Baseball Hall of Fame 2015: Preview, Viewing Info for Induction Ceremony

Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday. Fans of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros will surely take an interest in the ceremony, but others who appreciate greatness in America's pastime may also tune in for the ceremony.

When: Sunday, July 26, at 11 a.m. ET

Where: Cooperstown, New York

TV: MLB Network

While the preinduction ceremony doesn't start until 1:30 p.m. ET, MLB Network will begin its coverage 2.5 hours beforehand. Chronicling the careers of such dominant players is likely to be an entertaining appetizer for the speeches each new Hall of Famer delivers.

Johnson, Martinez and Smoltz were all inducted on their first time on the ballot. This is the second straight year three players were inducted in their first year of eligibility. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas received the honor last year.

This is Biggio's third year on the ballot. He made it in after missing by just two votes in 2014. 

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Johnson's dominant career led to him receiving the highest percentage of approval votes among the four inductees. Here's a breakdown of the percentage of votes each player received, per BaseballHall.org:

Votes	Player	Percentage
534	Randy Johnson	97.3%
500	Pedro Martinez	91.1%
455	John Smoltz	82.9%
454	Craig Biggio	82.7%

Retirement has seemingly found a way to peel back Johnson's signature intensity. 

"As you know, I was extremely intense when I played. I just felt like I was wired that way," he said, per Bob Baum of the Associated Press, via ABC News. "Since I retired I'd like to think that I'm not wound as tight because the expectations of whatever those expectations are every fifth day aren't there anymore."

No one would argue with Johnson about his intensity, but as former teammate Mark Grace said, it worked for the Big Unit: "Randy played with fury. I couldn't play angry. I'd have been swinging at everything if I'd played angry. But he had to be that way. That's what worked for him."

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Each player who is due to be enshrined had his own approach. Martinez also played with an edge. Perhaps it was because he was a smaller power pitcher who needed to establish a presence on the mound. In any case, he made hitters respect him with his willingness to pitch inside, a nasty array of pitches and his genius-level approach to pitching.

Oddly enough, both Martinez and Johnson spent time with the Montreal Expos on the journey to Cooperstown, but few Hall of Fame pitchers have taken a path like Smoltz.

Heather Ainsworth/Associated Press

He spent all but one of his 21 seasons in the majors with the Atlanta Braves, but for three years, he switched roles and became arguably the most dominant closer in the game.

From 2002-04, Smoltz averaged 48 saves per season before returning to the rotation. It's that versatility that undoubtedly made him a first-ballot HOFer. For others, stability is the key to entry into the Hall.

Mike Groll/Associated Press

Biggio didn't get in on his first year of eligibility, but it shouldn't dull his contributions to the sport and the city of Houston. He spent all 20 of his major league seasons with the Astros. That's something we may never see again. His 3,000 hits, four Gold Gloves and seven All-Star appearances make him more than worthy of induction.

It will be a treat to see all four of these men recognized for their excellent work.

Hooray for baseball.