:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/26493153/165195610.0.jpg)
The BBWAA will induct three players to the Hall of Fame this year with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas all gaining entrance. Craig Biggio comes up painfully close with 74.8% of the vote, falling two votes short of induction. Jack Morris failed to get enough of the vote in his final year on the ballot, and will now have his Hall of Fame fate left up to the Veterans Committee.
Maddux received 97.2%, Glavine 91.9%, and Thomas 83.7% to fall above the 75% threshold. Former Yankee Mike Mussina recieved 20.3% of the vote. Don Mattingly stays on the ballot for 2015 after receiving 8.2% of the vote. Rafael Palmeiro, despite having 3000 hits and 500 home runs to his name, did not receive the mandatory 5% of the vote in order to stay on the ballot. Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, and Morris each lost ground over last year's numbers in a crowded class of potential inductees. That problem won't get any better for them next year when Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, John Smoltz, and Gary Sheffield all appear on the ballot for the first time. Edgar Martinez, Curt Schilling, and Lee Smith all experienced significant drops in vote totals from last year.
Sixteen voters, including Ken Gurnick, failed to cast a vote for Maddux. Their reasonings will likely vary, but it seems like there probably won't be one among the bunch that justifies leaving him off. Hopefully Mussina will have a better showing next year, if not the next year, once the ballot thins out a little more. He's deserving and should eventually gain that recognition.
Who do you think fell short this year but should have gotten in? Are you disappointed with only three names getting in off a crowded ballot, or do you think three is fine considering that no one was inducted last year?
