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Mariano First Unanimous Hall of Fame Selection in Baseball History

The Baseball Writers Association of America has officially released its 2019 Hall of Fame voting results. As expected, four players will be inducted into Cooperstown this July: pitchers Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina, as well as designated hitter Edgar Martinez.

 

Rivera's legacy is that of the best reliever of all time as well as the first player to ever receive 100 percent of the vote. He finished his 19-year career with 652 saves, 13 All-Star Game appearances, five Rolaids Relief Awards, five World Series titles, and MVP Awards from an All-Star Game, ALCS, and World Series. Rivera was as dominant, reliable, and likable as any pitcher we've seen. This was Rivera's first year on the ballot.

 

Halladay's induction will, unfortunately, be of the posthumous sort after he died in a plane crash in November 2017. During a 16-year career, he won two Cy Young Awards and received the nod in eight All-Star Games. He also won 203 games and figures to be remembered as one of the last true workhorses thanks in part to his 250-inning season in 2010. As with Rivera, this was Halladay's first year on the ballot. He received 85.4 percent of the votes.

 

Mussina never won a Cy Young Award, but he did claim seven Gold Gloves and make five All-Star Games during his 18-year career. He won 270 games and finished with more than 3,500 career innings.  He received 76.7 percent of the votes.

 

Martinez earned entrance on his 10th and final try after facing a long road thanks to his association as a DH. Martinez was a seven-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger who also won a pair of batting titles. He hit .312/.418/.515 (147 OPS+) with 309 home runs over parts of 18 seasons. He too received 85.4 percent of the votes.

 

Curt Schilling (60.9 percent), Roger Clemens (59.5), and Barry Bonds (59.1) received the highest percentages of anyone not elected.

 

Larry Walker (54.6 percent) was the only other person to appear on more than half the ballots. He'll enter this final year on the ballot needing a similar year-to-year gain to make it into the Hall.

 

Manny Ramirez (22.8 percent), Scott Rolen (17.2), Gary Sheffield (13.6), Andy Pettitte (9.9), Sammy Sosa (8.5 percent), and Andruw Jones (7.5) each will remain on the ballot.

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