In fact, no No. 1 pick had ever come close before Griffey. Harold Baines, the first pick in 1977, was the only previous candidate ever to receive more than the five percent of the vote needed to stay on the ballot. Baines received as many as 33 votes before falling off the ballot in 2011, his fifth year.
Griffey was just the 10th No. 1 pick even to appear on a ballot. The first, appropriately enough, was Rick Monday, the top selection in the first-ever draft in 1965. Monday received two votes in 1990 and fell off the ballot.
The Kid will have company in Cooperstown soon, though. Chipper Jones, the No. 1 pick in 1990, is eligible in two years and almost certainly will be elected on the first try.
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Here’s a complete history of Hall of Fame voting for No. 1 picks:
1990: Rick Monday (1965), 2 votes
1991: Jeff Burroughs (1969), 1 vote
1994: Bob Horner (1978), 0 votes
2005: Darryl Strawberry (1980), 6 votes
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2007: Harold Baines (1977), 29 votes
2008: Baines, 28 votes; Shawon Dunston (1982), 1 vote
2009: Baines, 32 votes
2010: Baines, 33 votes
2011: Baines, 28 votes; B.J. Surhoff (1985), 2 votes
2012: Phil Nevin (1992), 0 votes
2015: Darin Erstad (1995), 1 vote
