Johnson, Martinez, Smoltz and Biggio Gain Entry into Baseball HOF

Straight from the Baseball Hall of Fame:

Three pitchers who combined to win nine Cy Young Awards and a member of Major League Baseball’s 3,000 Hit Club were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in balloting by the BBWAA verified by Ernst & Young.

Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz became the first trio of pitchers honored by the BBWAA in the same election. Each was on the ballot for the first time, which created a precedent with three first-ballot candidates elected in consecutive years, following that of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas in 2014. Craig Biggio, who missed election last year by two votes, gained entry in this year’s election in his third time on the ballot.

They will be inducted July 26 as part of the Hall’s Induction Weekend July 24-27 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

The Hall of Fame now has 310 elected members, including 215 players, of which 119 have come through the BBWAA ballot.

Players needed 412 votes from the 549 ballots cast to gain entry. The results are as follows: