Mike Piazza among first-timers on Hall of Fame ballot

On Wednesday, the Baseball Writers Association of America released their list of 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame nominees, and for the first time, former Dodgers great Mike Piazza is on the ballot. Piazza is joined by a star-studded group which includes Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, Craig Biggio and Curt Schilling, all of whom are on the ballot for the first time.

All votes are due back to the BWAA by December 31, with the results announced on January 9. Each player needs 75 percent of the vote to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

And with so many big names on the ballot, it will be interesting to see what percentage of votes Piazza gets.

Statistically, Piazza is one of the greatest hitting catchers of all-time, a player who finished his career in 2007 with 427 home runs, 1,335 RBI and a career batting average of .308. He was also a 12-time All-Star in a 16-year career that spanned five different big league stops.

Another advantage Piazza has going for him is that he has never been linked to performance-enhancing drugs, unlike a number of the other first-time players on the ballot have been.

Bonds, Clemens and Sosa have all either failed drug tests or been linked to them via the Mitchell Report.