Six former greats, led by ex-Atlanta Braves star Chipper Jones, were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the 2018 class.
Aside from Jones, Trevor Hoffman, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome, Alan Trammell, and Jack Morris were also chosen by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America to the 2018 class.
Jones got the most number of votes garnering 97.2 percent of the ballot from the BBWAA while Guerrero tallied 92.9 percent. Thome received 89.8 percent while Hoffman got 79.9 percent in the voting that was held last January.
Jones and Thome became the 53rd and 54th players to be inducted into the Hall of Fame on their first ballot. Guerrero and Hoffman were close last year, falling 15 and five votes shy of induction respectively.
Trammell and Morris, for their part, had spent 15 years on the BBWAA ballot for 15 years before they finally got invited via the Modern Era Committee vote in December.
Including the Modern Era selection, this was the first time that six players were inducted into the Hall of Fame since 2014 when Frank Thomas, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Joe Torre, Tony La Russa, and Bobby Cox joined their fellow legends in Cooperstown.
Jones Second No. 1 Pick To Make It To Cooperstown
A No. 1 overall pick by the Atlanta Braves in the 1990 MLB Draft, Jones became the second top overall pick to reach the Hall of Fame, behind Ken Griffey Jr. who was inducted in 2016.
In his 19-year career, Jones amassed 1,623 RBIs, most all-time among third basemen, and 400 homers. He finished his career with a .300 batting average, a .400 on-base percentage, and a .500 slugging percentage
Together with first-ballot BBWAA inductees Maddux, Glavine, and Jon Smoltz, Jones helped carry the Braves to 14 straight division titles from 1991-2005.
"For us to have that little fraternity in a little piece of heaven up there in Cooperstown, New York, it's something that we can and should be very proud of," Jones says of his Braves teammates, "because we did an awful lot of winning during the '90s and early 2000s in Atlanta."
Guerrero First Dominican Position Player To Enter Cooperstown
Guerrero earned the honor of being the first Dominican position player to make it to the Hall of Fame.
When he finished his career, Guerrero joined an elite company that includes Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, and Stan Musial as the only players with at least 449 home runs and a career batting average of .318 or higher.
"Let me tell you that I am so happy to be part of this group," says Guerrero through his interpreter, broadcaster Jose Mota.
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