Outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and catcher Mike Piazza were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame Wednesday evening.
Griffey Jr., received a record 99.3 percent of the vote passing Tom Seaver‘s 98.84 percent back in 1992 while Piazza received 83 percent after a 16-year career in the Bigs.
Griffey’s first ballot nomination isn’t surprising in the least bit. The guy was a prototypical five-tool players possessing an amazing swing, lighting speed in the outfield and on the base paths and a tremendous glove. Hell the guy scorched a double off Dave Stewart back in 1982 in his first ever Major League at bat. It sorta gives you goose bumps too listening to the announcers describe Griffey’s at bat and the wake there after.
Meanwhile, Piazza who was no slouch himself finally secured the ballot after posing a .308/.377/.545 slash line and will surely go down as one of the greatest hitting catchers of all time. Additionally Griffey Jr. who was the number one overall selection in 1987 and Piazza who was selected 1,390 overall in 1988 become the highest and lowest draft selections in MLB history to ever be elected to the Hall of Fame.
Falling short of the 75 percent requirement this season was Jeff Bagel at 71.6 percent, Tim Raines at 69.8 percent and Trevor Hoffman at 67.3 percent.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens acquired 44.3 and 45.2 percents of the vote respectively.
Former Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell received 40.9 percent of the vote in his final year on the ballot.