The perfect ballot

Mariano Rivera pitching at Yankee Stadium

Mariano Rivera, the New York Yankees’ reliever nonpareil who becomes baseball’s all-time saves leader with 652 during his 19-year career, becomes the first unanimous, first-ballot selection seven years ago for the Hall of Fame.

Rivera receives votes on all 425 ballots cast by the voting baseball writers, getting 100 percent of the votes in a process that requires at least 75 percent for induction.

Prior to Rivera, the closest nominee to receiving every vote is longtime Seattle Mariners center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., who in 2016 is named on 99.3 percent – 437 of 440 – of the ballots.

Joining Rivera seven years ago today in the Hall’s Class of 2019 are pitchers Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina, as well as designated hitter Edgar Martinez.

Halladay and Martinez each earn 85.4 percent of the vote, while Mussina receives 76.7 percent.

Looking for more to read? More than 3,100 archived posts may be found at Blog 3 — Baseball (and other cool stuff) … Enjoy!