Baseball Hall of Fame: BBWAA elects four in 2015 vote

Annually the announcement by the Baseball Writer’s Association of America (BBWAA) of which players have been elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame has been one of the most dissected and discussed moments of the year. It’s also long been the true start to the year for most baseball fans, learning who will make up that next class of heroes who will take their rightful place in Cooperstown.

This year has been no different, with plenty of speculation about just how many names may end up receiving the greatest honor of their career. Some candidates appeared like certainties, while others retained hope.

677 members made up the BBWAA in 2014. 549 ballots were cast this year, in which they can select up to 10 players. This year’s pool consisted of 34 potential candidates. Players need to appear on 75% of the ballots in order to gain induction.

The BBWAA has announced that it has elected four players to the Hall of Fame as part of the 2015 class: Randy Johnson (97.3%), Pedro Martinez (91.1%), John Smoltz (82.9%), and Craig Biggio (82.5%).

Johnson’s case was hardly in question, as the lanky left-hander was one of the greatest southpaw pitchers in baseball history. He won 303 games and posted a 3.29 ERA in over 4,100 innings pitched. Johnson’s 4,875 career strikeouts are second all time behind only Nolan Ryan.

Johnson also won five Cy Young Awards, including a remarkable four straight from 1999 to 2002, and was pivotal (think 2014 Madison Bumgarner) in the Arizona Diamondback’s 2001 World Series Championship.

Martinez was one also viewed as a no-doubt Hall of Famer, though his case isn’t quite as strong as Johnson’s. His career numbers don’t match up, with Martinez only winning 219 games and striking out 3,154 batters. He was a different kind of dominant throughout his career, clearly a different type of pitcher than Johnson was but equally as effective against his competition.

Martinez’s stretch from 1997 to 2000 is still one of the best four-year stretches for any pitcher in history. He posted a 2.16 ERA, 0.925 WHIP, and 11.5 K/9 while winning 77 games (a .755 W-L%) and taking home three Cy Young Awards.

Smoltz falls into a unique category, as Dennis Eckersley is really the only true comparable. Smoltz was a dominant force working out of the Atlanta Braves rotation but was often overshadowed by his own teammates Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine (both of whom were elected to the Hall of Fame last year). He missed the 2000 season to Tommy John surgery, came back as a closer and dominated in that role as well, racking up 154 saves over the next four seasons.