‘Big Hurt’ Maddux and Glavine Headed to Cooperstown
08 Jan, 2014
Pitching team mates Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine and slugger
Frank Thomas were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in results
announced on Wednesday by the Baseball Writers’ Association of
America. The three were chosen in their first year of eligibility
after waiting the required five years after their retirement and
were the first trio so honored in 15 years. Right-hander Maddux,
who won four consecutive Cy Young awards from 1992 and compiled a
career mark of 355-227, was the leading vote-getter, elected by a
landslide with 97.2 percent of the 571 ballots cast. “Tremendous
honor,” Maddux, who came up with the Chicago Cubs and had a
fastball that broke back over the inside corner to freeze
left-handed hitters, told MLB TV. “What an incredible honor and to
be able to share it with my team mate Glav, congrats to him. It’s
pretty special.” Left-hander Glavine, who won 305 games and was a
20-game winner five times, was named on 91.9 percent of the
ballots. He and Maddux were team mates on the Atlanta Braves from
1993-2002. “You can’t help but pick something up and learn
from Greg by being around him,” Glavine said. “Greg really got me
to start paying attention to what the hitters are telling you. How
they take a pitch, how they foul a pitch off. You can learn a lot
from that. “It’s a great thing to be around great players that
drive you, that push you, that make you better.” Thomas, who spent
most of his career with the Chicago White Sox, became the first
inductee to have played most of his games as a designated hitter
after blasting 521 home runs with a career batting average over
.300. The imposing, 6-foot-5 slugger, nicknamed “The Big Hurt”, was
named on 83.7 percent of the ballots cast. “I am so excited that
I’m in the Hall of Fame,” said Thomas in a statement through the
White Sox. “This is something that I will have to sit back in the
next three or four days and figure it out because you can only
dream so big, as this is as big as it gets for me.” It marked the
first time three players were voted into the same Cooperstown class
since George Brett, Nolan Ryan and Robin Yount in 1999. Inductees
Maddux, Glavine and Thomas will be joined in the July 26 induction
ceremony in quaint Cooperstown in upstate New York by former
managers Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre. Cox, La Russa and
Torre rank third, fourth and fifth in major league managerial
victories, each winning more than 2,000 games, and were previously
voted in by a special committee.
Reuters
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