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Two baseball greats elected into the MLB Hall of Fame

January 7, 2016

Ken Griffey Junior and Mike Piazza have been inducted into baseball's most elite membership, the Major League Baseball (MLB) Hall of Fame. The two will join other baseball greats this summer in Cooperstown.

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A Ken Griffey Jr. flag waves from the Space Needle in honor of Griffey's election to the Baseball Hall of Fame
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/G. Hindsley

Two of baseball's greats were elected into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza received enough votes to be included into Cooperstown, the site of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Griffey, known around the baseball world as "Junior" and "The Kid," received 437 of 440 votes by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, which is considered to be the highest voting percentage ever received. Tom Seaver received 98.4 percent in 1992, the second most amount.

Griffey was also elected his first time on the ballot, and joins 51 other baseball greats to achieve such a feat.

In an interview on MLB Network, Griffey said he was "happy and shocked" by the news.

"I can't be upset. It's just an honor to be elected and to have the highest percentage ever is definitely a shock."

Griffey had 2,781 hits and 630 home runs in his 22-year career with the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds. His 630 home runs are currently the sixth most.

His dynamic career includes 10 Gold Glove Awards in center field, seven Silver Slugger Awards 13 All-Star selections.

Mike Piazza's election

After missing out by 28 votes last year, Mike Piazza received 365 votes, or 83 percent, in his fourth time on the ballot.

His 83 percent put him just over the 75 percent requirement needed to be elected to the Hall.

Piazza responded to his induction with happiness, shock and admiration.

"Yogi Berra had like four ballots. Joe DiMaggio had three ballots. And so myself being sort of a student of the history of the game, and having respect for the process, it was nail-biting at times, but I had a tremendous amount of support throughout my career from the writers and the fans."

Piazza was a 12-time All-Star, finished with a .308 career batting average and hit 427 home runs. His offensive statistics are said to be the greatest among those who played catcher, the position behind home plate.

Both athletes will be inducted to the shrine in Cooperstown, New York, on July 24.

smm/rc (AFP, Reuters, AP)