The results of this year's much-debated National Baseball Hall of Fame voting are in. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) has elected Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio to the Hall. This result matches those from our South Side Sox Interactive Hall of Fame voting.
Johnson and Martinez were considered by most to be absolute shoo-ins. Johnson led all candidates with 97.3 percent of the vote, while Martinez garnered 91.1 percent. Smoltz (82.9 percent) and Biggio (82.7 percent) also cleared the requisite 75 percent with ease.
The closest miss was Mike Piazza at 69.9 percent, followed by Jeff Bagwell (55.7 percent) and Tim Raines (55 percent).
Other observations:
- There weren't any realistic candidates that are being kicked off the ballot for failing to clear the 5 percent threshold. Nomar Garciaparra (5.5 percent) cut it the closest, and Sammy Sosa appears to be on his way out, dropping from 7.2 percent in 2014 to 6.6 percent this year.
- Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, as expected, finished pretty close to one another. Clemens had the upper hand, with 37.5 percent compared to Bonds' 36.8 percent.
- Someone voted for Darin Erstad, because BBWAA.
- World Series hero Jermaine Dye did not receive any votes.