Griffey is 3rd member of 'The Simpsons' softball team to reach Hall

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Ken Griffey Jr. has come a long way since serving as the lunchroom cashier at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant in The Simpsons episode "Homer at the Bat."

Griffey joined former fictional softball teammates Wade Boggs and Ozzie Smith in real-life Cooperstown on Wednesday, after receiving 437 of 440 possible votes.

Charles Montgomery Burns can now boast that a third player on the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant softball team he managed has reached the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The humor was not lost on power plant teammate Jose Canseco, who congratulated Griffey.

Griffey fortunately fared much better in real life than he did on the show, as the 13-time All-Star overdosed on nerve tonic, causing an unrealistic case of gigantism.

Springfield was denied a fourth Hall of Fame member after Roger Clemens received 45.2 percent of this year's vote. Steve Sax, Don Mattingly, Darryl Strawberry, and Mike Scioscia were among those who also appeared in the episode.

The Digest

Everything you need to know about the 2016 Hall of Fame vote

by theScore staff
The Sporting News / Sporting News / Getty

The votes are in and the tickets are punched: Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza are headed for Cooperstown.

Griffey's record-setting election - he appeared on an unprecedented 437 of the 440 ballots submitted by the BBWAA - puts a bow on the career of one of the greatest players in baseball history.

Wednesday's announcement also marks the first time a No. 1 pick has gained entrance into Cooperstown, a stark contrast to the distinction held by Piazza as the lowest-drafted player voted to the Hall.

That and other storylines dominating the 2016 Hall of Fame discussion:

NEXT STOP: COOPERSTOWN

ALL ABOUT THE KID

JUICED UP RESULTS

END OF THE ROAD

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