Baseball Hall of Fame Elects Four Outstanding Players

The Hall of Fame announced that it has elected four baseball players. This is the first time in 60 years that four athletes were selected together at one time. It is the first time in history that three pitchers were voted in the same class.

The players included pitchers Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz, and second baseman Craig Biggio. According to the results announced by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), all three pitchers were elected by landslide votes. It was their first year on the Ballot. Biggio, who is a member of the 3,000 Hit Club, missed last year by two votes.

Johnson received 97.3 percent of the ballot votes. Martinez and Smoltz were behind him with 91.1 percent and 82.9 percent respectively. Biggio got 82.7 percent of the votes in his third year of eligibility. No one has ever gotten 100% of the votes. The players who got the closest to a unanimous vote were Tom Seaver in 1992 and Nolan Ryan in 1999 with 98.8 percent.

Some of the players who did not get enough votes this year included Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Mike Mussina.

The last time the BBWAA voted this many players in was in 1955 when Joe DiMaggio, Dazzy Vance, Ted Lyons and Gabby Hartnett were all picked. The highest number of players that have been voted in at one time is five and that occurred in 1936, the Hall's first class. The players who got in were Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.

All players become eligible for the ballot five years after they retire from the league. All players can remain on the ballot for 10 years if they continue to receive at least five percent of the ballot. For more information on the process, visit the Baseball Hall of Fame here.

The players will be inducted on July 26 during the Hall's Induction Weekend taking place in Cooperstown, NY.