One's a first-ballot Hall of Famer who's widely considered to be baseball's greatest leadoff man.

The other, a power-hitting left fielder, finally elected in his 15th and last year of eligibility.

Together, Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice make up the Class of 2009.

Henderson is baseball's all-time leader in stolen bases and runs scored and could change a game in the blink of an eye.

"This guy was electrifying," says Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson. "He was an impact player. He could hit for power. He could hit for average and he stole bases like no other."

Henderson will earn his plaque here at the Hall of Fame because his numbers withstand the test of time. Case in point, 1982, he stole a record 130 bases. Since then, no one's come within even 20 of that number

"When history reflects back on what Rickey Henderson's meant to this game, it's going to look at him kindly because he's put so much distance between him and the competition," says Idelson.

Henderson was a 10-time all star, won two World Series crowns and earned the 1990 American League MVP.

Rice played his entire 16 seasons in Boston and is the only player to post 35 home runs and 200 hits in three straight seasons.

It's that kind of star power that has Cooperstown bracing for another big crowd on Election Weekend.

"This is a great class because they played in drawing areas close to this region and it's a very big Yankees and Red Sox flair," says Idelson.

They'll all be in Cooperstown when the Class of 2009 is enshrined on July 26th.

In Cooperstown, Justin Horowitz, Action Sports.