each player whose name appears on 75 percent of ballots gets inducted.
