Baseball: Four modern superstars set to join Hall of Fame | The Salt Lake Tribune – Salt Lake Tribune

All four, elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in January, will be inducted Sunday in Cooperstown.

“I don’t condone anybody doing anything bad as far as cheating the game,” said Martinez, who joins former Giants right-hander Juan Marichal (1983) as the only natives of the Dominican Republic elected to the hall. “How did I feel pitching in the juice era? I wouldn’t want it any other way. For me, there’s no crying. I mean, as far as the way I did compete, I know I did it right. I did it the right way.”

The 6-foot-10 Johnson was an intimidating figure standing atop a pitching mound. During a 22-year career, spent mostly with the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks, the dominant left-hander with the imposing fastball won 303 games and five Cy Young Awards, including four in a row from 1999 to 2002 with the Diamondbacks.

A 10-time All-Star, the native of Walnut Creek, Calif. led his league in strikeouts nine times and had a career total of 4,875, second only to Nolan Ryan’s 5,714. In 2001, Johnson was 3-0 in the World Series to help Arizona, in only its fourth year of existence, to the title.

Born on the outskirts of Santo Domingo, Martinez grew up with five brothers and sisters in a one-room home. Baseball became his escape. He signed with the Dodgers in 1988 and made his major league debut in September 1992 at age 20. The next season, he was a regular in the bullpen, posting a 10-5 record in 65 games while striking out 119 in 107 innings, then was traded to Montreal after the season.

After a four-year stint with the Expos that culminated with his first Cy Young Award — he was 17-8 with a 1.90 ERA in 1997 — and with free agency looming, Montreal traded its ace to Boston. He won 117 games and two Cy Youngs in hitter-friendly Fenway Park and, most importantly, helped Boston snap an 86-year jinx in his final year with the team. His seven shutout innings in Game 3 of the 2004 World Series on the road in St. Louis staked the Sox to a commanding 3-0 series lead en route to a sweep and the team’s first title since 1918.

Martinez finished his 18-year career with a 219-100 record and 3,154 strikeouts.

Smoltz is the first player elected to the Hall of Fame with Tommy John arm surgery on his resume. He won 213 games and saved 154, the only pitcher with 200 wins and 150 saves and the most recent of 16 who reached 3,000 strikeouts, registering 3,084. He also was 15-4 in the postseason during a 21-year career spent almost entirely with the Atlanta Braves after being drafted and then traded by his hometown Detroit Tigers.

Through five surgeries, the hard-throwing right-hander persevered — from starter to reliever to starter again — as the Braves and their amazing pitching staff, which also included Hall of Famers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, won an unprecedented 14 straight division titles.

Biggio was a football star in high school, poised to make his mark as a running back in college when he decided to accept a partial baseball scholarship at Seton Hall.

A first-round pick by the Astros in 1987, Biggio took over as Houston’s regular catcher in 1989. Two years later, he made his first All-Star team, then was asked to make the improbable transition to play second base in 1992 in an effort to lengthen his career.

Biggio, the first Astro elected to the Hall of Fame, said making the switch was by far the hardest thing he ever had to do in his career.

“We zipped up the catcher’s gear and didn’t look back,” Biggio said. “I believed in myself and we made it work. I mean, it was never ever done in the history of the game, and that was kind of fun to kind of prove [the critics] wrong a little bit.”