NEW YORK (AP) This honor was saved for the one and only Mariano Rivera.
Not Babe Ruth. Not Hank Aaron. Not Cy Young.
Not until The Sandman could everyone agree.
Rivera became baseballs first unanimous Hall of Fame selection, elected Tuesday along with Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina and the late Roy Halladay. Rivera received all 425 votes in balloting announced by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Ken Griffey Jr. held the mark for top percentage at 99.32 when he was on 437 of 440 ballots two years ago.
Beyond my imagination, Rivera said.
The quartet will be enshrined in Cooperstown along with Todays Game Era Committee selections Harold Baines and Lee Smith on July 21.
Rivera is baseballs career saves leader with 652. With a steady demeanor and a fearsome cut fastball, he won five World Series over 19 seasons with the New York Yankees. He was always at his best in October, getting 42 saves with a 0.70 ERA over 16 postseasons, including 11 saves in the World Series.
Halladay, an ace with the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies, got 85.4 percent and will be the first posthumous inductee since Deacon White in 2013 and Ron Santo in 2012. Halladay died in November 2017 at 40 years old when an airplane he was flying crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.
Martinez was a .312 hitter over 18 seasons with Seattle. He got 85.4 percent in his 10th and final try on the writers ballot. He and Baines will join 2014 inductee Frank Thomas as the only Hall of Famers to play the majority of their games at designated hitter. David Ortiz will be eligible in 2022.
I think the fact that Harold Baines and me got in this year is going to help the future of the DH for years to come, Martinez said.
Mussina was a steady right-hander for the Yankees and Baltimore Orioles who went 270-153 with 2,813 strikeouts over 18 seasons. He received 76.7 percent, getting seven more votes than the 319 required for election.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens made gains but again fell short in their seventh times on the ballot. Bonds got 59.1 percent and Clemens 59.5, their cases muddied by steroid accusations.
Rivera grew up in Panama the son of a fisherman. He signed with New York in 1990, debuted in the majors as a 25-year-old in 1995 and a year later emerged as one of the games best relievers. Part of a core that included Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada, Rivera helped the Yankees win four World Series from 1996-2000 and another in 2009.
The scouting report was the same every time, Jeter wrote at The Players Tribune. Mo knew he was going to throw that cutter. The guy at the plate knew he was going to throw that cutter. Fifty thousand plus at Yankee Stadium knew he was going to throw that cutter. And it wouldnt matter.
The Yankees didnt even wait until Riveras final game to retire his No. 42 he was the last player in the major leagues to wear that number, grandfathered to him when No. 42 was retired in honor of Jackie Robinson in 1997.
