Former Atlanta Braves pitchers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, along with former manager Bobby Cox were safe at the Hall of Fame plate on Sunday. The trio of icons from the Braves' legendary 1990s run through championships and glory were inducted into Cooperstown under sunny skies before an equally sunny crowd of 50,000.

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The Braves trio were inducted along with Joe Torre, a former National League MLB who managed the Braves, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals before finding lasting fame as manager of the New York Yankees and winning four World Series. He was joined by Tony La Russa, the third most winningest manager who called the shots for several teams and Frank Thomas, the White Sox "Big Hurt" and former American League MVP.

A four-time Cy Young Award winner who won 355 games primarily for the Cubs and Braves, Maddux, 48, was known for his calm, cool demeanor on the mound, never panicking and throwing thinking man's strikes with pinpoint control. Not so on Sunday as a visibly nervous Maddux read from a written script later saying, "This was the first speech I've really ever given. I was kind of not sure what to expect."

Maddux also was knows as "MadDog" belying his calm demeanor although reflecting his fiery competitiveness. He thanked a host of influences during his 15-minute speech including Glavine, Cox and his brother Mike Maddux, the Texas Rangers' pitching coach.

"It's sort of hard to believe I'm standing here today," Maddux said. "I never gave a thought about 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 to get better for my next start. to think it all ended up here is pretty cool.

Maddux started his career with Chicago Cubs where he toiled at Wrigley Field for 11 years. He then pitched for Cox and the Braves during their glory years from 1993 to 2003. A former infielder with the Yankees, Cox, 73,  managed the Braves from 1978 to 1981, then led the Toronto Blue Jays to their first winning seasons from 1982 to 1985 .

Cox returned to his beloved Braves as general manager from 1986 to 1990 where he developed the team's farm system. With so much talent coming through the minor league pipeline, and because he loved the on-field experience, he named himself manager in 1990.

The Braves won NL West titles in 1991, 1992 ,1993 and were leading in 1994 when baseball's labor disputes led to the season being called off prematurely. The Braves won the NL pennant in 1991 and 1992, finally winning the World Series in 1995. They also lost the World Series in 1996 and 1999 to the Torre-led Yankees, in 1991 to the Twins and 1992 to the Blue Jays.

"I am truly humbled to stand here before you in Cooperstown with two men that pitched for me and two managers that made my life as a manager so challenging, and a hitter that we never did figure out how to pitch to him," Cox said. "This has really been a great ride for all these seasons, every one with a changing cast of characters and every one full of memories."

Cox finished fourth in all-time managerial wins with 2,504 over 29 seasons, just behind La Russa with 2,728 wins over 33 years. Torre was fifth on that list with 2,326 wins over 29 seasons. Only Connie Mack with 3,731 wins over 53 years and John McGraw with 2,763 wins over 33 seasons had more wins than the trio inducted into the Hall on Sunday.

A two-time Cy Young Award winner, Glavine won 305 games during a 22-year career. That put him fourth on the al-time win list for left-handed pitchers following only Warren Spahn, Steve Carlton and Eddie Plank. A precision specialist who could create his own strike zone through crafty pitch location, he gave a "17-minute, 12-second '10-minute' speech," at the induction ceremony, he said.

"I had a couple of goals in mind each time I put on the uniform," Glavine said. "The first was to represent the logo on the front of the uniform. That meant to play hard, play the game the right way and give it your all. Whenever you stepped on the field, as the old saying goes, play had because you never know who will be watching you for the first time."

Tagsmajor league baseball, Baseball Hall of Fame induction, Cooperstown, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Atlanta Braves, Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa