The Hall of Fame opened its doors on Wednesday for former Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell, Expos and Yankees outfielder Tim Raines and 14-time All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez.
Bagwell, in his seventh year, got 86.2 percent of the vote. Raines, in his 10th and final year of eligibility, received 86.0 percent. Rodriguez, in his first year, received 76.0 percent.
Candidates need 75 percent of the vote from the eligible members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
One candidate in his first year of eligibility and one in his second finished just short of 75 percent. First-timer Vladimir Guerrero (71.7) will have to wait until next year. Closer Trevor Hoffman picked up 74.0 percent of the vote in his second year on the ballot, finishing five votes short.
Bagwell, Raines and Rodriguez will join former commissioner Bud Selig and longtime executive John Schuerholz as the Class of 2017 when the Hall of Fame induction ceremony is held in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 30.
Bagwell, the 1994 NL MVP and a four-time All-Star, spent his entire career with Houston. He holds the Astros records of 449 home runs and 1,529 RBIs. In 15 seasons, he had a .408 on-base average, a .540 slugging percentage and batted .297.
Raines was a key bench player on the Yankees' World Series championship teams of 1996 and 1998. He was an All-Star in each of his first seven seasons with the Expos. Raines batted .294 with 2,605 hits, 1,330 walks and a .385 on-base percentage. He scored 1,571 runs and ranks fifth with 808 stolen bases in a career from 1979 to 2002 with the Expos, White Sox, Yankees, A's, Orioles and Marlins. His 84.7-percent stolen base success rate is the best of any player with at least 400 attempts.
Rodriguez, who appeared in 33 games for the Yankees in 2008, spent the best part of his career with the Rangers. He was the 1999 AL MVP and won 13 Gold Gloves to go along with 311 home runs in a 21-year career.
Off the ballot this year is reliever Lee Smith, who after 15 years of eligibility, never received the requisite number of votes. Smith, who is third in MLB history with 482 saves, received 34.2 percent of the vote this year.
