Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza, two of the most productive sluggers of the high-scoring 1990s, were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
Griffey, who slammed 630 home runs, was elected on the first ballot of votes cast by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Piazza, whose 396 homers as a catcher are the most for anyone at the position, got in on his fourth try.
Griffey will be the first player to wear a Seattle Mariners cap on his plaque in Cooperstown, having starred for the team from 1989 to 1999 and returning a decade later to end his career. Piazza is likely to represent the New York Mets, who acquired him in a 1998 trade and kept him through 2005. Only one player, pitcher Tom Seaver, wears a Mets cap on his Hall of Fame plaque.
Candidates need 75 percent of the vote to be elected and can remain on the writers' ballot for up to 10 years, as long as they maintain at least 5 percent.
Piazza's case had been complicated by speculation among some writers that he used performance-enhancing drugs, although he has never been linked to any credible evidence. He was muscle-bound, like so many players then and now, and his best years came during the era of rampant steroid use, before baseball began testing in 2003.
Piazza also rose to stardom from an unlikely spot: the 62nd round of the draft, which now lasts only 40 rounds. Piazza was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988 as a favor to their manager, Tommy Lasorda, a family friend and fellow native of Norristown, Pennsylvania. He was the 1,390th player selected in that draft, the lowest spot a team has ever found a Hall of Famer.
Griffey, meanwhile, becomes the first player taken with the No. 1 overall pick to land in Cooperstown. He was chosen by the Mariners in 1987 out of Moeller High School in Cincinnati, where his father, Ken Sr., had been an All-Star outfielder for the Reds.