Cooperstown is getting more crowded this summer.
Adrian Beltre, Joe Mauer and Todd Helton were all elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday, each surpassing the necessary 75 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Beltre (95.1 percent) and Mauer (76.1 percent) both got in on their first years on the ballot while Helton (79.1 percent) got over the hump in his sixth year.
Former Mets closer Billy Wagner fell just five votes short in his ninth year on the ballot, though he figures to have a strong chance of getting in next January in his 10th and final year.
Former Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield also came up shy of induction in his 10th and final year on the BBWAA ballot.
If the nine-time All-Star is going to find his way into the Hall of Fame one day, it will have to be through a future Era committee.
The 2024 class — along with former manager Jim Leyland, who was voted in by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee last month — will officially be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 21 in Cooperstown.
Before Tuesday, the BBWAA had not voted in more than two players in the same year since 2019, when it voted for a four-player class (Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez, Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina) for the second straight year.
Beltre breezed through as a first-ballot Hall of Famer after a 21-year career in which he was a five-time Gold Glove third baseman, four-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger with 3,166 hits and 477 home runs.
The former Ranger, Dodger, Mariner and Red Sox, who excelled in the second half of his career, was a lifetime .286 hitter with a .819 OPS.
Mauer also received strong support in his first year on the ballot after being one of the best catchers of his era during a 15-year career with the Twins.
While a concussion forced him to move to first base late in his career, he spent the first 10 years of it behind the plate, winning an MVP, three batting titles and three Gold Gloves.
The six-time All-Star was a career .306 hitter with a .827 OPS.
Helton, who fell 11 votes short of induction in 2023, finally got the call on Tuesday.
During his 17-year career with the Rockies, the left-handed-hitting slugger was a five-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove first baseman and won a batting title when he hit .372 in 2000.
He was a lifetime .316 hitter with a .953 OPS.