Headlines of July 28, 2014 “Class of 2014 takes its place among game's legends” … Barry M. Bloom, Whitesox.com “Big Hurt thankful for many as he enters Hall of Fame” … Scott Merkin, Whitesox.com “White Sox focused on long term at Trade Deadline” … Scott Merkin, Whitesox.com “New draftee Rodon tops White Sox updated Top 20” … Jim Callis, Whitesox.com “Carroll strong but bullpen falters in finale” … Patrick Donnelly, Whitesox.com “Red-hot Quintana to open set vs. first-place Tigers” … Matt Slovin, Whitesox.com “The Quotable Frank Thomas” … Scott Merkin, Whitesox.com “Big Hurt’s unofficial list of thanks” … Scott Merkin, Whitesox.com “Thomas steals the show at Hall of Fame ceremony” … David Haugh, Chicago Tribune “Thomas thanks many in heartfelt Hall of Fame speech” … Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune “Transcript: Frank Thomas' Hall of Fame speech” … Chicago Tribune “Twins rally to prevent a White Sox sweep” … Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune “Reliever Ronald Belisario melts down in White Sox’ loss to Twins” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun- Times “Reliever Matt Lindstrom targets return in early August” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times “Emotional Frank Thomas shows heartwarming side in Cooperstown” … Rick Morrissey, Chicago Sun- Times “Frank Thomas inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame” … Associated Press “White Sox second to none at first base” … Chris Rongey, Daily Herald “‘Emotional’ Thomas takes his spot in Cooperstown” … Scot Gregor, Daily Herald “Thomas, Maddux, 4 others inducted into baseball Hall of Fame” … Associated Press “Thomas shows emotion in 'grand finale'” … Doug Padilla, ESPNChicago.com “Thomas' teammate list goes 138 deep” … Doug Padilla, ESPNChicago.com “Tearful Frank Thomas on HOF entry: ‘It gets no better than that’” … Dan Hayes, CSNChicago.com “Frank Thomas appreciated the Chicago fans at HOF weekend” … Dan Hayes, CSNChicago.com “White Sox rally late but comes up short against Twins” … Nate Gotlieb, CSNChicago.com “Reinsdorf: ‘Will and determination’ made Thomas great” … Staff, CSNChicago.com “White Sox clubhouse upbeat despite longshot playoff odds” … Nate Gotlieb, CSNChicago.com Class of 2014 takes its place among game's legends Players Maddux, Glavine, Thomas, managers Torre, La Russa, Cox enter Hall of Fame By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- The more you learn about baseball, the more you love it, Tony La Russa told a crowd of approximately 48,000 spread in droves across the meadow behind the Clark Sports Center for Sunday's National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the largest in terms of the number of living electees since 1971. "And the more you love it, the more you want to learn," La Russa added. It was a baseball love fest as the big day finally arrived for the memorable Hall of Fame Class of 2014 -- 300-game winners Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, slugger Frank Thomas and managers Joe Torre, Bobby Cox and La Russa. "You're on the bus and you see it and you get goosebumps," La Russa said afterward about the crowd. "It's like the greatest rock concerts that you've ever been to." The Big Six were inducted in front of the third-biggest throng in history behind the Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn induction of 2007 (75,000) and the Robin Yount-George Brett-Nolan Ryan induction of 1999 (50,000). As always, Commissioner Bud Selig read the inscriptions on the plaques of the six newcomers, who were joined by another 44 of the 66 living Hall of Famers on the big stage. "I was shocked when we turned that corner this morning," Thomas said. "Ozzie Smith was in the back of the bus with me and he said, 'This is for real now. Look at all those people. Just take it all in. You've got to be tough when you get to the stage. These are the true fans. The world is watching. Do what you've got to do.' "So for me today, to be honest with you, I was Cool Hand Luke sitting there watching everyone's speeches. As soon as I stood up, my knees started knocking and the first thing I looked at was my mom. It hit me right in my heart. My mom hadn't left Columbus, Ga., in 15 years. She was here today, so I just started crying." Thomas didn't stop crying for his entire speech of nearly 18 minutes, during which he thanked many family members, his late father, players, coaches, managers, trainers, you name it, from the three organizations for which he played: the White Sox (1990-2005), A's (2006, '08) and Blue Jays (2007-08). The speeches were supposed to be limited to 10 minutes each. Cox and Maddux basically hit it on the button, while Glavine, Thomas, La Russa and Torre went long. Torre hit it out of the ballpark with his speech that went 29 minutes, although he seemed devastated afterward because he failed to thank the late Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner and the Steinbrenner family. Steinbrenner's youngest son, Hal -- the club's current principal owner -- was in the crowd along with a contingent of Yankees executives and former coaches who worked under Torre. "I missed mentioning and thanking the most obvious guy in the world when you're talking about the Yankees," said Torre, the winner of four World Series titles with New York, before taking questions at the post-ceremony media conference. "My plan was to thank him and [mention] the fact that we had a great relationship. It was so obvious that I was going to do it that I just went right past it and the whole Steinbrenner family. It was the proudest time in my career." Rock the vote Year Player Pct. 1992 Tom Seaver 98.84 1999 Nolan Ryan 98.79 2007 Cal Ripken 98.53 1936 Ty Cobb 98.23 1999 George Brett 98.19 1982 Hank Aaron 97.83 2007 Tony Gwynn 97.61 2014 Greg Maddux 97.20 1995 Mike Schmidt 96.52 Year Player Pct. 1989 Johnny Bench 96.42 Teammate Tom Glavine received 91.9 percent of the vote, while fellow inductee Frank Thomas recorded 83.2 percent. Maddux and Glavine are the first set of first-ballot pitchers to be elected together since Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson were part of the inaugural Class of 1936, along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner. They are the first living pair of 300-win pitchers to be elected in the same year and only the third pair in Hall of Fame history. "It's obviously the biggest honor you can give to a ballplayer," said Maddux, the first inductee to speak. "To put me here in Cooperstown with all of my childhood heroes, it's sort of hard to believe I'm standing here today. I never gave a thought to the Hall of Fame as I was going through my career. My goal as a baseball player was very simple -- all I wanted to do was try and get better for my next start. And to think it all ended up here is pretty cool." Add Thomas, who played the first 16 seasons of his 19-year career with the White Sox, and the Baseball Writers' Association of America elected three players on the first ballot for the first time since that grand induction of 1999. "I'm so humbled and honored to be a part of this historic class of first-ballot Hall of Famers," Thomas said in his address. "I'm speechless. I want to thank you all for being great role models and making this game what it is today. Hard work, dedication, commitment, no shortcuts to success. Thanks for having me in your club." Maddux won 355 games, the eighth-highest figure in Major League history and the most of any pitcher since Warren Spahn retired with 363 in 1965. He garnered 97.2 percent of the BBWAA vote, appearing on all but 16 of the 571 ballots cast. The right-hander, called "Mad Dog," won 194 of those games over 11 years with the Braves. But his milestone 300th came for the Cubs, the team that drafted him and for which he played 10 seasons covering two tenures. Glavine -- who won 305 games, fourth most among left-handers -- was named on 91.9 percent of the ballots, while Thomas was selected on 83.7. Glavine spent 17 of his 22 seasons with the Braves, but he won his 300th game near the end of a five-year tenure with the Mets. "It's hard to imagine a day like this would get any better," Glavine said. "But for me, it does. I'm honored to go into the Baseball Hall of Fame with such a great group of men. All of you guys represent what is great about the game of baseball. I'm humbled to be a part of this class." The 16-member Expansion Era Committee was even more magnanimous than the BBWAA, electing La Russa, Cox and Torre unanimously late last year. The three rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in managerial victories in Major League history, each winning more than 2,000 games. "[Not] in my wildest dreams did I ever think this would happen, but I'm sure glad it did," Cox said to end his speech. They managed The three skippers inducted Sunday -- Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre -- rank Nos. 3-5 all-time in managerial wins. Manager Wins Years The three skippers inducted Sunday -- Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre -- rank Nos. 3-5 all-time in managerial wins. Manager Wins Years 1.