Wednesday afternoon, over 500 members of the Baseball Writer's Association of America (BBWAA) voted three new inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was only the second time in Hall of Fame history that the BBWAA has voted in all first-ballot players. The BBWAA website has the breakdown of votes. The honored are pitchers Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux as well as first baseman and designated-hitter Frank Thomas. Glavine played most of his career as an Atlanta Brave. For a short while he did play for the Mets, which for a player who played as long as Glavine did, the "short while" was 5 out of 22. Greg Maddux played most of his career either on the Chicago Cubs or the Atlanta Braves. He did however play one season in San Diego and a little bit in Los Angeles. Finally, Frank Thomas spent most of his 18 year career with the Chicago White Sox. Towards the end of his career he played with Oakland and Toronto.

All three of these outstanding baseball players are a great choice for the Hall and deserve to be there. Growing up a Yankees fan I am especially familiar with the talents of Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux. One key issue you may have noticed to be absent was steroids. The BBWAA has made it clear, as we saw last year, that former steroid use is not something that will help you get votes. Look at the players who have been passed up multiple times already. You have Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, the list goes on.

Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY
Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
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The important thing this year is that six individuals will have their names entered into one of Cooperstown's oldest and most honored buildings. Not only will Glavine, Maddux, and Thomas be inducted, but back in early December it was announced that legendary managers Joe Torre, Tony La Russa, and Bobby Cox would also be inducted. The community of Cooperstown has to be happy with the long and distinguished list. Last year, the lack of inductees hurt the local economy drastically. With no inductees, there is no induction ceremony. With no inductees, there is no great waves of tourists coming to pay homage to the newly entered club members. With no inductees, there were no customers for private businesses. Joe Torre by himself is projected to draw close to 100,000 fans due to Cooperstown's proximity to NYC.

In regards to the players, I will let the their career statistics speak for themselves (All Stats According to MLB Website):

Tom Glavine
Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images
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Tom Glavine

Win-Losses: 305-203, Earned Run Average: 3.54, Strike Outs: 2,607, Walks: 1,500

See More of Tom Glavine's Stats here.

 

Greg Maddux
Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
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Greg Maddux

Win-Losses:355-227, Earned Run Average: 3.16, Strike Outs: 3,371, Walks: 999

See More of Greg Maddux's Stats here.

 

Frank Thomas
Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
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Frank Thomas

At Bats: 8,199, Hits: 2,468, HRs: 521, Runs Batted In: 1,704, Batting Avg: .301   

See More of Frank Thomas' Stats here.

Each of these three players played in over 15 seasons. They each have played in at least 5 all-star games. Each of the three players have won at least one World Series ring. With resumes like that, why wouldn't they get voted in? There are a lot of people expected for the induction ceremony of these incredible baseball icons. It will be a great Summer for Central New York. It will be a great Summer for Cooperstown. It will be a great Summer for The Baseball Hall of Fame!

 

 

 

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