Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame for the 2016 class on Wednesday and the two players will be enshrined in Cooperstown this summer. Griffey set a record for the highest voting percentage ever, while Piazza is the lowest draft pick to make it into the hall.
Griffey was expected to be close to a unanimous decision to make it into the Hall of Fame after putting up great numbers through his career and avoiding any suspicion of using performance enhancing drugs. According to ESPN.com, Griffey is the first number one overall draft pick to make it into the Hall of Fame. Griffey is the highest draft pick to make it into the Hall of Fame, while Piazza is the lowest after being selected in the 62nd round of the draft to start his baseball career.
According to Hardball Talk, Griffey was voted in after being placed on 437 of 440 ballots by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Griffey made it in on his first appearance on the ballot and his percentage of 99.3 is the highest ever after Tom Seaver made it with 98.84 percent in 1992. Piazza came close last year, falling 28 votes shy of making it in and this year he earned the required 75 percent, coming in on 365 votes. It was the fourth time Piazza appeared on the ballot.
The two players will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 24 in Cooperstown, New York.
"I can't be upset. It's just an honor to be elected, and to have the highest percentage is definitely a shock," Griffey said on a conference call.