Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas join Bobby Cox, Joe Torre, and Tony La Russa to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame for 2014.
At 2 PM the newest members of the MLB Hall of Fame were announced live on MLB Network. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas eclipsed the minimum 75% of the 571 votes to be enshrined. Fellow SB Nation writer Eric Stephen has the breakdown of the votes which include Maddux getting 97.2% of the vote, Glavine pulled 91.9%, and the Big Hurt received 83.7%. With the cut-off being 429 votes, former Astros second baseman Craig Biggio fell just two votes shy with 427 for 74.8%.
Other votes include:
Mike Piazza - 355 votes, 62.2%
Jack Morris - 351 votes, 61.5% (last year on the ballot)
Jeff Bagwell - 310, 54.3%
Tim Raines - 263, 46.1%
Roger Clemens - 202, 35.4%
Barry Bonds - 198, 34.7%
Lee Smith - 171, 29.9%
Curt Schilling - 167, 29.2%
Edgar Martinez - 144, 25.2%
Alan Trammell - 119, 20.8%
Mike Mussina - 116, 20.3%
There were 15 player eligible that did not reach the minimum of 5% of the votes to remain on the ballot for 2015. This list is headlined by Rafael Palmeiro who received just 4.4% of votes and also includes Moises Alou (1.1%), Hideo Nomo (1.1%), Luis Gonzalez (0.9%), Eric Gagne (0.4%), JT Snow (0.4%), Armando Benitez (0.2%), Jacque Jones (0.2%), and Kenny Rogers (0.2%).
Sean Casey, Ray Durham, Todd Jones, Paul LoDuca, Richie Sexson and Mike Timlin did not receive any votes.
As for the three that did make it, all have ties to the state of Georgia. This is the first time in baseball history that all three players inducted in the same year were either born or played the majority of the career in the same state. Of course Maddux and Glavine were stalwarts atop the Braves rotations of the 90's while Thomas was born in Columbus, Georgia. Also with Georgia ties, Bobby Cox managed and worked in the front office for the Braves for decades while Joe Torre was a member of the Braves for three years with two all-star game appearances.
Greg Maddux finished his career with 355 wins, a 3.16 ERA, 107 brWAR, 132 ERA+, and a 1.14 WHIP. His accolades include 8 All-Star selections (1988, 1992, 1994-98, 2000), 4 Cy Young Awards (1992-95), and 18 Gold Gloves (1990-2002, 2004-06, 2009-10). He led the league in wins three times, winning percentage twices, ERA four times, complete games three times, shut outs five times, innings pitched five times, ERA+ five times, brWAR three times, WHIP four times, H/9 once, HR/9 four times, BB/9 nine times, and K/BB three times. The Professor eclipsed 20 wins in a season just twice but had more than 15 wins for 17 straight seasons, including another five years where he won 19 games. Mad Dog earned over $153M during his 23 seasons in the majors and was 11-14 with a 3.27 ERA in the 13 seasons he reached the playoffs.
With this being MinorLeagueBall after all, lets also looks at his minor league statistics. Maddux spent his debut season in the Appalachian League with Pikeville as an 18 year old after being drafted out of a Las Vegas area high school. He was selected in the 2nd round of the 1984 draft, 31st overall, by the Cubs. 1985 he was promoted to Low A Peoria where he went 13-9 with a 3.19 ERA over 186 innings with 6.0 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and 8.5 H/9. In '86 he only made eight starts for AA Pittsfield, going 4-3 with a 2.69 ERA over 63.2 innings with 6.9 H/9, 4.9 K/9, and 2.1 BB/9. He spent the next few months in AAA Iowa with a 10-1 record and 3.02 ERA in 128.1 innings. He allowed 8.9 H/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 4.6 K/9 in Iowa and a 14-3 record, 2.91 ERA, 4.7 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 8.2 H/9 for the entire year in the minors before getting a six game audition in September with the Cubs. In Chicago he threw 31 innings with a 5.52 ERA, 74 ERA+, 12.8 H/9, 3.2 BB/9 and 5.8 K./9.
His final minor league season was 1987 where he made just four starts for AAA Iowa prior to sticking in the major leagues for good. He threw 27.2 innings of 0.98 ball with a 3-0 record, 7.2 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and 5.5 H/9 in Iowa. Once promoted he threw 155.2 innings with a 6-14 record and 5.61 ERA as a 21 year old. He had an ERA+ of just 76, allowed 10.5 H/9, 4.3 BB/9 and 5.8 K/9. The rest, as they say, is history.
