Pitchers Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz and slugger Craig Biggio have been elected to baseball's Hall of Fame.
Johnson, Martinez and Smoltz were all elected to the 2015 class in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America in their first appearances on the ballot.
Biggio made it in his third year on the ballot, after missing out by just two votes last year.
Johnson, a five-time Cy Young Award-winner with 303 career wins was a certain first-ballot selection. His 4875 strikeouts are the most ever by a left-handed hurler and second behind Nolan Ryan's all-time major league record of 5714.
The lanky lefty nicknamed "The Big Unit" pitched 22 seasons for Montreal, Seattle, Houston, Arizona, San Francisco and the New York Yankees. He enjoyed 20-win campaigns in 1997, 2001 and 2002 and was the 2001 World Series Most Valuable Player in sparking Arizona over the Yankees for the Major League Baseball crown.
His resume also includes a perfect game pitched for the Diamondbacks against the Atlanta Braves in 2004.
Martinez, a Dominican right-hander, played 18 seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia and the New York Mets, going 219-100 with a 2.93 earned-run average.
He had 20-win seasons in 1999 and 2002, won Cy Young Awards in 1997, 1999 and 2000, and swept the 1999 American League Pitching Triple Crown by leading in wins with 23, earned run average at 2.07 and strikeouts with 313. He helped Boston win the 2004 World Series.
Smoltz, an American right-hander, worked as a starter as well as a closing reliever in a 21-season career for Atlanta, Boston and St. Louis, compiling a career record of 213-155 with a 3.33 earned-run average and 154 saves. He won the 1996 National League Cy Young Award and his 3,084 strikeouts rank 16th all-time. He helped Atlanta to the 1995 World Series.
Biggio, a multiposition star who had 3060 hits in 20 seasons with the Houston Astros, was the only player with 3000 or more hits who had not been elected to the Hall.
Among other players on the ballot, pitcher Roger Clemens and all-time US home run leader Barry Bonds -- both linked to performance-enhancing drugs near the end of their careers -- fell well short of election.
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