The Baseball Writers' Association of America on Tuesday elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame two starting pitchers, a designated hitter and a closer with a history-making vote total. For the first time in 75 years, there's a unanimous selection on the BBWAA ballot. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera got every one of the 425 votes cast. Who would have thought that a closer would have that honor instead of someone like Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Bob Gibson or Henry Aaron? Ken Griffey Jr. had...

The 2019 Hall of Fame class has now been announced, and it's quite a compelling class of inductees, huh? Mariano Rivera became the first player ever to be named on 100 percent of submitted ballots and permanently sealed the career Yankee's legacy as the greatest closer of all-time. Roy Halladay was elected in his first year on the ballot, a bittersweet moment for family and fans of the Blue Jays and Phillies ace, who tragically died in a plane crash a little more than a year ago. Edgar...

The hot stove league may be tepid right now, but at least baseball is providing us something us to get excited about later today: the Hall of Fame election announcement. Yes, it's time to find out who's in the class of 2019 in addition to Lee Smith and Harold Baines (who were elected last month by what used to be called the Veterans' Committee but now has a confusing and completely unnecessary longer name). The announcement is scheduled for 6 p.m. Eastern time on MLB Network, after which...

The Hall of Fame ballot is out, and the slam dunk among the ballot's first-time players is Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who had 652 career saves with one pitch, a cut fastball that was deadly. Members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America will start their deliberations and their ballots are due Dec. 31. The Hall of Fame announcement is Jan. 22 and the induction ceremony is July 29 in Cooperstown, N.Y. Here is a look at the key first-timers on the ballot: * Mariano Rivera - Closers...

The Baseball Writers' Association of America did a pretty good job with their latest Hall of Fame ballot. They elected Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman and Chipper Jones, and held off Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds. They could have done better by electing Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Omar Vizquel - and even long shot Fred McGriff - but maybe those guys will make it on another ballot. Mussina is on the ballot another five years. Before we get too far into the Hall of Fame analysis,...

A ton of remembrances today for the passing of two-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay, who died tragically in a plane crash in the Gulf of Mexico near St. Petersburg, Fla., on Tuesday. Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer remembered being motivated by watching how hard Halladay worked in spring training. My deepest condolences to the Halladay family during this difficult time. The world lost a great one too early today #RIP34 pic.twitter.com/njBOuXZ9FW -- Max Scherzer (@Max_Scherzer)...

VIERA, Fla. - At one point late yesterday afternoon, after the Nationals-Phillies game had ended, interviews had been completed and reporters had all made our way back up to the press box to work on our postgame stories, I turned to another local writer and asked him if he had any idea what the final score of the game was. About five minutes later, one of the Phillies beat writers, sitting a row in front of me, turned to his left and asked another writer a similar question. "Who the hell won...

PHILADELPHIA - Look out, everyone. The Nationals have lost three games in a row. The best team in baseball is starting to fall apart. "Three! Ugh. We're ready to quit," Ryan Zimmerman said last night, tongue firmly planted in cheek. "Everything's going to go into shambles." In all seriousness, from the reaction of many fans on Twitter last night, you'd think the Nationals' season was crumbling to the ground. They've dropped three straight games, yes, but still hold the best...

PHILADELPHIA - Cole Hamels will take the hill for the Phillies in the series finale against the Nationals later tonight. I'm pretty sure if Hamels hits anyone this time, he'll remember to say the pitch just got away from him. Just a hunch. We all know about Bryce Harper's immense skill and the intensity with which he plays the game. Those are aspects the phenom brings to the table which can't be ignored. But last night, Harper showed us a less-talked-about part of his overall repertoire...

PHILADELPHIA - Roy Halladay had gone 11-0 in his last 13 starts against the Nationals/Expos prior to tonight. Jordan Zimmermann entered tonight 0-3 in four career outings against the Phillies. Those scripts got flipped. Davey Johnson likes the line he got from Zimmermann tonight - six innings, seven hits, one run, two walks and two strikeouts - but he doesn't like how much of an effort it took the righty to get there. Zimmermann needed 98 pitches to get through five innings and he finished...

PHILADELPHIA - Roy Halladay normally dominates the Nationals. I mean dominates them. Coming into today, Halladay was 11-0 with a 2.09 ERA in his last 13 starts against Montreal/Washington. Today has been a different story, however. The Nats have struck for five runs and eight hits off Halladay through five innings, and hold a 5-1 lead over the Phillies as we go to the sixth. Halladay allowed four runs in the third inning, two coming on a triple to right-center off the bat of Bryce Harper....

The starting pitching the Nationals face this week against the Phillies has been a focal point of the series. Jayson Werth said it after game one: "It was good to get a win off Joe Blanton, because it will not get any easier facing Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee." After all, the Nationals avoided Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt in this series. It is a difficulty the Nationals will face almost every week in the National League East. The Braves have Derek Lowe, Tommy Hanson and Tim Hudson, not to...

Phillies right-hander Roy Halladay is the opposing starter tonight as the Nationals go for the series win against Philadelphia at Nationals Park. Halladay (1-0, 0.69 ERA) has started the season off, well, like a reigning National League Cy Young Award winner should. In his first two starts, Halladay has allowed only one run on 11 hits in 13 innings while walking one and striking out 13. Halladay was particularly good against the Nationals last season, going 3-0 with a 0.39 ERA in three...

Nationals pitcher Scott Olsen pitched fairly well against the Phils in his first game in the majors since July 10th of last year. Olsen threw 91 pitches with 57 for strikes, went 5 2/3rd innings, allowed 5 hits, 4 earned runs, 3 walks and struck out 5 Phillies. Olsen told me he debuted a new pitch, the sinker, in that game, and had success throwing it. He says he feels comfortable with the grip and is excited to add it to his repertoire. Syracuse Chiefs pitching coach Greg Booker helped...