In Rare Move, 4 Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Randy Johnson leads the way, along with Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Craig Biggio
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 6, 2015 1:58 PM CST
In Rare Move, 4 Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
Boston Red Sox starter Pedro Martinez in 2004.   (Charles Krupa)

Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio were elected to baseball's Hall of Fame today, the first time since 1955 writers selected four players in one year. Johnson, Martinez, and Smoltz earned induction on their first tries, and Biggio made it on the third attempt after falling two votes shy last year. The details:

  • Johnson, a five-time Cy Young Award winner with 303 victories and 4,875 strikeouts, was selected on 534 of 549 ballots by veteran members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. His 97.3 percentage was the eighth-highest in the history of voting.

  • Martinez, a three-time Cy Young winner, appeared on 500 ballots (91.1%). Martinez was 219-100, struck out 3,154, led the major leagues in ERA five times, and in 2004 helped the Boston Red Sox to their first World Series title in 86 years.
  • Smoltz was picked on 455 ballots (82.9%); the 1996 NL Cy Young winner was 213-155 with 154 saves, the only pitcher with 200 wins and 150 saves.
  • Biggio appeared on 454 ballots (82.7%). He had 3,060 hits in 20 big league seasons, all with the Houston Astros.
The quartet will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 26. (More Baseball Hall of Fame stories.)

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