By Mike Oz / Yahoo Sports
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Four new Hall of Famers are headed to Cooperstown, including the first ever unanimous choice.
Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez, and Mike Mussina were voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, with Rivera becoming the first-ever player to get 100 percent of the vote.
The results of this year’s vote were announced Tuesday by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Seventy-five percent of the vote is needed for immortalization in Cooperstown, and three of this year’s electees zoomed past that total.
Rivera, the legendary ex-New York Yankees closer, reached the hallowed 100 percent mark, beating Ken Griffey Jr.’s record of 99.32 percent. Griffey missed just three ballots in 2016.
Halladay, the ex-Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays ace who died tragically in a 2017 plane crash, was also elected easily with 85.4 percent.
Martinez also earned 85.4 percent, ending a polarizing candidacy for the former Seattle Mariners designated hitter that took until his 10th and final year on the ballot.
Mussina’s slow climb toward 75 percent finally reached the end, with 76.7 percent in his sixth year on the ballot. The ex-Yankees and Orioles pitcher had career stats that compared favorably to Halladay, so their inclusion together makes sense.