Baseball Hall Of Fame First Induction Class Announced On This Day 1936!

On this day in sports history 1936, the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown announced its very first induction class.

Among the legends going into the hall (which would not even be constructed for another two years) were:

BABE RUTH: "The Sultan of Swat" was inducted with 95.1% of the vote.

HONUS WAGNER:  "The Flying Dutchman" was elected with 95.1% of the vote.

CHRISTY MATHEWSON: "The Big Six" was elected with 90.7% of the vote.

WALTER JOHNSON:  "The Big Train" was voted in by 83.6% of the voters.

Sure they were all giants of the sport.  But it was "The Georgia Peach," TY COBB who was inducted with the highest percentage of votes ever for an inductee into the Hall of Fame.  He was voted for by a whopping 98.5% of all of those voting that year.  He received 222 votes out of a possible 226.

He spent twenty-two seasons with the Detroit Tigers.  Although prolific at bat and sparkling in the field (he was an outfielder) Cobb was considered to be ornery and, in some case, down right vicious.  He was considered a racist and prone to violent tantrums.  Despite this, it is quite remarkable that he was almost, almost,  the only unanimous choice for induction into the Baseball Hall of fame.