Randy Johnson , Pedro Martinez , John Smoltz , and Craig Biggio were all elected to the Hall of Fame on Tuesday. Biggio makes the Hall on his third ballot and the other three make it on there first ballot. Johnson got 97.3% of the votes. Pedro got 91.1% of the vote. Smoltz received 82.9% and Biggio 82.7%. Randy Johnson is a 300 game winner and Co-MVP of the 2001 World Series. He also won the CY Young five times. Pedro won three CY Young awards and led the league in era five times. Smoltz dominated as a starter and a reliever. He is the only pitcher with 200 wins , 3,000 strikeouts and 150 saves. Biggio is a member of the 3,000 hit club. He also belted 291 homers.
Mike Piazza was the next closest to election with 69.9% of the vote. Piazza is arguably the best hitting catcher ever. However some speculate he used steroids and this is the reason he was not elected. Piazza has progressed each year greatly. However it is absolutely crazy that we are keeping him out of the Hall because some believe he used steroids. Piazza should have been a first ballot Hall of Famer , however hopefully he will be there next year. Piazza has a 308 career average and belted 427 homers. Another guy who is getting similar treatment is Jeff Bagwell. Bagwell had a masterful career but is also under the cloud of the era he played in. I think this is crazy , but that will be for another article for another day. Garry Sheffield is a member of the 500 home run club and received under 12%.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens stayed in the high 30's percentage wise however they are still no where near election. It seems some people say they will never vote for them , some will always vote for them and some will in time. It will be a hard thing for me to visualize not having some of these guys in the Hall. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa fell under 20%.
So this is just a recap of how things broke down but there will be more to come this week. I will discuss who is new to the ballot next year and who I think should be voted into the Hall. I will also discuss what changes need to be made to the voting process and my thoughts on the steroid era players. I will also discuss how I think Edgar Martinez deserves his day in the Hall of Fame. There is still plenty to come from the Hall of Fame. The debate will rage on.
By Peter Vitella
@realpete13
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