Tim Raines, Ivan Rodriguez and Jeff Bagwell Will Join The Baseball Hall of Fame

Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez were all selected to join the National Baseball Hall of Fame, announced Jeff Idelson, president of the organization, Wednesday evening in a live broadcast.

The Baseball Writers Association of America voted on the decision earlier in the day, choosing to select only three players this year.

The electees will be inducted on July 30 in Cooperstown, New York. Four hundred and forty-two ballots were cast, and 332 votes were needed for each player to be elected.

Ivan Rodriguez is only the second catcher to be elected on a first ballot; the other was Johnny Bench in 1989.

Time Raines tweeted out his appreciation for the honor after the announcement:

"I am extremely honored and humbled to have received the call today that I will be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame," he said.

Ivan Rodriguez shortly followed with his own expression of thanks, including a video showing his emotional reaction to the news:

Players considered this year were:

JEFF BAGWELL

CASEY BLAKE

BARRY BONDS

PAT BURRELL

ORLANDO CABRERA

MIKE CAMERON

ROGER CLEMENS

J.D. DREW

VLADIMIR GUERRERO

CARLOS GUILLÉN

TREVOR HOFFMAN

JEFF KENT

DERREK LEE

EDGAR MARTÍNEZ

FRED MCGRIFF

MELVIN MORA

MIKE MUSSINA

MAGGLIO ORDÓÑEZ

JORGE POSADA

TIM RAINES

MANNY RAMÍREZ

EDGAR RENTERÍA

ARTHUR RHODES

IVÁN RODRÍGUEZ

FREDDY SÁNCHEZ

CURT SCHILLING

GARY SHEFFIELD

LEE SMITH

SAMMY SOSA

MATT STAIRS

JASON VARITEK

BILLY WAGNER

TIM WAKEFIELD

LARRY WALKER

Photo credit: Anne Meadows