The 2015 Baseball Hall of Fame inductees have been announced, as Randy Johnson, Pedro Martínez, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio were voted into the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America. This year’s class is the first time since 1955 to include 4 inductees.
Johnson, also known as “The Big Unit” pitched for numerous teams in his 21-year career. Johnson was voted in with 534 of 549 votes, 97.3 voting percentage, accounting for the 8th-highest voting percentage ever in Hall of Fame history. During his career Johnson was an 10-time All Star, 5-time CY Young Award Winner, 9-time strikeout champion, 4-time ERA champion, Triple Crown winner in 2002, and World Series MVP in 2001, where he pitched out of the bullpen in the decisive Game 7 after having pitched 7 seven innings just the day before.
Johnson also holds the distinction of being the 17th pitcher to pitch a perfect game, a feat accomplished in 2004 against the Atlanta Braves.
For his career, Johnson had 303 wins, a 3.29 career ERA, and 4,875 strikeouts (2nd on the all-time list).
Martinez, most famous for playing in Boston, was an 8-time All Star, 3-time Cy Young winner, World Series winner in 2004 with the Boston Red Sox, Triple Crown and AL Champion in 1999, 5 time ERA champion, and 3 time AL strikeout champion. Martinez, had a lot of great moments during his career. Besides the World Series ring, Martinez will be remembered for his exploits in the 1999 All-Star Game, when he struck out 5 batters over 2 innings.
The victims that night? Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Matt Williams. He will also go down in baseball history as one of the only pitchers to record 27 up, 27 down over 9 innings without earning a perfect game, as he surrendered a hit in the 10th inning against the San Diego Padres in June of 1995 while pitching for the Montreal Expos.
Martinez, who finished his career with 219 wins, a 2.93 ERA, and 3,154 strikeouts, was voted in with 500 votes, 91.9 percent of the vote.
Smoltz played 20 of his 21 years in the MLB with the Atlanta Braves. During his career, he was an 8-time All Star, NL Cy Young Award winner in 1996, NLCS MVP in 1992, Silver Slugger Award in 1997, NL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year in 2002, and Roberto Clemente Award in 2005. Smoltz is the only pitcher in history with at least 200 wins and 150 saves, and he went on and received 455 votes, 82.9 percent of the votes.
Ask Braves fans which game was Smoltz’ finest, and many will recall Game 7 of the 1991 NLCS against the Pittsburgh Pirates, when he pitched a complete game shutout to send the Braves to the World Series.
Smoltz pitched another gem in that series against the Minnesota Twins, also in Game 7. Unfortunately, his effort came up short, as his 7-inning shutout performance was not enough to earn the Braves the win. He finally got his ring 4 years later, when the Braves downed the Cleveland Indians in 6 games.
Biggio, was a 7-time All-Star, 4-time Gold Glove Award winner, 5-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and won the Roberto Clemente Award in 2007. Unlike the other three inductees who were first-year inductees, this was his 3rd year on the ballot.
Biggio received 454 votes (82.7 percent of the votes), and his career stat line was a .281 batting average, 3,060 hits (21st on the all-time list), 291 home runs, 1,175 RBIs, and 414 stolen bases. All of this was achieved with the Houston Astros, the only club he ever played for from 1988 through 2007.
The majority of the Baseball Writers continued their annual grudge against players from the Steroid Era, as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, two of the biggest names in the sport in their (PED-enhanced) prime. They were snubbed by voters, only receiving 206 votes (37.5%) and 202 votes (36.8%) respectively. Mark McGwire received 55 votes (10%) and Sammy Sosa received 36 votes (6.6%), marking a continuing decline in their numbers on the ballots.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/File
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