Maddux, Glavine, Thomas elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Baseball writers on Wednesday voted three former players into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Writers elected to send former pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine along with first baseman and designated hitter Frank Thomas to Cooperstown. It was the first year of eligibility for all three players.

Maddux compiled 355 during a career primarily with the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves. Glavine, a teammate of Maddux during the Braves’ post-season perennials of the 1990s, won 305 games during a career that included a stint with the New York Mets.

“On behalf of everyone at the Mets, we congratulate Tom Glavine on his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame,” Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said in a statement. “We are proud that Tom won his 300th game as a Met and were fortunate to have him on our club. His excellence as a player is equaled by his excellence as a person.”

Maddux “is one of the greatest pitchers of all time and a tremendous competitor who earned the nickname ‘Mad Dog’ whenever he took the mound,” Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement. “Greg’s near-unanimous selection to Baseball’s Hall of Fame is the ultimate salute to an extraordinary career.”

During his 19-year-long career, played primarily with the Chicago White Sox, Thomas hit 521 home runs and notched a .301 batting average.

“This has been a stressful 48 hours. I am so excited that I’m in the Hall of Fame,” Thomas said in a statement released by the White Sox. “This is something that I will have to sit back in the next three or four days and figure it out because you can only dream so big, and this is as big as it gets for me. I’m a Georgia kid. Going in with Glavine, Maddux and Bobby Cox means a lot to me. The whole state of Georgia is going to be there and I am just so blessed that I’ll be able to be there with these guys.”

A number of former all stars fell short of the 75 percent voting requirement to be enshrined, including second baseman Craig Biggio (who missed by two votes) and catcher Mike Piazza.

“On behalf of the organization and our fans, Mike is a true Hall of Famer,” Wilpon said. “We proudly display his plaque in the Mets Hall of Fame, and we’re hopeful that he’ll soon have one hanging in Cooperstown.”

No one was elected to the hall last year. Last year’s ballot was the first for pitcher Roger Clemens and outfielder Barry Bonds; both were spurned for a consecutive year on Wednesday.