Former Chicago Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux voted into Hall of Fame

Mar 15, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; United States pitching coach

(31) during the World Baseball Classic against Puerto Rico at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Former Chicago Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux is a first-year ballot Baseball Hall of Famer after receiving 97.2-percent of the 571 ballots on Wednesday, good for the eighth-highest percentage ever.

Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken, Ty Cobb, George Brett, Hank Aaron, and Tony Gwynn are the only players to have received a higher percentage.

Maddux will be inducted in Cooperstown, New York on Sunday, July 27 with Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas (91.9 percent) and Tom Glavine (83.7 percent). Houston Astros infielder Craig Biggio missed induction this year with 74.8 percent, 75 percent is required.

Maddux was drafted in the second round of the 1984 Major League Baseball Draft by the Cubs, and made his Major League debut two years later. In his first Major League start he pitched a complete game and later that month defeated his older brother, Mike Maddux, who was pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies.

In 10 seasons with the Cubs, Maddux went 133-112 with a 3.61 ERA and 1.245 WHIP, 1,305 strikeouts and just 547 walks in 2,016 innings. He captured his first Cy Young award with the Cubs in 1992, before leaving for Atlanta as a free agent and winning three more in his first three seasons as a Brave.

Maddux ranks eighth all-time in wins, fourth in starts (740), 10th in strikeouts (3,371) and 13th in innings (5,008.1). He also won 18 Gold Glove awards, appeared in 35 postseason games and was one of only four pitchers with more than 3,000 strikeouts and fewer than 1,000 walks.

Thomas, who spent the first 16 years of his 19-year career with the White Sox, also made it on his first year of eligibility.

Glavine, a 305-game winner, will join former Braves teammate Maddux and their former manager Bobby Cox at the induction ceremonies in July in Cooperstown, N.Y.

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