Wade Boggs, winner of five American League batting titles, and Ryne Sandberg, winner of nine National League Gold Glove Awards, shared the ultimate prize Tuesday in being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in voting verified by Ernst & Young. They will be inducted into the Hall July 31 in ceremonies at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y.

A record 516 ballots were cast by BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years’ service, eclipsing by one the previous mark in 2001 when Dave Winfield and Kirby Puckett were elected. Players must be named on 75 percent of the ballots submitted to gain election. This year, 387 votes were needed.

Boggs was listed on 474 ballots (91.86 percent), which ranks 19^th among the percentage leaders in Hall voting. His vote total was the third in history behind Nolan Ryan (491) and George Brett (488), both in 1999. Boggs became the 41^st player elected in his first year of eligibility, which does not include Lou Gehrig (1939) and Roberto Clemente (1973), who were honored in special elections.

Sandberg received 393 votes, which reflected 76.2 percent of the electorate. His six votes above the cut tied Bill Terry (1954) and Gabby Hartnett (1955) for the 12^th slimmest margin. Sandberg’s election came in his third year of eligibility. He was 71 votes shy of election last year.

Boggs and Sandberg bring to 260 the number of elected members of the Hall. Of that total, 195 are players, of which 102 have been through the BBWAA ballot. Boggs is the 12^th third baseman and Sandberg the 17^th second baseman named to the Hall.

Relief pitcher Bruce Sutter finished third in the voting with 344 votes (66.7 percent) in his 12^th year on the ballot and was 43 votes short of election. The only other players named on more than half the ballots were outfielder Jim Rice with 307 votes (59.5), reliever Rich “Goose” Gossage with 285 (55.2) and outfielder Andre Dawson with 270 (52.3).

Boggs, 46, finished his 18-season career with 3,010 hits, 23^rd on the all-time list. Of the 25 players with 3,000 or more hits, Boggs is the only one whose 3,000^th hit was a home run, in 1999 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Boggs won his batting titles during his 11 seasons with the Boston Red Sox and had an AL-record seven consecutive years of 200 or more hits. He led the league in intentional walks six consecutive seasons, another AL record.

In five years with the New York Yankees, Boggs was a two-time Gold Glove winner and a member of the 1996 World Series champions. His .328 career batting average is 26^th all-time. The 12-time All-Star also ranks 14^th in doubles, 19^th in on-base percentage and intentional walks and 22^nd in bases on balls on the career list.

Sandberg, 45, was a .285 career hitter with 282 home runs, including a league-high 40 in 1990, and 1,061 RBI over 16 seasons, all but one with the Chicago Cubs. He was the NL Most Valuable Player in 1984 and a 10-time All-Star. His 277 home runs as a second baseman are second in history only to Jeff Kent. Sandberg’s fielding earned him the highest career fielding percentage for a second baseman (.989) and major-league records for consecutive errorless games in a season (90 in 1989) and over two seasons (123) at the position.

Other than Boggs, the only player among 12 first-year candidates to qualify to remain on the ballot was outfielder Willie McGee, who was precisely at the 5-percent cutoff point with 26 votes.

2005 Hall of Fame