Baseball Hall of Fame Inducts 4 New Members for 2015 Class — Who Are They?
The Baseball Hall of Fame has welcomed its newest class.
Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio will be enshrined in Cooperstown on July 26. Here's a capsule look at each. Martinez, Johnson and Smoltz all got in in their first year of eligibility.
Pedro Martinez
An eight-time All-Star, Martinez amassed 219 wins and won the Cy Young Award three times, all of which came when he pitched with the Boston Red Sox. He led the majors in ERA five times, notched the pitching crown in 1999 by leading the American League in wins, ERA and strikeouts and was an integral part of the Red Sox winning the World Series in 2004 for the first time in 86 years.
Randy Johnson
Johnson is a 300-game winner and second all-time in strikeouts. He took home the Cy Young Award five times (trailing only Roger Clemens) and won a World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001. He also tossed a pair of no-hitters, including one perfect game. One of the game's all-time most feared hurlers, Johnson received an astonishing 97.3% of the vote -- eighth best in history.
John Smoltz
Smoltz, the 1996 Cy Young Award winner, was a dependable starter who became the Braves closer in 2001. When all was said and done, he joined fellow Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley as the only players to notch a 20-win season and a 50-save season. Along with Tom Glavine (who was inducted in Cooperstown last year), he was a mainstay on Atlanta's dominant staffs throughout the '90s that was highlighted by a 1995 World Series title.
Craig Biggio
Biggio, who played for no one but the Houston Astros during his 20-year career, is a member of the 3,000-hit club and a seven-time All-Star. A four-time Gold Glove winner, this converted catcher, in his third year of hall eligibility, led the Astros to their lone World Series appearance in 2005 and set the modern-day record for being hit by a pitch 285 times. Amazingly, he never charged the mound.
Mike Piazza (69.9%) and Jeff Bagwell (55.7%) fell short of the 75% required for induction, while Roger Clemens (37.5%) and Barry Bonds (36.8%) were way below the needed numbers.