Congratulations to Jeff Bagwell, Ivan Rodriguez and Tim Raines, the newest members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Both selections were long overdue.

Bagwell, pride of the University of Hartford, is the second-greatest first baseman since World War II, behind only Albert Pujols. He hit for power, hit for average, played above-average defense and was one of the best baserunners of his generation. My favorite Bagwell stat: He scored 152 runs in 2000, still the most in a season since Lou Gehrig in 1936.

Tim Raines became just the fifth player elected in his final year of eligibility, joining Red Ruffing, Joe Medwick, Ralph Kiner and Jim Rice. Getty Images

Raines became just the fifth player elected in his final year of eligibility, joining Red Ruffing, Joe Medwick, Ralph Kiner and Jim Rice. He had a terrific peak in the 1980s when he was one of the best all-around players in the game, an on-base machine who is fifth all time in stolen bases. My favorite Raines stat: Rickey Henderson would need to steal 448 bases without being caught to pass Raines’ lifetime stolen base percentage of 84.7 percent.

2017 HOF election Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez are headed to the Hall of Fame. Go inside the road to Cooperstown. • Bagwell's journey leads to Cooperstown • Raines finally gets his Hall moment • Rodriguez's defining moment

Rodriguez becomes just the second catcher elected on the first ballot, joining some guy named Johnny Bench. One of the greatest defensive catchers of all time and winner of 13 Gold Gloves and the 1999 AL MVP Award, allegations of steroid use weren’t enough to keep him out. My favorite Rodriguez stat: He caught 5,860 more innings than Bench.

Hall of Fame voting results Receiving the necessary 75 percent of votes, Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez were announced as the Baseball Hall of Fame's Class of 2017. Here are the results from the 442 ballots cast. Percentage Votes Jeff Bagwell 86.2% 381 Tim Raines 86.0% 380 Ivan Rodriguez 76.0% 336 Trevor Hoffman 74.0% 327 Vladimir Guerrero 71.7% 317 Edgar Martinez 58.6% 259 Roger Clemens 54.1% 239 Barry Bonds 53.8% 238 Mike Mussina 51.8% 229 Curt Schilling 45.0% 199 Lee Smith 34.2% 151 Manny Ramirez 23.8% 105 Larry Walker 21.9% 97 Fred McGriff 21.7% 96 Jeff Kent 16.7% 74 Gary Sheffield 13.3% 59 Billy Wagner 10.2% 45 Sammy Sosa 8.6% 38

Here’s what else we learned with Wednesday’s results: