There were 345 ballots cast in the South Side Sox Hall of Fame voting process this year, which means candidates needed 259 votes to get the call to Cooperstown this time around.
Four men received this prestigious honor.
Getting the Call to the Hall (75%+)
Randy Johnson is the head of the 2015 class receiving 333 votes, good for 96.5% in his first time on the ballot. There is some discussion on which cap he will go in with, but I am personally hoping for a Seattle Mariners cap.
Pedro Martinez is next to get in as he received 313 votes, good for 90.7%. Pedro will go in with a Boston Red Sox cap.
Craig Biggio fell two votes short last year in both the South Side Sox and the actual HOF voting, but this year he had 10 more votes than he needed with 269 or 77.9%. This was Biggio's third time through the process, and the second time he has been elected from the South Side Sox voting body.
John Smoltz rode the Atlanta Braves wave all the way through to the Hall of Fame, getting 263 votes or 76.2% to gain enshrinement in his first year of eligibility.
Just Missed (60-74.99%)
Mike Piazza (238, 68.9%) Piazza jumped from 64.2% last year, but still is on the outside looking in.
Tim Raines (210, 60.8%) Raines got 59.9% last year and stayed pretty much even. Early on, it looked as though the Rock was going to make it, as he was at about 80 percent after the first day, but it wasn't meant to be.
Strong Support (50-59.99%)
Jeff Bagwell (202, 58.5%) Bagwell stepped back a little bit from the 59.2% he received last year. Maybe next year with a little bit of a clearer ballot he can gain some traction.
The 40 Percent Club (40-49.99%)
Mike Mussina (147, 42.6%) Mussina jumped 10 percent from last year's vote.
Roger Clemens (142, 41.1%) The Rocket gained four percent from last year, but is still quite a ways away from induction.
Curt Schilling (140, 40.5%) Schilling gained about eight percent from last year, but still finds himself behind Mussina and Clemens.
The 30 Percent Club (30-39.99%)
Barry Bonds (135, 39.1%) Bonds is up two percent from last year. The stranger thing to me is that seven more people voted for Clemens than Bonds. I would think if you vote for one, the other is a guarantee.
Edgar Martinez (120, 34.7%) Edgar jumped from 26 percent last year without a slam dunk home run hitter like Frank Thomas on the ballot, but he has a long way to go.
The Roaring 20s (20-29.99%)
Alan Trammell (91, 26.3%) Trammell gained a little bit, up about three percent, but still not nearly enough love for this guy. He should have been in 10 years ago in my opinion.
Fred McGriff (80, 23.1%) The Crime Dog crossed the 20 percent threshold, up from 17.8% last year.
Double Digits (10-19.99%)
Jeff Kent (68, 19.7%) Kent gained five percent in his second year.
Gary Sheffield (65, 18.8%) The Sheff was criminally abused with only 18 percent of the vote. He should be up there with Piazza and Bagwell at least.
Lee Smith (64, 18.5%) Lee is going to need a serious turnaround to ever get in. Trevor Hoffman is on the ballot next year. I think it would be a shame if he got more votes than Smith.
Larry Walker (53, 15.3%) Walker gained three percent from last year.
Don Mattingly (51, 14.7%) Mattingly is pretty much even with where he was last year. If only he didn't get hurt.
Mark McGwire (41, 11.8%) Big Mac fell under 10 percent last year so at least he moved up a level.
Lives to See Another Day (5-9.9%)
Nomar Garciaparra (33, 9.5%) If he only had a couple of more years before the injuries.
Sammy Sosa (30, 8.6%) Slammin' Sammy got a three percent raise.
Carlos Delgado (30, 8.6%) Delgado cracked the five percent barrier. I'm not hopeful he does the same in the real thing tomorrow.
Gone But Not Forgotten (Under the 18 necessary votes to stay on the ballot)
Jermaine Dye (7 votes) Here is a hat tip to the 2005 World Series MVP as he goes out the door.
Brian Giles (4 votes) I still can't believe the numbers he put up on the Pirates. Where was I?
Troy Percival (2 votes) I can only imagine the "bad sausage" face he's going to have when he reads this.
Rich Aurilia (1 vote) Hopefully Mrs. Aurilia stays around and votes next year, too!
Tony Clark (1 vote) Don't screw up the labor peace, Tony the Tiger.
Tom Gordon (1 vote) The Flash is in the Hall of Fame of reproducing MLB players.
Aaron Boone, Darin Erstad, Cliff Floyd, Eddie Guardado and Jason Schmidt did not receive any votes. It was an honor to be nominated, I suppose.
Conclusion
Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez are no-brainers. I am glad Biggio made it in and hope he does the same tomorrow. I wasn't very surprised that Smoltz got the call, even with comparable pitchers in Mussina and Schilling being far behind. With Maddux and Glavine in, it's only a matter of time for Smoltz. It will be close, but I'd be a little surprised if he doesn't make it today. I think Gary Sheffield and Mike Mussina should have finished higher than they did. I'm also glad that Sosa and Delgado remained on the ballot, something that is in serious danger for both later today.
SSS Hall of Fame Class 2011: Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven, Tim Raines
SSS Hall of Fame Class 2012: Barry Larkin
SSS Hall of Fame Class 2013: Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Tim Raines
SSS Hall of Fame Class 2014: Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas, Tom Glavine
SSS Hall of Fame Class 2015: Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Craig Biggio, John Smoltz
Next year, we will see Ken Griffey, Jr., Trevor Hoffman, Billy Wagner, Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus, Jim Edmonds and Jason Kendall hit the ballot. Other than Griffey, I don't see much support for any other first year candidates, which means it might be time for some of the holdovers to make their move.
Thanks for participating!