Griffey Jr., Piazza Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Ken Griffey Jr. was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Wednesday with the highest voting percentage ever, and Mike Piazza will join him in Cooperstown this summer.

A star slugger during the steroids era who was never tainted by accusations of drug use, Griffey appeared on 437 of 440 ballots in his first appearance on the Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot. His 99.3 percentage topped the previous mark of 98.84, set when Tom Seaver appeared on 425 of 430 ballots in 1992.

There had been speculation Griffey could become the first unanimous selection.

"I can't be upset. It's just an honor to be elected and to have the highest percentage is definitely a shock," Griffey said on a conference call.

Shortly after learning of Griffey's selection, Seattle raised a giant banner with his number on it to the top of the iconic Space Needle. Griffey's former Mariners teammate Jay Buhner hoisted the flag.

After falling 28 votes shy last year, Piazza received 365 votes in his fourth time on the ballot and will be inducted along with Griffey on July 24.

"Incredibly special. Wow," Piazza said on a call with MLB Network.

"I sat here with my mouth on the floor," he said.

In a conference call, Piazza put into perspective his wait to get into the Hall of Fame.

"Yogi Berra had like four ballots. Joe DiMaggio had three ballots," Piazza said. "And so myself being sort of a student of the history of the game, and having respect for the process, it was nail-biting at times, but I had a tremendous amount of support throughout my career from the writers and the fans."

A player needs 75 percent to gain election, and Jeff Bagwell missed by 15 votes and Tim Raines by 23. Trevor Hoffman, on the ballot for the first time, was 34 short.

There were significant increases for a pair of stars accused of steroids use. Roger Clemens rose to 45 percent and Barry Bonds to 44 percent, both up from about 37 percent last year.

Mark McGwire, who admitted using steroids, received 12 percent in his 10th and final ballot appearance.