By Ronald Blum/AP
Todd Helton, Adrián Beltré and Joe Mauer were elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Tuesday while Billy Wagner and Gary Sheffield fell short.
Helton, making his sixth ballot appearance, got 307 votes for 79.7%, 18 more than the needed 289 for 75% after falling 11 votes short last year.
The Colorado Rockies legend and 5-time all star spent 17 season with the Rockies as a first baseman and batted .316. He joins former Rockies manager Jim Leyland who was elected last month.
Beltré was picked on 366 of 385 ballots in his first appearance for 95.1%.
Mauer also was elected on his first try, receiving 293 votes for 76.1%.
Billy Wagner received 284 votes, falling five short but up from 68.1% last year. He will appear on the ballot for the final time in 2025, when Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia are eligible for the first time.
There are 273 players among 346 people in the Hall. Beltré, Mauer and Helton will be inducted at Cooperstown on July 21 along with Jim Leyland, elected last month by the contemporary era committee for managers, executives and umpires.
Gary Sheffield got 246 votes for 63.9%, but up from 11.7% in 2015. He is eligible for consideration by the contemporary baseball player committee, which meets next in December 2025.
