Wade Boggs was overwhelmingly elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility Tuesday, while Chicago Cubs great Ryne Sandberg made it on his third try.
Boggs, who was a five-time American League batting champion for the Boston Red Sox, was selected on 474 of the record 516 ballots from the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
The 12-time All-Star third baseman played 18 seasons, ending his career with 3000 and 10 hits and a .328 batting average. He is the only player in the 20th century with seven straight 200-hit seasons.
Sandberg was the 1984 National League Most Valuable Player and made the 387 vote requirement with just six votes to spare. He hit 277 career home runs, the most ever by a second baseman at the time of his retirement. His .989 fielding percentage is the highest at his position.
They will be inducted into the Hall July 31 in ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York. The addition of Boggs and Sandberg brings the total number of Hall members to 260.
Some information for this story provided AP and Reuters.
