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Griffey Jr. is first No. 1 pick to make baseball Hall

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There was no question Ken Griffey Jr. would be inducted into the Hall of Fame when the voting was revealed by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Wednesday night.

The only real curiosity was how close Junior would come to garnering 100 percent of this year’s vote — or at least break Tom Seaver’s percentage record of 98.84 — in what certainly will be his first and only appearance on the ballot.

Griffey indeed surpassed Tom Terrific on that list, earning votes on 437 of 440 ballots cast this year for 99.32 to join former Mets catcher Mike Piazza in the Cooperstown Class of 2016.

KEN GRIFFEY JR.: MARINERS HALL OF FAMER BY THE NUMBERS

Griffey, the son of former big leaguer and Yankee Ken Griffey, was the No.1 overall pick in the 1987 amateur draft. He made it to the majors at 19, playing briefly with his dad in Seattle in 1990 in the first father-son teammate tandem in history.

The Kid went on belt 631 career home runs, with 11 of his 13 All-Star appearances coming in succession from 1990-2000, including the 1997 A.L. MVP award in 1997 when he belted 56 homers with 147 RBI for the Mariners.

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Exported.; EXP;JOHN GAPS III/AP

Ken Griffey Jr. was the first overall selection in the 1987 amateur draft by the Mariners.

Griffey, who also won 10 Gold Glove awards as a centerfielder, was traded in 2000 to Cincinnati, where his dad spent 12 of his 19 big-league seasons. But the younger Griffey only exceeded 500 at-bats once in nine injury-plagued seasons with the Reds before returning to Seattle to finish his 22-year career in 2010.

Even before establishing the new electoral benchmark, Griffey already was a lock to make history this year, becoming the first No.1 overall draft pick in baseball history to be enshrined in Cooperstown.

Chipper Jones should join him once he becomes eligible in 2018, but this Griffey factoid is rather astonishing when compared to similar results of top overall selections in the three major North American sports.(Piazza, by the way, was a 62nd round pick, becoming the lowest pick ever to reach Cooperstown).

BASEBALL HALL OF FAME SELECTIONS: THE DAILY NEWS BALLOTS

Junior is headed for Cooperstown, but will he make voting history along the way?JEFF TOPPING/REUTERS

Junior is headed for Cooperstown, but will he make voting history along the way?

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A whopping 14 top picks in the NBA are already in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield (Mass.), and that doesn’t count future slam dunks Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan, Yao Ming, LeBron James and a few more who are still playing.

In the NFL, there have been 12 No.1 overall selections enshrined in Canton (Ohio), with Peyton Manning and others still certainties for inclusion.

Even the NHL has had seven top picks enshrined in the Hockey Hall in Toronto, with Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and perhaps a few others considered among the future automatics.

MIKE PIAZZA HEADED TO HALL OF FAME WITH GRIFFEY JR.

Here are the No. 1 overall picks to already be included in their sport’s respective Hall of Fame:

NBA (14): Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robertson, Walt Bellamy, Elvin Hayes, Lew Alcindor (Kareem Adbul-Jabbar), Bob Lanier, Bill Walton, David Thompson, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Ralph Sampson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson.

NFL (12): Bill Dudley, Charley Trippi, Chuck Bednarik, Paul Hornung, Ron Yary, O.J. Simpson, Terry Bradshaw, Lee Roy Selmon, Earl Campbell, John Elway, Bruce Smith, Troy Aikman.

NHL (7): Gilbert Perrault, Guy Lafleur, Denis Potvin, Dale Hawerchuk, Mario Lemieux, Mike Modano, Mats Sundin.

Tags:
ken griffey jr ,
baseball hall of fame ,
mlb

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