New York ? Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg were caught off guard. One thought the telephone call was a hoax. The other didn’t expect to learn his fate until later in the day. Their good news: They made it into the Hall of Fame.

The hot-hitting third baseman overwhelmingly was elected in his first year of eligibility Tuesday, and the slick-fielding second baseman made it on his third try with just six votes to spare.

A five-time American League batting champion for the Boston Red Sox, Boggs was selected by 474 of the record 516 voters who are 10-year members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. His percentage, 91.86, was the 19th-highest in Hall history, and in total votes he trailed only Nolan Ryan (491) and George Brett (488).

“I wouldn’t classify it as the end of the world had I not got in today,” said Boggs, the 41st player elected on his first chance. “But it would have been a disappointment because of the numbers that I put up.”

Sandberg, the 1984 National League MVP for the Chicago Cubs, was picked by 393 voters. He appeared on 76.2 percent of ballots, just above the 75 percent cutoff (387). Sandberg received 49.2 percent in 2003 and 61.1 percent last year, when he fell 71 votes short.

Even though he was awaiting word, Boggs was surprised when the telephone rang and he was congratulated by Jack O’Connell, secretary-treasurer of the BBWAA.

“I thought it was one of my friends pulling a joke on me,” said Boggs, who assumed Hall chair Jane Forbes Clark would place the call.

Reliever Bruce Sutter, appearing on the ballot for the 12th time, received 344 votes (66.7 percent), up from 301 last year but 43 shy of this year’s threshold. He was followed by Jim Rice (307), Rich Gossage (285) and Andre Dawson (270).

“I’m not going to say I’m disappointed,” Dawson said.

Willie McGee, also on the ballot for the first time, received 26 votes, exactly at the 5 percent cutoff to avoid being dropped in future years. Darryl Strawberry received six votes in his first bid. Pete Rose, ineligible because of his lifetime ban from