Tom Glavine had 305 wins, a 3.54 ERA, 74 brWAR, 118 ERA+, and a 1.31 WHIP. He earned 10 All-Star selections (1991-93, 1996-98, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006), 2 Cy Young Awards (1991, 1998), and 4 Silver Sluggers (1991, 1995-96, 1998). Glavine led the league wins five times, and losses, brWAR, complete games, shut outs, and ERA+ once. He won at least 20 games five times in his career (1991-93, 1998, 2000), topping out at 22 in 1993. His lowest ERA was 2.47 in 1998. Glavine earned over $128M during his 22 seasons and went 14-16 with a 3.30 ERA during 12 postseason appearances.
Glavine was also a 2nd round in the 1984 draft (47th overall), going to the Braves from high school in Billerica, MA. The 2nd round of the 1984 draft also produced Al Leiter and the entire round provided 246.4 brWAR over their careers. After being drafted Glavine went to the Gulf Coast League. In 1985 he pitched at Low A Sumter, amassing 168.2 innings with a 9-6 record, 2.35 ERA, 6.1 H/9, 3.9 BB/9 and 9.3 K/9. The next season he went straight to AA Greenville and made 22 starts spanning 145.1 innings. He had a 3.41 ERA, 11-6 record, 8.0 H/9, 4.3 BB/9 and 7.1 K/9. This earned the then 20 year old a promotion to AAA Richmond where he finished out the year with a 5.62 ERA in seven starts with a 1-5 record. Glavine threw 40 innings and allowed 9.0 H/9, 6.1 BB/9 and struck out just 2.7 batters per 9 innings.
In 1987 he was once again assigned to Richmond out of spring training and spent 22 games there before getting the call to Atlanta. He threw 150.1 innings with a 3.35 ERA and 6-12 record. He struck out 5.4 batter per 9 innings, allowed 8.5 H/9 and 3.4 BB/9. In August he made his major league debut and finished out the year in Atlanta's rotation. His rookie year he had a 5.54 ERA, an ERA+ of 79, a 2-4 record, 50.1 innings pitched, 9.8 H/9, 5.9 BB/9, and 3.6 K/9. The next year, 1988, he entrenched himself in Atlanta's rotation for the next 16 years.
Frank Thomas had a career line of .301/.419/.555 with a .974 OPS, 521 home runs and 2,468 hits. He drove in 1,704 runs over his career with 1.494 runs scored, 495 doubles, 1,667 walks and 1,397 strike outs. Throughout his storied career he amassed 73.6 brWAR over 19 seasons with an OPS+ of 156. He won two MVP awards (1993 and 1994) and four Silver Slugger awards. He also finished in the top 5 of MVP voting six times (1991, 1993-94, 1997, 2000, 2006). The Big Hurt won the batting title in 1997 and led the league in OBP four times, walks four times, OPS four times, OPS+ three times, doubles once, runs once, and intentional walks twice. Thomas posted his best season in the strike-shortened 1994 when he hit .353/.487/.729 with 109 walks to only 61 strike outs. He hit 38 home runs, 34 doubles, scored 106 runs, drove in 101 and had a 212 OPS+. In his most dominant stretch from 1991 to 1997, Thomas AVERAGED a .330/.452/.604 line with a 182 OPS+, 36 home runs, 34 doubles, 118 RBI, 107 runs and 119 walks to 75 strike outs. He has earned over $86M in his career.
Thomas was a first round pick in 1989, going 7th overall to the Chicago White Sox out of Auburn University. After signing, he played in 17 Gulf Coast League games with a .365/.470/.519 line, clearly demolishing the competition as a 21 year old. He was promoted to Low A Sarasota where he completed the year with a .277/.386/.399 line in 223 plate appearances with nine doubles, four home runs, 30 RBI, 31 walks and 33 strike outs. His combined line was .296/.405/.425 between the two levels with 42 walks to 36 strike outs, 14 doubles, five home runs, 41 RBI, and 35 runs scored.
The next year he was assigned to AA Birmingham where he completely dismantled the entire league. He hit an insane .323/.487/.581 over 474 plate appearances with 112 walks to 74 punch outs, 27 doubles, 18 home runs, even five triples, 85 runs scored and 71 runs driven in. He skipped AAA and was brought up in August of 1990 to the White Sox where he continued his torrid pace. In 240 trips to the plate, he hit .330/.454/.529 with 11 doubles, seven home runs, three triples, 31 RBI, 39 runs and 44 walks to 54 strike outs. This came out to a 177 OPS+ and 2.3 brWAR. Starting with his 1989 season, the Big Hurt reached base at least 40% of the time in each of his first nine professional seasons (1989-97), and 12 of his first 16 seasons.
Poll
Did the BBWAA get it right this year?
Yes
No
They never do
14 votes | Results