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LOS ANGELES -- The Baseball Writers Association of America announced the election of three players into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas were elected, with Craig Biggio falling just two votes shy of the 75% needed for election.
Former Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza received 355 votes out of 571 ballots cast, at 62.2% a raise of the 57.8% he received in 2013.
Maddux received the highest percentage of votes on the ballot, with 97.2%, meaning 15 others besides Ken Gurnick left him off. Glavine (91.9%) and Thomas (83.7%) made it easily.
Maddux won 355 games in his career, including at least 15 wins for a record 17 straight seasons, from 1988-2004. He is one of four pitchers in history with 3,000 career strikeouts and fewer than 1,000 walks, along with Fergie Jenkins, Pedro Martinez, and Curt Schilling. Maddux was 8-7 with a 3.94 ERA (a 112 ERA+) in 19 starts with the Dodgers, acquired for the stretch run in both 2006 and 2008. He finished his 23-year career with the Dodgers in 2008.
"He's one of my all-time favorites, one of the best I've ever been around. He was a genius at what he did," general manager Ned Colletti said on Wednesday at the Dodgers winter development camp at Dodger Stadium. "I saw his first game, I saw his last game. He was probably the greatest pitcher I've ever been around, and one of the best minds I've been around."
Colletti added that if he had a ballot he would have "easily" voted for the maximum 10 names, though he declined to name any others aside from Maddux.
Former Dodgers second baseman Jeff Kent received 87 votes (15.2%) in his first year on the ballot, with former Dodgers first baseman Fred McGriff behind him at 67 votes (11.1%) in his eighth year on the ballot. Current hitting coach Mark McGwire, also in his eighth year on the ballot, received 63 votes (11.0%).
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, whose three-year contract through 2016 was finalized on Tuesday, received 47 votes (8.2%). It wasn't nearly enough for election, but by garnering more than five percent of the vote Mattingly will return to the writers ballot next year for the 15th and final time.
Other former Dodgers who didn't receive the requisite five percent to remain on the ballot were Hideo Nomo (six votes, 1.1%), Luis Gonzalez (five votes, 0.9%), Eric Gagne (two votes, 0.4%) and Paul LoDuca (zero votes).