Cooperstown, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - The 2015 National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot includes 17 new additions, including Cy Young Award winning pitchers Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz. Also new to the ballot for 2015 are sluggers Gary Sheffield and Carlos Delgado and shortstop Nomar Garciaparra. Rounding out the 17 first-time candidates are infielders Rich Aurilia, Aaron Boone and Tony Clark, outfielders Jermaine Dye, Darin Erstad, Cliff Floyd and Brian Giles, and pitchers Troy Percival, Tom Gordon, Eddie Guardado and Jason Schmidt. The 17 candidates returning to the BBWAA ballot (with their 2014 election percentages) are: Craig Biggio (74.8%), Mike Piazza (62.2%), Jeff Bagwell (54.3%), Tim Raines (46.1%), Roger Clemens (35.4%), Barry Bonds (34.7%), Lee Smith (29.9%), Curt Schilling (29.2%), Edgar Martinez (25.2%), Alan Trammell (20.8%), Mike Mussina (20.3%), Jeff Kent (15.2%), Fred McGriff (11.7%), Mark McGwire (11.0%), Larry Walker (10.2%), Don Mattingly (8.2%) and Sammy Sosa (7.2%). Mattingly is eligible for the ballot for the 15th and final time. If he is not elected in January, he will become eligible for consideration by the Expansion Era Committee beginning in the fall of 2016. Candidates need 75 percent of the vote to earn induction into the Hall of Fame. Results will be announced on Jan. 6, 2015. When including the returners to the ballot, its interesting to note that only once in the history of voting have as many as five candidates earned the 75 percent in the same voting year. That was in 1936, the first year of voting, when Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner became the First Five. Since then, the BBWAA has elected four candidates in one year only twice: 1947, when Mickey Cochrane, Frankie Frisch, Lefty Grove and Carl Hubbell were elected; and 1955, when Joe DiMaggio, Gabby Hartnett, Ted Lyons and Dazzy Vance earned election. The three candidates who at first glance deserve first-ballot Hall of Fame consideration are Johnson, Martinez and Smoltz. Johnson pitched 22 seasons for Expos, Mariners, Astros, Diamondbacks, Yankees and Giants, posting three 20-win seasons (1997, 2001-02) and winning five Cy Young Awards. The hard-throwing left-hander ended his career with a 303-166 mark with a 3.29 ERA, finishing in top 10 of his leagues Most Valuable Player Award voting twice: 1995 (6th) and 2002 (7th) and was named to 10 All-Star Games, starting four times. Known as a strikeout pitcher, Johnson led his league in strikeouts nine times (1992-95, 1999-2002, 2004) and is second on the all-time strikeout list with 4,875. Martinez played 18 seasons for Dodgers, Expos, Red Sox, Mets and Phillies, going 219-100 with a 2.93 ERA. He had two 20-win seasons (1999, 2002) and captured three Cy Young Awards (1997, 1999-2000). An eight-time All-Star, the right-hander finished in Top 10 of his leagues Most Valuable Player Award voting twice: 1999 (2nd) and 2000 (5th). He won 1999 American League Pitching Triple Crown after leading the league in wins (23), earned run average (2.07) and strikeouts (313). Smoltz, who could be the first Hall of Fame member to have the famed Tommy John surgery, made a name for himself as a starter and closer, pitching 21 seasons for Braves, Red Sox and Cardinals. Smoltz had a career record of 213-155 with a 3.33 ERA with 154 saves. He won 1996 National League Cy Young Award and was named to eight All-Star Games (1989, 1992-93, 1996, 2002-03, 2005, 2007). As a reliever, the right-hander topped the 40-save mark three times (2002-04), the only three full seasons he served as his teams closer. His 3,084 strikeouts rank 16th all-time. Smoltz appeared in 25 postseason series over 14 seasons with Braves and Cardinals, posting 15-4 record in 41 appearances (27 starts) with 2.67 earned run average and four saves, striking out 199 batters in 209 innings. If the BBWAA elects at least two candidates in January, it will mark the first time since 2004-05 that the writers have elected multiple candidates in back- to-back years. Dennis Eckersley and Paul Molitor were elected in 2004, followed by Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg in 2005. The last time three-or-more BBWAA candidates were elected in successive years was 1954-55, when the DiMaggio-Hartnett-Lyons-Vance group followed the 1954 class of Bill Dickey, Rabbit Maranville and Bill Terry. The Class of 2015, and any candidates elected by the Golden Era Committee on Dec. 8, will be inducted on July 26 in Cooperstown. Cheap Michael Jordan Jersey . Pillar is batting .305 with 17 extra-base hits, 19 RBI and five stolen bases in 34 games for Buffalo this season. The right-handed hitter had an International League high, 18-game hitting streak this season and currently owns an IL high 26-game on base streak. Cheap Sports Jerseys . Julien coached the Bruins to the Stanley Cup championship in 2010-11 and is the longest serving coach in consecutive seasons in the teams history. 