When Tom Seaver was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992, he received the highest-ever percentage of votes with 98.84% (on 425 of 430 ballots), higher than Nolan Ryan’s 98.79% and Ty Cobb’s 98.23%. Three of the five ballots that omitted Seaver were blank, cast by writers protesting the decision to make Pete Rose ineligible for consideration; one ballot was sent in by a writer recovering from surgery who failed to notice Seaver's name; the fifth vote was cast by a writer who said he never voted for any player in his first year of eligibility.

"A good professional athlete must have the love of a little boy. And the good players feel the kind of love for the game that they did when they were Little Leaguers."

-Tom Seaver