2015 Induction Class

So the newest crop of players has been anointed for immortality in the baseball Hall of Fame. The list of eligible players this year rivaled one of our All-Decade teams as far as talent and achievement. Four players were selected as this year's class, tying the mark of 2nd highest inductees since the original class.  The 2015 newest Hall members are Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio.

Randy Johnson was an inevitable lock as a first ballot Hall of Famer notching 303 wins, a 3.29 era and 4,875 strikeouts. He is second all time to Nolan Ryan in strikeouts and his four consecutive Cy Young awards were only duplicated by Greg Maddux.  Johnson was arguably the most feared pitcher of the last two decades.

Pedro Martinez joins Johnson as 2 of 5 players to have won the Cy Young award in both leagues (Clemens, Halladay, Gaylord Perry). Pedro collected 3 Cy Youngs during his dominating career. He finished in the top five another four times as well. Pedro's 1999 season is widely considered among the most dominant in history with a record of 23-4, a 2.07 era and 313 K's. He may not have had 300 wins like Johnson, but he did win 100 in each league and was likewise extremely dominant in his career.

John Smoltz is the third pitcher that will be inducted this year in Cooperstown. He was of course part of the dynastic three-headed Braves juggernaut with Maddux and Tom Glavine. Few, if any, triumverates can claim the success and dominance as these with all winning at least one Cy Young. Smoltz was the fireballer of the three amassing over 3000 punchouts. Smoltz lost the entire 2000 season and most of 2001 to injury. Upon his return, the Braves made him a closer where he once again dominated. For three seasons, he was as lights out as they came collecting 44+ saves each year along with a Rolaids Reliever of the Year award in 2002. Many question his status as a first ballot guy, but the dominance as closer coupled with remarkable post-season numbers may have pushed voters over the top.

Craig Biggio rounds out the new class and will be the first Astro enshrined. A staple of the famed Killer Bees, Biggio hit that magic number of 3000 hits. Before you think he hung around just for the milestone, consider he also had 1844 runs (15th all time) and 668 doubles (5th all time). All this while playing outstanding defense at three positions. Biggio came up as a catcher and also won four gold gloves as a 2B and played an excellent Center Field.

I seriously doubt anyone can find fault with these four players punching their card to Cooperstown.  The criticism of this year's vote falls on who didn't make it, the ongoing PED debate, and who fell off the ballot. There are opinions on all sides of these debates. Tune back soon for our analysis of who got snubbed and outright disrespected by voters.