Atlanta Braves legends Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, just months before their “Chicks Dig the Longball” ad debuted in 1999. (Photo: USA Today Sports)

Heading into Wednesday afternoon, there was little suspicion surrounding whether former Braves ace Greg Maddux would be elected to Cooperstown as a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, but it was still a bit uncertain of whether his former teammate, Tom Glavine, would join him as a 1st-ballot choice. Now, that suspicion has eroded.

Both Maddux and Glavine have been selected as inductees for the 2014 class, accompanied by former Chicago White Sox great Frank Thomas, and the numbers for each of them are staggering. Maddux, unfortunately, did not reach the unanimous selection that he so richly deserved, but he still managed to garner an impressive 97.2% of the vote, while Glavine eased into induction by easily exceeding the 75% threshold at 91.9%.

Any long-time Braves fan would recognize that both pitchers were slam-dunk choices for Hall of Fame inclusion, but it is bothersome to some (including me) that Maddux wasn’t a unanimous selection. There is a long-held belief by some of the voting public that no one should ever be unanimous, simply because Babe Ruth wasn’t, and honestly, I can’t fathom this as actual reasoning. Still, that premise combined with the steroid era concerns (sigh) kept Maddux and his 4 Cy Young awards (along with millions of other credentials) out of being the first, and a staggering (at least in my mind) 16 people elected to leave him off of their ballot.

This year’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on July 27th in Cooperstown, and I suspect that many Braves fans will make the trek to pay tribute to two of their favorite sons. I can’t express how fortunate “Braves Nation” was to be able to watch Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine dominate opposing hitters for the entirety (or majority, at least, in Maddux’s case) of their primes, and it’ll be a pleasure to see each of them receive their just due later in the Summer.