Tony

Tony Gwynn was elected to the Hall of Fame along with Cal Ripken. There was never any doubt, but it is still very cool. He is the only Hall of Famer I got to watch on a constant basis, and has always been one of the class acts of baseball. At 97.61% He received the 7th highest voting percentage ever (Ripken's 98.53% was third behind Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan). At least two voters said they'd never vote for anyone from that era because of the possibility of steroid use (though Tony's gut seemed to reflect pizza more than steroids) but who were the people who chose not to vote for Tony or Ripken?

Goose Gossage narrowly missed making it in. Even more than today's closers, he deserves it. He dominated even while going 2-3 innings, without an obsession with number of saves. His vote total went way up from last year (52 votes) and so he may look good for next year. I think that after Bruce Sutter got in last year, there was a re-examination of the older relievers.