Griffey Jr., Piazza named to Baseball Hall of Fame

NEW YORK – Ken Griffey Jr. was considered Mr. Clean during 22 years in Major League Baseball, untainted by accusations of drug use as he climbed the home-run list during the height of the Steroids Era.

He nearly made a clean sweep in the Baseball Hall of Fame voting, too.

Griffey received 437 of 440 votes in his first appearance on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot, a record 99.3 percent.

“It’s real simple,” he explained after Wednesday’s announcement. “I’ve always said that I’ve got to look my kids in the eyes and you want to play fair.”

Mike Piazza, the top offensive catcher in MLB history, was elected, too, and will be inducted along with Griffey in Cooperstown, New York, on July 24. Among the many muscled sluggers whose accomplishments were questioned during a time when chemists preyed on clubhouses, Piazza was made to wait to be inducted until his fourth appearance on the ballot. After falling 28 votes shy last year, he was selected on 365 votes.

He wouldn’t say whether he was upset about being sullied by suspicions.

“That’s the freedom we have,” Piazza said. “You can say these things, and that’s the country we live in.”

Griffey topped the previous high voting percentage of 98.84, set when Tom Seaver appeared on 425 of 430 ballots in 1992.

A player needs to appear on 75 percent of ballots to gain election. Jeff Bagwell missed by 15 votes and Tim Raines by 23. Trevor Hoffman, second on the career saves list and appearing on the ballot for the first time, was 34 short.

Total ballots dropped by 109 from last year after writers who have not been active for 10 years were eliminated under a rules change by the Hall’s board.