Two of the top hitters of their generation will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the 2016 class.
Only the best of the best reach this level, which left only Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza standing on a ballot that also included a hitter with 762 home runs (Barry Bonds) and a pitcher with 354 wins (Roger Clemens). Additionally, Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines came up short of the 75 percent of votes needed for induction.
While there will be eternal debate over those who didn’t get in, the two players who are set to earn plaques this weekend deserve it after their incredible careers. Here is what you need to know to celebrate this occasion with Griffey and Piazza.
2016 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
When: Sunday, July 24
Time: 1:30 p.m. ET
Where: Clark Sports Center, Cooperstown, New York
TV: MLB Network
Live Stream: BaseballHall.org
Inductees
Mike Piazza
When Mike Piazza was drafted in the 62nd round in 1988, few predicted he’d become a Hall of Famer. After all, today’s draft stops after 40 rounds.
In reality, the only reason he was drafted was due to then-Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, who knew the player’s father. Lasorda explained the situation, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
Mike works out as a first baseman in front of our scouts, and the scouting director, Ben Wade, tells me they’re not interested in signing him. I said, ‘Ben, if he could hit like that as a shortstop, would you sign him?’ He says, yes. I said, ‘How about if a catcher could hit like that?’ Ben says, ‘Then I would sign him.’
I said, ‘Then, you’ve got yourself a catcher.’
This transition shouldn’t surprise anyone who watched Piazza over the years. He was never an elite defensive catcher and struggled to throw out runners on the bases. However, he made up for it with his bat and became arguably the top hitting catcher in baseball history.
Piazza came up through the Dodgers organization and found success immediately, winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1993. He only got more dominant from there, being named an All-Star in each of his first six full seasons in the majors and finishing in the top six of MVP voting in four of those years.
After a brief stint with the then-Florida Marlins, he joined the New York Mets, where he found even more success. Piazza reached six more All-Star Games while helping the team win the NL pennant in 2000.
When all was said and done, the powerful hitter finished his career with a .308 batting average and 427 home runs, plus 12 All-Star Games and 10 Silver Slugger Awards, given to the best hitter at each position. His 396 home runs as a catcher are the most all-time for the position.
With this level of success compared to expectations, it’s no wonder he expects to cry during his speech:
Piazza was one of the top hitters in the game throughout his career, tallying an above-average OPS+ in every season from 1993 to 2006, per Baseball-Reference.com. It took him four years on the ballot to reach this stage, but he deserves the honor.
Ken Griffey Jr.
While Piazza was a long shot, Ken Griffey Jr. was virtually the opposite. The son of an All-Star, the younger Griffey was a natural in the sport and went first overall in the 1987 draft.
It didn’t take him long to have an impact in the majors, either. The center fielder came up at just 19 years old and was an All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner by age 20. During his first 11 seasons with the Seattle Mariners, he reached 10 All-Star Games and won 10 Gold Glove Awards. He was named American League MVP in 1997 when he led the league with 56 home runs and 147 RBI with the first-place Mariners.
Although injuries derailed Griffey’s career a bit after he joined the Cincinnati Reds, he still went to three more All-Star Games and earned MVP votes in 2005. He finished his career with the Mariners, totaling 630 home runs, which ranks sixth in MLB history.
As good as he was on the field, however, he made almost as big of an impact off it. C. Trent Rosecrans of the Indianapolis Star broke down what Griffey meant to fans:
Griffey, with the backwards cap, was baseball’s last pop culture icon, the last player that even non-baseball fans knew by sight. He dominated commercials, video games, baseball shoes and was the most popular player in the game and the only choice when baseball was trying to match the star power of basketball’s [Michael] Jordan. In the 1993 All-Star Game in Baltimore, it was Jordan who was seen chasing down Griffey for an autograph.
Given his impact as an elite fielder, power hitter and cultural icon, it’s no wonder he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer with 99.3 percent of the vote. The bigger question is how three people didn’t vote for him on the first ballot.
Regardless of the voting, Griffey is headed to Cooperstown, where he will provide one of the most anticipated induction moments ever.
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