Ken Griffey Jr., an outfielder, and Mike Piazza, a catcher, were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the BWAA as the class of 2016.
Griffey received 99.32 percent of the vote, which marked the highest percentage ahead of Tom Seaver (98.84 percent) and Nolan Ryan (98.79 percent). Griffey was on the ballot for the first time.
"It's just an honor to be elected and to have the highest percentage is definitely a shock," Griffey said.
Piazza missed the Hall of Fame by 28 votes last year, but this time around he got 365 votes in his fourth time on the ballot to be inducted.
"Incredibly special. Wow," Piazza said.
The Kid won the American League Most Valuable player award in 1997. He slashed .304/.382/.646 with 56 homers and 147 RBI. Over a three year span (1996-1998), Griffey played in 458 games, which he hit .297 with 161 homers and 433 RBI.
“I’m truly honored to be elected, and to have the highest percentage is definitely a shock,” Griffey said. “I don’t think that way; the big thing is to get into the Hall of Fame. As long as you get in, that’s what it is. I was really surprised at the high.”
Junior played 13 years as a member of the Seattle Mariners (1989-1999, 2009-2010), nine years with the Cincinnati Reds (2000-2008) and one-year with the Chicago White Sox (2008). Griffey, a left-handed hitter, was the first pick of the 1987 MLB Draft by the Mariners.
As for Piazza, he was drafted in the 62nd round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 MLB Draft. The right-handed hitter played for the Dodgers (1992-1998), Miami Marlins (1998), New York Mets (1998-2005), San Diego Padres (2006) and Oakland Athletics (2007) across his 16-year career.
“The Mets fans were just so gracious to me, and even in my post-career, as well,” Piazza said. “Every time I go back, I can’t tell you how much I feel embraced. It’s very special, and it’s a relationship that — I can’t describe how emotional it is for me.”
The catcher won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1993 with the Dodgers. That season, Piazza slashed .318/.370/.561 with 35 homers and 112 RBI. The best year for Piazza, however, came in 1997 in Los Angeles. The 47-year-old hit .362 with 40 home runs and 124 RBI across 152 games that season, which he finished second in National League Most Valuable Player award voting to Larry Walker of the Colorado Rockies.
Piazza was drawn into the steroids controversy become of his extreme power, but he denied using the performance-enhancing drugs.
“Today is just a day that I really want to celebrate my career and dwell on the positive parts of my career,” Piazza said regarding the steroid controversy. “So many of those things are just out of my control. That’s something I can’t worry about. It’s an interesting world today.”
Roger Clemens, a steroid user, rose to 45 percent and Barry Bonds, who also used performance-enhancing drugs, rose to 44 percent, which is a huge increase from last time around. Mark McGwire, in his final ballot appearance, only got 12 percent. McGwire admitted to using steroids during his baseball career.
Behind Griffey and Piazza was Jeff Bagwell (71.6 percent), Tim Raines (69.8 percent), Trevor Hoffman (67.3 percent), Curt Schilling (52.3 percent), Clemens (45.2 percent), Bonds (44.3 percent), Edgar Martinez (43.4 percent), Mike Mussina (43.0 percent), Alan Trammell (40.9 percent), Lee Smith (34.1 percent), Fred McGriff (20.9 percent), Jeff Kent (16.6 percent), Walker (15.5 percent), McGwire (12.3 percent), Gary Sheffield (11.6 percent), Billy Wagner (10.5 percent), Sammy Sosa (7.0 percent), Jim Edmonds (2.5 percent), Nomar Garciaparra (1.8 percent), Mike Sweeney (0.7 percent), David Eckstein (0.5 percent), Jason Kendall (0.5 percent) and Garret Anderson (0.2 percent). Brad Ausmus, Luis Castillo, Troy Glaus, Mark Grudzielanek, Mike Hampton, Mike Lowell and Randy Winn receivied no votes.
A player needs 75 percent to gain election into the Hall of Fame. Bagwell missed it by 15 votes, Raines missed by 23 votes and Hoffman was short by 34 votes.
Next year, first time candidates will include: Ivan Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero and Jorge Posada, just to name a few.