2014 Baseball Hall of Fame class introduced

Sports

Former Atlanta Braves pitchers Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux were introduced with Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas as the 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame class, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, in New York. The trio will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in July.

Former Atlanta Braves pitchers Tom Glavine (left) and Greg Maddux (right) were introduced with Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas as the 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame class, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, in New York. The trio will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in July.

Greg Maddux, whose 355 victories are the most among pitchers still living, was named on 97.2 percent of the ballots cast by veteran members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Former Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavine won the National League Cy Young Award in 1991 and 1998.

Slugger Frank Thomas (right) had back-to-back American League MVP seasons in 1993 and 1994. Thomas, from Columbus, Ga., hit 521 home runs in 19 years with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland A's and Toronto Blue Jays.

This was the first year since 1999 that the writers sent three players to Cooperstown.

"To have the opportunity to go in with Greg [Maddux] and Frank [Thomas], two guys who played the game the right way, played it hard and did things the right way and were fierce competitors -- it's an honor to go in with them," said Braves Hall of Famer Tom Glavine.

"I come from a small town," Columbus, Ga., native Frank Thomas said. "We can dream so much. To dream to be a Major League player was something crazy from where I'm from, but to be in the Hall of Fame with the best of the best, I come to you very humble."

Tom Glavine (background) and Greg Maddux are the first starting pitchers whose careers began after 1970 to be elected to Cooperstown. Though neither earned his 300th victory with the Braves, they spent a decade together in Atlanta.

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Former Atlanta Braves pitchers Tom Glavine (left) and Greg Maddux (right) were introduced with Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas as the 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame class, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, in New York. The trio will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in July.

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