Mariano Rivera Makes History with Baseball Hall of Fame 2019 Class Announcement

MLB legend Mariano Rivera is still making history even after retiring from the game of baseball.

The Baseball Writer's Association of America voted unanimously to induct the former New York Yankees star into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. Rivera became the first ever player to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame unanimously. That includes players like Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb, Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken Jr. and others who all failed to garner 100% of the vote like Rivera did.

Rivera's career didn't get off to a Hall of Fame start as he initially began his career as a starter. After struggling with a 5.51 ERA, the Yankees moved him to the bullpen and the rest, as they say, was history. Rivera dominated the game of baseball like very few have. Rivera was extraordinary during the regular season, but it is his performances in the postseason that have reached legendary heights. An example of Rivera's dominance in MLB postseason games is more people have walked on the moon (12) than have scored against Rivera in a postseason game (11).

Other players voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame include Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina and Roy Halladay.

Martinez had to wait until his final year on the ballot to get in but after hitting .312 with 309 home runs, Martinez became the first player to primarily hit as a designated hitter to make it into Cooperstown. 

Mussina had to wait his turn as well but was voted in after receiving 76.7% of the vote. The Yankees legend finished with 270 wins and 2,813 strikeouts, both of which fell just shy of what many considered the cutoff to be for making it into the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Halladay passed away in 2017 after a plane crash. He becomes the first player to be voted in posthumously on the first ballot since Christy Mathewson in 1936. (Roberto Clemente was elected to the Hall of Fame in a special election after his death in a 1972 plane crash in which the traditional five-year waiting period was waived. via Fox News). 

The former Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher won 203 games throughout his career and became only the second player to pitch a no-hitter in a postseason game. The other being Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series. He was a two-time Cy Young award winner and an eight-time All-Star.

In not so surprising news, Rodger Clemens and Barry Bonds were not elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Both players have become major focal points of discussion regarding the "Steroid Era" and whether players either from this era or were suspected of performance-enhancing drug use should be allowed into the Hall of Fame. Former Phillies, Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Curt Schilling was the leading vote-getter for players who didn't make the cut with 60.9% of the vote.