Baseball Hall Calls for Four New Members

Not too long ago, the National Baseball Hall of Fame inducted four new members to its elite list of Hall of Famers. To be inducted, a player must receive a vote of 75 percent by the Writers Association, and must have obviously made his mark in the game of baseball. This year’s lucky inductees included left-handed pitcher Randy Johnson, right-handed pitchers Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz and infielder Craig Biggio. Randy Johnson received the highest vote total out of the four inductees with 97.1 percent, followed by Pedro Martinez with 91.1 percent, John Smoltz with 82.9 percent and finally Craig Biggio with 82.7 percent.

Randy “The Big Unit” Johnson, standing  at 6’ 10”, was an extremely intimidating figure to stare down from the batter’s box. The southpaw made his debut on September 15th, 1988 for the Montreal Expos and was a member of the team until the second half of the 1989 season, where he spent 9 seasons with the Seattle Mariners. He was then traded to Houston in 1998, where he found himself as a formidable combo with Curt Schilling on the Arizona Diamondbacks from 1999-2004. He and Schilling were also co-MVPs in the memorable 2001 World Series against the New York Yankees, which is the only Diamondbacks championship so far. He also had brief stints with the New York Yankees (’05—’06), and then came back to Arizona for 2 seasons (’07—’08) before finishing his career with the San Francisco Giants (2009). Over his twenty-two year career, Johnson has amassed 303 career wins, which ranks 22nd of all time. He also won four consecutive Cy Young Awards with Arizona spanning from 1999-2002 and won another back in 1995 with Seattle. This ten-time all star has definitely earned himself a plaque in Cooperstown.

This next hall of fame pitcher is hated by Yankees fans and loved by Mets fans. Pedro Martinez began his illustrious career in 1992 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, then spent 3 seasons with the Montreal Expos from 1994-1996. However, Martinez is best known for being a member of the Boston Red Sox (1998-2004) in an era where the Yankees vs. Red Sox reached an all time high. Moments such as calling the Yankees his “daddy”, throwing Yankee coach Don Zimmer to the ground during a brawl, and not being taken out of game 7 of the 2003 ALCS which would have sent the Red Sox to the World Series for the first time in over 80 years if Martinez didn’t persuade manager Grady Little to keep him in the game and then went on to blow the Boston lead. One of Martinez’s most memorable moments occurred in the 1999 All Star Game where Pedro got the ball to start the game and struck the first four batters, hall of fame shortstop Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire and later on in the 2nd inning he set down Jeff Bagwell on a strike out, thrown out double play. After his days in Boston, Martinez came over to New York but didn’t don the Yankee pinstripes, he wore the blue and orange of the New York Mets from 2005-2008. Ironically, in Pedro’s final season in 2009 with the Phillies, he faced off against the Yankees one last time and the stage just so happened to be the World Series. Pedro would call the Yankees his daddy one last time as he suffered the loss in game 6 of the series as the Yankees captured their 27th title in team history. Through all of the drama in Pedro’s career, he has still earned himself a spot alongside baseball’s elite.

This next hall of fame inductee was a part of an Atlanta Braves team for 20 seasons and helped the team reach the postseason 13 of the 20 seasons as well as a world championship in 1995. Smoltz was a very durable starter; he had gone through Tommy John Surgery, a procedure where most players aren’t nearly the same as to what they were before. But that never affected Smoltz. In fact, he was so durable, that Atlanta moved him to the closer role for three seasons and did not disappoint. He had 55, 45 and 44 saves between 2002 and 2004. His total in 2002 was good for 2nd place on the all time single season save record and is now standing tied for third with Eric Gagne. Smoltz also pitched in one of the most iconic games in baseball history. In game 7 of the 1991 World Series, he squared off against Minnesota Twins ace Jack Morris as they matched each other pitch for pitch as they threw shutout ball through 7 1/3 innings. However, Smoltz had to come out of the game due to pitch count exceeding 100 and the rest is history. Morris went on to throw 10 shutout innings and ultimately won the series for the Twins as they won 1—0 in 10 innings. Now if you can be a top of the line starting pitcher, undergo Tommy John Surgery, be converted to the closer role without any problems, get voted to 10 all star games, win a Cy Young Award and get recognition for getting a no decision in one of baseball’s most iconic games, you are one of baseball’s greatest and John Smoltz is just that.

The final member of the 2015 Hall of Fame Class just so happens to be a Long Island native. Craig Biggio was lived in Smithtown, New York which is not too far away from South Huntington. Biggio played the game the way most people think it should be played and he was hard, intense and had no mercy between the lines of the diamond. Biggio happened to be a football player in high school which led to his playstyle. He actually thought that he was a better football player than baseball player in high school, but the 5’ 11”, 185 lbs second baseman chose baseball instead and made a very wise decision. Biggio spent his 19 year career with one team, the Houston Astros. He was a member of the 2005 team that punched their ticket to the World Series for the first time in team history and the first team from the Lone Star State to play in the Fall Classic. Unfortunately, the Astros were swept in four games by the Chicago White Sox. Biggio was an ideal player as he was skilled in both fielding and hitting. The hardware says it all. He won four consecutive Gold Glove Awards (1994-1997), was a five recipient of the Silver Slugger Award (1989, 1994-95, 1997-98) and is a member of baseball’s most elite clubs, the 3,000 hit club. Biggio has exactly 3,060 hits which is good enough for 20th all time and is one of 27 elite hitters to achieve this plateau. Biggio has left his mark in Houston Astros history as well as Major League Baseball and has earned himself a spot in Cooperstown.

This year we have four elite ballplayers being inducted into Cooperstown but there were a few names that didn’t make the cut. The three main players who weren’t inducted were Mike Piazza, one of the greatest hitting catchers of all time. Jeff Bagwell, a former teammate of Craig Biggio on the Astros and was another power hitter. However, these two names may have been left off the ballot due to the fact that they played during the peak of the steroid era and have been accused for use of PED’s (Performance Enhancing Drugs). Finally, there was speedster Tim Raines whose appeal may be wearing down due to the fact that he’s been on the ballot for the last eight years. But nevertheless, the Baseball Hall of Fame did not disappoint this year and the writers made smart decisions on who to place alongside baseball’s immortals.