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★★★
The trio of John Smoltz, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez each brought something different to the table on Sunday during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Smoltz brought humor, at one point donning a wig to take a jab at his former teammates. Johnson brought honesty while speaking candidly about the influence of his parents on his career and Martinez brought flair, igniting the excitement amongst the large crowd from the Dominican Republic.
In their own ways, the array of styles that the trio of pitchers brought to the podium mirrored the different styles each brought to the mound during their hey days, which fell smack dab in the middle of the Steroid Era. While the inaugural Hall of Fame class, featuring Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson, featured some of the strongest statistical performers in the history of baseball, the accomplishments of Smoltz, Johnson and Martinez in the heart of the Steroid Era cannot be overlooked.
Johnson established himself as one of the most imposing figures in the history of baseball during his career. Smoltz adroitly shifted between starting and coming out of the bullpen, flourishing in both roles while putting together an incredibly unique career. Martinez’s peak in 1999 and 2000 could go down as the most dominant pair of seasons in the history of the game. The context of dominance for the trio of pitchers, in addition to their large compilation of accomplishments, make them the most dominant, if not most memorable, class of Hall of Fame pitchers.
