Maddux, Glavine, Thomas make Baseball Hall of Fame

MANILA, Philippines – Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas were announced as inductees into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday afternoon. The three honorees mark the largest induction class since 1999, when George Brett, Nolan Ryan and Robin Yount all made the cut in their first years of eligibility.

Maddux, who pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers during a Major League Baseball career that lasted from 1986-2008, received 97.2% of the vote from the over 500 Baseball Writers Association of America members who participated.

A player has to be selected by at least 75% of the voters to earn induction.

Maddux is eighth on the all-time wins list with 355 and was the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award four years consecutively (1992-1995). He had a career Earned Run Average (ERA) of 3.16 and his jersey #31 has been retired by both the Cubs and the Braves.

As part of the Braves, Maddux won the 1995 World Series alongside Glavine, who received 91.9% of the vote. Glavine, an NL Cy Young Award winner in ’91 and ’98, won 305 games with a career ERA of 3.54 while splitting time between the Braves and New York Mets during his 21-year career, which stretched from ’87 to 2008. 

Glavine’s jersey #47 is retired by the Braves.

Frank Thomas, who went by the monicker “The Big Hurt,” did most of his hurting for the Chicago White Sox. Thomas began his career in 1990 as a first baseman but eventually transitioned into a designated hitter. During his 18-year career, Thomas hit 521 homeruns and finished with a .301 batting average.

Thomas remained with the White Sox until 2005, when he signed a deal to join the Oakland A’s. Thomas briefly joined the Toronto Blue Jays, then returned to A’s before retiring. Thomas earned 83.7% of the vote.

Joining Maddux and Glavine will be their Braves manager Bobby Cox, who was also inducted alongside legendary managers Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa.

Notable snubs for the Hall of Fame include all-time and single season home run record holder Barry Bonds (34.7%) and 7-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens (35.4%), who have been tainted by performance-enhancing drugs allegations.

The induction ceremony will take place July 26-27 at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. -Rappler.com

Ryan Songalia is the sports editor of Rappler, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to The Ring magazine. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.