Former pitchers Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux as well as slugger Frank Thomas were inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the 2014 class. All three players made it in their first year on the ballot while Craig Biggio nearly missed out this year with 74.8 percent of the vote. 75 percent of the vote is needed to get in which eliminated forming starting pitcher Jack Morris in his final year of eligibility via the traditional ballot. (He could still conceivably get in via the Veterans Committee)
Meanwhile Mike Piazza finished with 62.2 percent, while Jeff Bagwell got 54.3 percent both of whom should make it in next season.
The surprising aspect of this year’s vote is the fact that 16 voters (who are baseball writers) didn’t include Maddux on their ballot causing the masterful righty to amass 97.2 percent of the vote while falling short of the 98.8 percent set by Tom Seaver.
And if you’re wondering how the standout steroid era guys did, Roger Clemens received 35.4 percent of the vote while Barry Bonds got 34.7 percent both of which were down four percentage points from last season. Less significant guys from that time like Rafael Palmeiro got 4.4 percent of the vote and Sammy Sosa getting 7.2 percent.
h/t: The Big Lead, ESPN
