Class of 2015 Discusses HOF Honor

Donning jerseys and caps emblazoned with the name of their new team on Wednesday, the four newest electees to the National Baseball Hall of Fame shared a dais for the first time since their life-changing announcement. By midsummer, a similar act will take place on a much grander stage.

Less than a day after receiving the news of their election to the Hall of Fame, a trio of pitchers – Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz – as well as longtime Astros second baseman Craig Biggio, appeared at a packed news conference at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria.

Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson welcomed the honorees, adding, “Gentleman, you have combined to wear the uniforms of 12 different teams. But now the four of you are teammates on the greatest team ever assembled and that’s the Hall of Fame team. We’re going to give you all lifetime contracts. You’re not going anywhere, you’re stuck with us, and we are very, very thrilled to welcome you to Cooperstown.

“One of the most difficult career paths in the world is that to the major leagues. In the long history of professional baseball, nearly 18,500 men have been privileged to wear a major league uniform. Of them, one percent, one out of a 100, make it to Cooperstown. That’s how special Hall of Fame election is, and these men are among that select few.”

The Hall of Fame Class of 2015 includes three pitchers – Johnson, Martinez and Smoltz – who each have 3,000 or more strikeouts, a combined 735 career pitching wins and nine total Cy Youngs. It also includes the only player in history – Biggio – with more than 3,000 hits, 600 doubles, 400 stolen bases and 250 home runs. It’s a group with 33 combined All-Star Game selections. And as far as longevity, only 238 players in the history of the game spent more time in a major league uniform than any of the four electees.

Johnson was the leading vote-getter with 534 votes of the 549 ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, which represented 97.3 percent of the vote. Martinez received 91.1 percent, Smoltz 82.9 percent and Biggio 82.7 percent. A player on the ballot needed to be named on 75 percent of ballots cast to earn election.

“This is just a humbling experience for me,” Smoltz said. “I’m like blown away when you think about this class and these guys. I’m honored to be with these guys.”

Martinez, while admitting he was honored, also joked, “Craig, I know I brushed you back a couple times but it wasn’t intentional.”

The diminutive righty with the intimidating arsenal then added: “I never dreamt or thought about or crossed my mind ever that I was going to be Hall of Famer. I wasn’t supposed to be here in the Hall of Fame today so I took every game like it was my Hall of Fame game.

“I never even thought about the Hall of Fame, but making it, even with the lowest number (75 percent) would be a great honor. The fact that I made it over 90 percent, my God, it’s unreal. I couldn’t ask for more. I was supposed to be too fragile, I was supposed to break down, and I’m here. I’m extremely honored to have been selected, period.”

For Biggio, born and raised on Long Island, his Hall of Fame election was a very humbling experience.

“I never played the game to get in the Hall of Fame. I played the game because I loved the game,” Biggio said. “I loved everything about the game. I loved the relationships you had with the groundskeepers, the clubhouse guys, the interactions with the other teams you played against. So getting invited to the Hall of Fame, it’s very, very overwhelming for me. I’m very appreciative”

Johnson was a dominating southpaw whose height seemed an early obstacle to any later success, especially the Hall of Fame.

“I’m almost seven-feet tall, 6-foot-10, so it’s really an uphill battle. The average height for a major league pitcher is probably about 6-2, 6-3,” Johnson said. “It was a hindrance at first, and there were moments where I wanted to quit the game, but I stuck with it.

“You don’t play to go to the Hall of Fame. We don’t play for the accolades that we achieved. It happened because of our hard work, our teammates, and the people that surrounded us that made us better,” he added. “I’m very grateful and honored and humbled that I would be here at this dais with these particular players, and to be going in July, to grace the stage with the greatest players that have ever played the game.”

The 2015 Induction Ceremony will take place on Sunday, July 26, at the Clark Sports Center. Last year’s event was witnessed in person by Smoltz, who saw former Atlanta Braves cohorts Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Bobby Cox enshrined.

“For 21 years, playing baseball every Sunday and then after retiring and broadcasting a game every Sunday I never got a chance to really take it [Induction Ceremony] in,” Smoltz said. “Last year, working for MLB Network, was the greatest feeling. I’ve been to great sporting events, including the Super Bowl, Final Four, you name it, but nothing topped last year. That was the greatest event I’ve ever been a part of, seeing something for the first time.

“This was seeing my teammates that I knew, seeing my manager that I basically played my whole career for, and I had a smile on for five hours. It was such a surreal feeling because for the first time I found myself feeling ‘What if?’ Words can’t describe what July 26 will mean having did that the year before.”

Johnson’s first and only trip to the Hall of Fame came in 1985 during his first professional season when he played in a city near Cooperstown.

“Obviously, over my 22-year career, being mentored by some Hall of Fame players, and meeting Hall of Famer along the way as I was playing, I’m very excited to be on the stage, in their presence, and feel like I’m now in one of the greatest fraternities of all sports,” Johnson said. “I’m excited for my family and my friends that will be able to come and enjoy that moment with me. And I know the time will be a blur. I will take every moment in when I’m there.”

Biggio’s lone visit to Cooperstown came as a youngster and he doesn’t remember a lot about it, but his wife and youngest son made a recent visit so he could participate in an area youth baseball tournament.

“I’m really looking forward to getting back there and seeing the history that they saw,” Biggio said. “It’s crazy, but we’re part of history now.”

Martinez not only visited Cooperstown when he was a young player with the Montreal Expos, but this past Memorial Day Weekend was a starting pitcher in the Hall of Fame Classic held at Doubleday Field.

“I’ve always been a guy that likes to search and learn and see history and I got glued to everything I saw in Cooperstown that first trip,” Martinez said. “To me it was a great experience. It was a place that made me wonder what if I played in those days. I went looking for (fellow Dominican Republic native) Juan Marichal’s plaque but I found a lot more. I’m extremely honored to now become part of it.

“To me it was a great honor,” Martinez added, referring to the Hall of Fame Classic. “I didn’t expect to participate in the game but they asked me and somehow throwing a ball for me is not difficult. To me, it was an opportunity to showcase, even as an old goat, a little bit of what I was. I had a great time. And I also got another view of Cooperstown. I’m glad I did what I did. The last time I threw a ball off the mound was in Cooperstown.”

The Baseball Hall of Fame’s Induction Weekend will be held July 24-27, with the Induction Ceremony for Johnson, Martinez, Smoltz and Biggio set for Sunday, July 26. Ford C. Frick Award winner Dick Enberg and J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner Tom Gage will be honored during at the Awards Presentation on Saturday, July 25, at Doubleday Field.

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