NEW YORK — The Hall of Fame selects the caps the inductees will wear on their respective plaques after consulting with the individual players. Spokesman Brad Horn said Wednesday that those decisions would come in the next few weeks.
For Craig Biggio, who played his entire career for the Houston Astros, there is no debate. The same is true for John Smoltz, who played all but one season for the Atlanta Braves.
Pedro Martinez played seven seasons in Boston, three more than he did for the Montreal Expos and New York Mets, and is sure to go in as member of the Red Sox.
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Randy Johnson is trickier. He played 10 seasons for the Seattle Mariners and came into his own as a player with that team.
But he also had eight seasons with Arizona and won four consecutive Cy Young Awards for the Diamondbacks. So while he played longer in Seattle, he accomplished more in Arizona.
“That question is out of my control,” Johnson said. “That’s more of a Hall of Fame decision. We’ll cross that bridge in the next couple of days, from what I understand.”
One hint? There were posters of the players at Wednesday’s news conference hosted by the Hall of Fame, and Johnson was pictured wearing an Arizona uniform.
Local interest
Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson grew up in Newton and still has family in Cambridge. His first job in baseball was as a vendor at Fenway Park and he later went to work for the Sox and the Red Sox Radio Network before moving on.
Professionally, he is a neutral observer. But Idelson acknowledged being excited about Martinez joining the Hall.
“I love all 30 teams equally but in my heart I’m happy that Pedro is representing Boston in the Hall of Fame,” he said. “My phone was blowing up with messages from friends.”
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Hall officials said they expect a huge crowd of fans at Cooperstown for the July 26 induction ceremony. Martinez will have a lot to do with that.
“I know how excited people in Boston are,” Idelson said.
Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @peteabe.