Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas headed to the MLB Hall of Fame

Many thought Maddux would get 100 percent of the votes, which he did not; close, but not 100 percent. The three are the newest members voted in by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). It was the first time on the ballot for all three and each easily reached the needed 75 percent of the vote to gain entry to Cooperstown on Wednesday, while Craig Biggio fell two votes short and tainted stars of the Steroids Era remained far behind.

Maddux was picked on 555 of 571 ballots by senior members of the BBWAA. His 97.2 percentage was the eighth-highest in the history of voting. Glavine, Maddux’s longtime teammate in the Atlanta Braves rotation, appeared on 525 ballots and received 91.9 percent. Thomas, the first Hall of Famer who spent the majority of his career as a designated hitter, was at 483.

The trio will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 27, along with managers Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Tony La Russa, who were elected last month by the expansion-era committee. Maddux and Glavine played under Cox for most of their careers.

“It’s exciting for me to go in with my teammate,” Maddux said.

Writers had not elected three players in one vote since Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Robin Yount in 1999.

Biggio received 427 votes and 74.8 percent, matching Nellie Fox in 1985 and Pie Traynor in 1947 for the smallest margin to just miss. Biggio appeared on 388 ballots in his initial appearance last year and appears to be on track to gain election next year.

Mike Piazza was next with 62.2 percent followed by Jack Morris, who was 78 votes short at 61.5 percent in his 15th and final appearance on the writers’ ballot. Jeff Bagwell received 54.3 percent. The steroid-era club headed by Roger Clemens received 37.6 percent in 2013 to 35.4 percent in 2014, Barry Bonds went from 36.2 to 34.7, Mark McGwire went from 16.9 to 11.0, Sammy Sosa went from 12.5 to 7.2 and Rafael Palmeiro rounded out the crew with his drop from 8.8 to 4.4. Palmeiro will be dropped from future ballots after falling to 25 votes and 4.4 percent, which is below the 5 percent threshold required to remain eligible for next year’s vote.

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