Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas elected to Hall of Fame

On MLB Network this afternoon, Baseball Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson made the announcement. The members of the Class of 2014 will include: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas. For the first time since 1973, a pair of 300 game winners are being inducted.
Mar 15, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; United States pitching coach Greg Maddux (31) during the World Baseball Classic against Puerto Rico at Marlins Park. Image Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
There were a grand total of 571 voters that voted for the Class of 2014.

Maddux appeared 555 votes of the 571 ballots (including one blank) for 97.2 percent of the vote. Glavine received 525 votes (91.9 percent) and Thomas 478 (83.7). This is the first time that three first-ballot nominees were voted into the Hall since since Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Robin Yount in 1999. This is the fifth time that at least two players got 90% or more of the vote (1936, 1989, 1999, 2007).

Houston Astros catcher/second baseman/outfielder Craig Biggio was very close to having joined the Class of 2014 with 427 votes for a grand total of 74.8% of the vote. By sending in a ballot of one name, Dodgers MLB.com beat writer Ken Gurnick could really be blamed for Craig Biggio not being inducted in this year’s class.

Biggio joins Nellie Fox in 1985 and Pie Traynor in 1947 as having been two ballots shy of induction. Traynor was elected the next year while Fox was in his last year on the ballot and would be inducted by the Veterans Committee in 1997.

Now, had one less writer voted for this year’s class, the minimum needed for induction would have been 427.5 votes. But because 571 ballots were submitted, 428.25 votes were required for induction–meaning that their name needed to appear on 429 ballots.

Biggio increased about 6% from last year while Mike Piazza saw a 5% increase.

Dropping off the ballot is Rafael Palmeiro. While Palmeiro was a member of the 3,000 hit club and 500 home run club, he had previously been suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs.

The induction of Thomas could mean that Edgar Martinez gets in eventually as Thomas was a DH for 56.4% of his career.

As for the other names on the ballot:
Jack Morris, 351 votes (61.5) (final appearance)
Jeff Bagwell (54.3)
Tim Raines (46.1)
Roger Clemens (35.4)
Barry Bonds (34.7)
Lee Smith (29.9)
Curt Schilling (29.2)
Edgar Martinez (25.2)
Alan Trammell (20.8)
Mike Mussina (20.3)
Jeff Kent (15.2)
Fred McGriff (11.7)
Mark McGwire (11.0)
Larry Walker (10.2)
Don Mattingly (8.2)
Sammy Sosa (7.2)