Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas Elected to Hall of Fame A year after delivering a sobering verdict on the game's recent history, baseball writers on Wednesday found three players to celebrate. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas, decorated stars with no connection to the performance-enhancing drug scandal that warped much of their era, were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on their first try. Maddux, whose 355 victories are the most among pitchers still living, was named on 97.2 percent of the ballots cast by veteran members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Glavine, his former Atlanta Braves teammate, received 91.9 percent of the votes, and Thomas, the longtime Chicago White Sox slugger who hit 521 home runs, got 83.7 percent. Candidates need 75 percent of the votes to be inducted. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, perhaps the best hitter and pitcher of their generation, fell in the voting in their second year on the ballot, both finishing below 36 percent. RELATED COVERAGE Two Aces and a Slugger Are Joining the Hall's RosterJAN. 9, 2014 "I know the type of players they were," Thomas said on a conference call with reporters. "As for what they did, I don't think any of us will ever really know. But I can just tell you, what I did was real, and that's why I've got this smile on my face right now, because the writers, they definitely got it right." Launch media viewer Frank Thomas, the longtime Chicago White Sox slugger, hit 521 home runs in his career. Dave Kaup/Getty Images This was the first year since 1999 that the writers sent three players to Cooperstown. Maddux, Glavine and Thomas will be honored there July 27 with the former managers Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre, who were named last month by the veterans committee. Had the writers chosen a fourth player, and they nearly did, the total they elected would have been the highest since 1955. Craig Biggio, who collected 3,060 hits for the Houston Astros, just missed induction in his second year on the ballot, at 74.8 percent, falling two votes short. He matched the smallest margin for a player who missed, tied with Nellie Fox (1985) and Pie Traynor (1947). Traynor was elected a year later; Fox eventually reached Cooperstown through the veterans committee. Biggio has 13 years of eligibility remaining. frank thomas,frank thomas highlights,frank thomas 500th home run,frank thomas home run,frank thomas big hurt baseball,frank thomas swing,frank thomas white sox,frank thomas commercial,frank thomas return to chicago,frank thomas disney

• published: 09 Jan 2014
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