Ken Griffey Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame with Highest Percentage Ever!

“You’re talking about a kid 7, 8, 9 years old and his thinking was, ‘I can’t see to catch the ball, I got to do something to make this hat fit.’ So he just turned it around backward and he got used to doing that”, Ken Griffey Sr. recalled on Wednesday after his son was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame. Griffey is a first ballot Hall of Famer while Piazza gets in on his 4th year of eligibility.

Before his election, Piazza was the only eligible player who had a career.

He wouldn’t say whether he was upset about being sullied by suspicions.

Let everyone – that’s the freedom we have, you can say these things and that’s just the country we live in.

“If you can do one thing exceptionally well and refine that, and improve your weaknesses, you can definitely make a living in this game”.

Pitcher Tom Seaver had held the voting record before this year, with his 98.84 percent slightly besting Nolan Ryan’s 98.79 percent.

Griffey didn’t want to venture a guess if he thought he was left off the three ballots as those voters’ way of protesting that he played in the Steroids Era, even though he was never linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

“When I walked into the locker room, it put a smile on my face”, Gordon said, “because at the end of the season, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do that again”.

A player needs to appear on 75 per cent of ballots to gain election. Trevor Hoffman, second on the career saves list and appearing on the ballot for the first time, was 34 short.

It’s these events that are keeping the seven-time Cy Young Award victor out of the Hall of Fame. But it won’t happen. Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines also were strong candidates to gain the 75 percent needed for baseball’s highest honor. Here are some key takeaways from this year’s balloting… “If I couldn’t be the best through hard work, so be it”. “So for me, that was something that I was able to sort of draw from to just keep patience and just keep optimistic”. “We’ll look forward hopefully next year to him and Vlad”. He is the first No. 1 selection to reach the Hall. Among position players, only third basemen, with 14 inductees, number fewer in the Hall.

“Disappointed, but still hopeful”, Raines told Mitch Melnick of TSN Radio 690 after the voting was announced. “For me, I am really encouraged, and thankful, in the increase of votes”.

As to his preference, he added: “I’ll think more about it tomorrow”. Former Mariners ace Randy Johnson was elected past year, but his Hall of Fame plaque depicts him in an Arizona Diamondbacks cap.

An aside – it’s probably not worth the headache of trying to figure out why BBWAA members vote the way they do. The 12-time All-Star won 10 Silver Slugger Awards, was named the 1993 National League Rookie of the Year and finished his career with a. 308 batting average, 427 home runs and 1,335 RBIs. He said this in his speech, he didn’t play for the money. “He just always seemed very gracious with fans and media”.

After an incredibly short stint with the Florida Marlins, Piazza was shipped to the New York Mets and his legend grew even bigger. Raines had missed the entire 2000 season while battling lupus and when he came up to the plate for his first at-bat a crowd of 45,123 at the Big O rose to their feet and roared. Only five pitchers who were primarily relievers are now in. Another thing is, I was either the highest-paid or one of the highest-paid players in baseball. “I was touched, it was emotional, real emotional”. In a related matter, the BBWAA prior to this year’s balloting purged from the rolls more than 100 inactive voters who hadn’t covered the game in a decade or more.