The Baseball Writers of Association of American announced its 2015 National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot on Monday, with a trio of pitchers leading 17 newcomers eligible for Cooperstown.
2015 Hall of Fame ballot headlined by Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz
Voting results will be announced on Jan. 6 at 2 p.m. ET on MLB Network.
Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz combined for nine Cy Young Awards, 735 wins and 11,113 strikeouts, and are among 17 first-timers on the ballot, joining a list of 17 holdovers from 2014 including Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza and Jeff Bagwell.
Johnson won 303 games in his 22-year career and finished with 4,875 strikeouts, second all-time to Nolan Ryan. Johnson won five Cy Young Awards in his career, including 1995 with the Mariners and four consecutive trophies with the Diamondbacks from 1999-2002.
Martinez was 219-100 in his 18-year career, a .687 winning percentage that ranks sixth all-time, with an adjusted ERA+ of 154 that is tops all-time among starters with at least 1,000 innings. Martinez won Cy Young Awards with the Montreal Expos in 1997, then two more with the Red Sox in 1999 and 2000.
Smoltz won a Cy Young Award in 1996 with the Braves, with whom he pitched in 20 of his 21 seasons. Smoltz was 15-4 with a 2.67 ERA in 41 postseason games, including 27 starts, with 199 strikeouts in 209 innings. With 213 wins and 154 saves in his career, Smoltz joins Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley as the only pitchers ever with 150 wins and 150 saves.
Joining those three on the ballot as newcomers are Gary Sheffield, Carlos Delgado, Nomar Garciaparra, Troy Percival, Rich Aurilia, Aaron Boone, Tony Clark, Jermaine Dye, Darin Erstad, Cliff Floyd, Tom Gordon, Brian Giles, Eddie Guardado and Jason Schmidt.
Ballots are due to the BBWAA by Dec. 31, and the results will be announced on January 6, 2015, at 2 p.m. ET on MLB Network. A player must appear on at least 75 percent of ballots to gain election to the Hall of Fame.
The 2014 class included Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas, with Biggio finishing just two votes shy in his second year on the ballot. Piazza is also in his third year on the ballot and received 62.2 percent in the 2013 ballot. Bagwell received 54.3 percent last year; this is his fifth year on the ballot.
Others on the 34-man ballot include Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Jeff Kent, Edgar Martinez, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Mark McGwire, Mike Mussina, Tim Raines, Curt Schilling, Lee Smith, Sammy Sosa, Alan Trammell and Larry Walker.
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