Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine And Frank Thomas Elected To Baseball Hall Of Fame; Pedro Martinez And Carlos Delgado Among Latinos With 2015 Eligibility

Thanks to reaching the required 75 percent threshold needed in order to earn entry into the Professional Baseball Hall of Fame, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas were handed the most prestigious honor in the game of baseball. Each of the three players strongly impacted the game both on the diamond and away from the ballpark, and because of their sterling numbers, as well, this trio completes the Class of 2014 alongside former managers Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa and Bobby Cox. Receiving 478 total votes (83.7%) in his first season on the ballot, former Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas says he couldn't be happier landing on a ballot with such great players and managers.

“This has been a stressful 48 hours. I am so excited that I'm in the Hall of Fame," Thomas, who batted .301, hit 521 home runs and drove in 1,704 RBIs in 19 seasons, said after learning of his entry. "This is something that I will have to sit back in the next three or four days and figure it out, because you can only dream so big, and this is as big as it gets for me. I'm a Georgia kid. Going in with Glavine, Maddux and Bobby Cox means a lot to me. The whole state of Georgia is going to be there, and I am just so blessed that I'll be able to be there with these guys.”

Former teammates with the Atlanta Braves, pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine were two of the most successful starters in their time. Maddux – who won 355 games in his career and collected four Cy Young Awards – earned 97.2 percent of the vote while his teammate and friend Tom Glavine earned 83.7 percent. Glavine posted a career win-loss record of 305-203 in 22 professional seasons with the Braves and New York Mets, winning the National League Cy Young Award in 1991 and again in 1998. The two combined to appear in 18 All-Star games and both were instrumental in Atlanta winning the 1995 World Series Championship.

Craig Biggio, who spent each of his 20 Major League seasons with the Houston Astros, earned 427 total votes, but his percentage of 74.8 came up .2 percent shy of Hall of Fame enshrinement while former Detroit Tigers great Jack Morris missed out in his 15^th and final year of eligibility.

Looking ahead to next year's ballot, popular figures in Pedro Martinez and Carlos Delgado will become eligible for Hall of Fame induction for the first time. Martinez won the Cy Young Award three times in his career while posting a career ERA of 2.93 and accumulating 219 wins against just 100 losses.

Former Florida Marlins and New York Mets slugger Carlos Delgado will certainly garner loads of attention next year as well. Launching 473 career home runs to go along with 1,152 RBIs and a career average of .280, the two-time All-Star will be among the highly discussed first-year eligible players. Big names in Randy Johnson, John Smoltz and Gary Sheffield among others will take up much of the voting, with former New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly making his fifteenth and final appearance on the ballot.