Griffey elected to Hall with highest percentage, Piazza in

He is the son of slugger Ken Griffey Sr.

And for both Griffey and Piazza, their Hall of Fame candidacy mirrored their draft status.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File).

The Hall of Fame announced Wednesday that Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mike Piazza will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame this summer. That’s tied with baseball legend Tris Speaker.

That’s awfully far from Cooperstown – not only on a map.

Former Detroit shortstop Alan Trammell, in his 15th and final year of eligibility, didn’t make it. Lee Smith, in his 14th year of eligibility, received 34.1 percent of the vote.

“I can’t be upset towards the three people who didn’t vote for me”, Junior said. “I was just hoping to get in”. He also credited his father, a former All-Star with the Cincinnati Reds, with teaching him the importance of honesty and hard work. “It’s truly an honor to be elected”. For his career, in addition to his 427 home runs, Piazza finished with 1335 RBI a. 308 batting average and a slugging percentage of.545.

“My time with the Dodgers was very interesting”, he said. “I couldn’t be prouder of him”.

Though there never was any evidence that he was a user, some in the electorate said in the past that they did not vote for Piazza because they believe he used steroids.

Out of high school in 1987, Griffey was selected by the Seattle Mariners with the first overall draft pick of that year’s amateur draft. Piazza went from 57.8 percent in 2013 to 83 percent in 2016. Piazza was the 1,390th pick (62nd round) of the 1988 First Year Players Draft. Now, he’s one of 17 catchers in Cooperstown.

“There won’t be any questions and you’ll know from here on out”, he said.

Piazza’s unexpected rise to stardom, however, proved at first a blessing and later a curse.

The Hall of Fame’s board of directors purged voting rolls of older writers who had not actively covered baseball in 10 yearsand who tended to take a more hard-line stance against players associated with performance-enhancing drugs.

Also failing to make it were pitcher Roger Clemens (199 votes) and Barry Bonds (195), while Sammy Sosa polled only 31 votes.

“It’s been an unbelievable run”, Piazza said. He did acknowledge using androstenedione, amphetamines, Creatine, ephedra and a type of asthma medicine that made him more alert and focused. Few others have represented a franchise in Major League Baseball the way Trevor and his family have represented the Padres over the last three decades. Griffey is a first ballot Hall of Famer while Piazza gets in on his 4th year of eligibility. After drawing 69.9% of the votes a year ago, Piazza figured to have a good chance to clear the threshold this time.

“Yogi Berra had like four ballots”.

Many players could go in next year. “I mean it’s just something I can’t worry about”.

While neither got close to 75 percent, both Clemens (45.2 percent) and Bonds (44.3 percent) received their highest vote totals yet.

The Baseball Hall of Fame will have two new members this July. By the way, Joe DiMaggio made it in his fourth try. “I love to have another catcher on board!”

In Griffey’s case, there was a little more to it than being informed he was going into the Hall of Fame.