Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, Ivan Rodriguez elected as members of Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2017

A trio of players were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday, with Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez all receiving enough votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America to be inducted into Cooperstown.

Bagwell was selected on 381 of 442 ballots (86.2%), well above the 75% required for election, followed by Raines (86.0%) and Rodriguez (76.0%).

Bagwell was the highest-returning vote-getter from last year’s ballot, after receiving 71.6% in 2016. The longtime Houston Astros first baseman hit .297/.408/.540, a 149 OPS+ in his 15-year career, and finished with 449 home runs, 488 doubles, and was the 1994 National League MVP.

Bagwell admitted he was anxious for the results this year, his seventh year on the ballot.

“I just want to get it over with,” Bagwell told the Houston Chronicle on Jan. 4 at an Astros team event. “This is the first year I’ve kind of been keeping track of it and just kind of looking. I’m excited about it.”

Raines got in on his 10th and final year on the ballot after a methodical increase in support over the years. The speedy outfielder was a dynamic offensive force in the 1980s and 1990s, hitting .294/.385/.425, a 123 OPS+ in his 23-year career with the Montreal Expos, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Oakland A’s, Baltimore Orioles and Florida Marlins.

Raines stole 808 bases, fifth all-time, at a remarkable 84.7% clip, the highest success rate for anyone in baseball history with at least 400 steal attempts.

Rodriguez had the best showing among first-timers on the ballot. The 14-time All-Star and 13-time Gold Glove catcher is widely regarded as one of the very best defensive catchers of all-time, perhaps rivaled only by Hall of Famer Johnny Bench. But he was a force on offense as well, hitting .296/.334/.464, a 106 OPS+ with 572 doubles and 311 home runs in his 21-year career with the Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Washington Nationals.

Rodriguez also was a seven-time Silver Slugger Award winner and won the 1999 American League MVP. He is the first catcher elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot since Bench in 1989.

The players closest to induction who fell short were closer Trevor Hoffman (74.0%) and outfielder Vladimir Guerrero (71.7%), in their second and first years on the ballot, respectively. Hoffman fell five votes shy of election, and Guerrero came up 15 votes short.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Sunday, July 30 in Cooperstown. In addition to the players voted in, former commissioner Bud Selig and longtime Braves executive John Schuerholz will be inducted as well, the latter two elected by committee in December as part of the Today’s Game Era.