The National Baseball Hall of Fame will welcome four new members in Cooperstown this summer.
The 2015 Baseball Hall of Fame voting results were announced Tuesday, and Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Craig Biggio, and John Smoltz will be the new members inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer in Cooperstown.
Like in 2014, the Hall of Fame will welcome three new players, two of which (Martinez and Johnson) earned the required 75 percent of votes in their first year on the ballot.
Martinez was one of the best pitchers of his or any generation, winning three Cy Young awards and being named an All-Star on eight different occasions over the course of his 18-year MLB career. The right-hander finished his career with 219 wins, a 2.93 ERA and 2.91 FIP. He struck out 3,154 batters (averaging exactly 10 strikeouts per nine innings) and tossed 46 complete games.
During his peak, Martinez put up some of the best statistical seasons in MLB history. He won back-to-back Cy Young awards in 1999 and 2000 with the Red Sox, finishing with a 1.74 ERA over 217 innings pitched in that 2000 campaign. Perhaps most impressively, the Dominican Republic native achieved his considerable success in the middle of the steroids era, when offense thrived throughout the league. And, of course, he helped lead the Red Sox to their first World Series title in 86 years during the 2004 season. Martinez has the highest career ERA+ of any starting pitcher in MLB history at 154.
Like his fellow pitching inductee, Randy Johnson also thrived in an era when offense prospered throughout baseball. Standing at 6'10 and possessing a big-time fastball, Johnson was an intimidating presence on the mound. He also might be the best left-handed starter of all time. The Big Unit pitched for 22 seasons, won five Cy Young awards and was voted an All-Star 10 times. Along with Curt Schilling, he helped lead the Diamondbacks to their only World Series title in 2001, earning a co-MVP with Schilling for his performance in the Fall Classic.
Johnson's numbers speak for themselves. He struck out 4,875 batters throughout his career (including 10.6 per nine innings), won 303 games and finished with a 3.29 ERA. The lefty reached his peak in his mid-30s when most pitchers are in decline. From 1999 to 2002, at ages 35-38, Johnson won four straight Cy Young awards with Arizona, racking up 300-strikeout seasons in each of those four campaigns.
The only hitter to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015, Craig Biggio was a fan favorite in Houston, where he played all 20 seasons of his MLB career. He came up just short in last year's voting, receiving 74.8 percent of votes. Biggio was an All-Star seven different times and also won five Silver Slugger and four Gold Glove awards. He finished his career with 3,060 hits, 291 home runs, a .281 batting average and .363 on-base percentage.
Along with long-time teammate Jeff Bagwell, Biggio formed the core of a competitive Astros team for a number of years. At his best, Biggio was an elite, all-around performer, impacting the game with his glove, on the bases and at the plate. In perhaps the best season of his career in 1997, Biggio batted .309/.415/.501 with 22 home runs, 146 runs scored, 47 stolen bases, 9.4 bWAR, a Gold Glove, and a fourth-place finish in the NL MVP voting. He is among the best second basemen to ever play the game.
John Smoltz is the biggest surprise among the four inductees and became the third starting pitcher this year to be elected into the Hall of Fame. The right-hander pitched for 21 seasons in the big leagues and, along with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, was long part of a strong Braves rotation in the 1990s and early 2000s. Smoltz finished his career with eight All-Star selections and won a Cy Young during the 1996 season when he compiled a 2.94 ERA, 2.64 FIP, 276 strikeouts and just 55 walks in 253⅔ innings.
In all, Smoltz finished with 213 career wins, 154 saves (after moving to the bullpen from 2001 to 2004), a 3.33 ERA and 3.24 FIP. He pitched in Atlanta for 20 of his 21 MLB seasons before joining the Red Sox and Cardinals in his final campaign. Smoltz was effective right up until his last year, posting a 3.11 ERA and 3.21 FIP over 205⅔ innings in his last full season at the age of 40 for the Braves.
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