Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza got the calls they were waiting for, both voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America and announced on Wednesday.
Ken Griffey, Mike Piazza elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame
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Griffey and Piazza will both be inducted into the Hall of Fame in ceremonies at Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 24.
Griffey, who hit .284/.370/.538 with 630 home runs — sixth on the all-time list — in 22 years with the Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox, garnered a whopping over 99.3 percent of votes in his first year on the ballot, well above the 75 percent required for induction.
With 437 of 440 votes, Griffey appeared on the highest percentage of BBWAA ballots in Hall of Fame history, beating out Tom Seaver, who held the previous record of 98.8 percent, set in 1992.
Griffey was a 13-time All-Star, a 10-time Gold Glove Award winner in center field, and a seven-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He won the 1997 American League Most Valuable Player, and finished in the top five in voting three other times in a four-year span.
He joins 2015 inductee Randy Johnson as the only Mariners in the Hall of Fame.
Piazza is arguably the greatest hitting catcher of all-time, hitting .308/.377/.545 with 427 home runs in his 16-year career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres and Oakland A's. Piazza was named to 12 All-Star teams, won 10 Silver Slugger Awards, and finished second in National League MVP balloting in both 1996 and 1997.
Piazza was inducted in his fourth year on the ballot, receiving 365 of 440 (83.0%), up from 69.9 percent in 2015.
Drafted in the 62nd round by the Dodgers as a favor to manager Tom Lasorda, Piazza’s godfather, Piazza is the lowest-drafted player in the Hall of Fame.
Jeff Bagwell received 71.8 percent of votes from the writers in his sixth year on the ballot, up from 55.7 percent last year. Bagwell fell just 15 votes shy of induction.
Tim Raines, in his ninth of 10 eligible years on the BBWAA ballot, received 69.8 percent of votes this time around, up from 55.0 percent in 2015.
Trevor Hoffman had a strong showing in his first time on the ballot, receiving 67.3 percent of votes, trying to become just the sixth relief pitcher in the Hall of Fame. Hoffman had a 2.87 ERA, a 141 ERA+ in his career, with 16 of his 18 seasons spent with the San Diego Padres. Hoffman is second all-time with 601 saves, and tied with Mariano Rivera for the most seasons with 40 or more saves (nine).
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