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Backstrom made 33 saves in his first win of the season and the Wild defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3 on Saturday in a rematch of their first-round playoff series.MILWAUKEE -- Brandon Knight took a couple dribbles and an important step forward in turning into the lead guard for the Milwaukee Bucks. The third-year pro went shot for shot with Knicks star Carmelo Anthony down the stretch before nailing the most important one of the night. Knight made a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left and finished with 25 points, and the Bucks snapped a six-game losing streak with a 101-98 victory Monday night over New York. "Thats his shot. He loves that little step-back, half-dribble 3," said forward Khris Middleton, who had 19 points. With no timeouts and the ball in his hand for the Bucks last possession, Knight quickly but calmly brought the ball up the floor after Anthony (36 points) hit a 3-pointer with 19.4 seconds left. He played out the seconds ahead in his head. Dont get caught in a "bad situation" off a screen or trap, an outcome that Knight said had played out too many times before. "So I just walked it down, got into rhythm and was able to knock down that shot," Knight said. Raymond Felton leaped into the air with an outstretched arm to try to disrupt Knight, then turned in disbelief as the Bucks guard rushed down the other end to celebrate. "When I went back and looked at it, Ray kind of backed off a little bit. I thought he could have been a little more aggressive," coach Mike Woodson said. "Rays hand was up there." The Knicks had one last chance, though Anthony misfired on a deep 3 before stumbling back into the first row of seats as time expired. He finished with 36 points. Save for a sprinkling of onlookers wearing Knicks blue, the 11,000-plus fans at the Bradley Center rewarded the Bucks with a rousing ovation. Wins -- let alone this kind of dramatic victory -- have been rare in this 9-39 season. But Monday was especially important for Milwaukee because they fended off numerous runs by the streaky Knicks, who lost a second straight following a four-game winning streak. This is the same team thats also had streaks of five wins and nine losses, too. New York hopes this isnt the start of another bad run. New York rallied from a 110-point deficit in the fourth quarter, but ended up falling to the worst team in the league two nights after losing to the Southeast Division-leading Miami Heat.dddddddddddd "There are no freebies in the NBA. You can lose on any night to any team if you dont play well," said centre Tyson Chandler (seven points, 10 rebounds). Middleton hit a season-high five 3s for Milwaukee, which also snapped a seven-game skid to New York. Rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo had 15 points and sparked the crowd that included his family with a rousing dunk in the fourth quarter, while Zaza Pachulia also gave the Bucks a lift off the bench with 12 points and seven rebounds. New York was usually never more than a few possessions away and the last few minutes got even tighter. Anthony hesitated before firing up a 3 with 19 seconds left to tie the game at 98 before Knights last-second heroics. Unlike most of the rest of the season, the Bucks had a counterpunch for every Knicks spurt. "I made some mistakes at the end that can cost us the game, but Brandon was there," Antetokounmpo said. "The hero was there to knock down the shot." Knights back-door layup off a pretty feed by Pachulia with 27.5 seconds left gave Milwaukee a three-point lead to answer Feltons 3 on the previous possession. Anthony finished 13 of 25 from the field and 5 of 10 from 3-point range. J.R. Smith had 30 points and seven rebounds. Knight went 10 of 23 from the field and 4 of 8 from long range. "My teammates did a great job tonight persevering," Knight said. "Our past habits have been to drop our heads and say Here we go again." New York led by seven early and had plenty of chances to gain control but went through inopportune dry spells and went just 15 of 24 from the foul line. Chandler was 1 of 6. Notes: Iman Shumpert returned to the Knicks starting lineup after missing two games with a sprained right foot. He finished with five in 24 minutes. Forward Kenyon Martin sat out again with a nagging left ankle injury. ... Bucks F Caron Butler left in the fourth quarter with a sprained left ankle. ' ' '