PHOTO: SI's iconic cover foreshadows 2016 HOF class
The Sporting News / Sporting News / Getty
So much for the so-called Sports Illustrated jinx.
The magazine famous for cursing players who appear on its front cover helped change the narrative Wednesday by sharing this picture from 1994 shortly after Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The cover came on the heels of Griffey's 45-homer season and Piazza's Rookie of the Year-winning campaign, but the two players couldn't have followed more different paths en route to Cooperstown
Selected No. 1 overall in the 1987 draft, Griffey's the first top pick to gain entrance into the Hall of Fame.
Piazza, meanwhile, is the lowest-drafted player ever (62nd round in 1988) to be elected. The pair were drafted 2,651 players apart.
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