Baseball Hall of Fame Induction 2014: Inductees Announced; Which Latino Stars Could Be Elected in 2015?
We can now expect the small town of Cooperstown, New York to turn into a mini Atlanta in July after it was revealed that longtime Braves manager Bobby Cox and former Braves pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine would be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. The third player that will be inducted is Frank Thomas.
All three players led magnificent baseball careers, but the Hall of Fame induction process has been overshadowed not by their stats but rather the debates over which players from the steroid era should get in.
Nevertheless, the players who were inducted this year have incredibly impressive resumes. Maddux retired with 355 wins, which is still the most wins among MLB pitchers who are still alive today. He led the way among the three inductees with 97.2 percent while Glavine came in second with 91.9 percent. Slugger Frank Thomas also had a great showing in the votes, tallying 83.7 percent.
Glavine won the National League Cy Young award twice -- in 1991 and 1998 -- and kept hitters off balance even into his 40s when the fastest he could throw a fastball was around 88 miles per hour.
Thomas, who was obviously the only slugger to make it in this year's induction, won the American League MVP in 1993 and 1994. Even more impressive was the fact that Thomas managed to hit over .300 (.301) in a career that lasted nearly two decades.
This year's induction will mark the first time since 1999 that three players were voted in to the Hall of Fame. Interestingly enough, as many as four total players were very close to being elected as Craig Biggio just missed the mark with 74.8 percent.
Along with Cox, Tony La Russia and Joe Torre were also elected as Hall of Fame managers.
As for 2015, we could see a number of Latino stars inducted into the Hall of Fame. Most recognizable is Pedro Martinez -- Puerto Rico native Carlos Delgado is another star who will be on the ballot.
What do you think about this year's Hall of Fame Inductees? Do you think Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens should have gotten in despite the allegations of Performance Enhancing Drugs?
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