Rickey Henderson’s specialty was scoring runs. Jim Rice’s job was to knock ’em in.

No matter how they did it, though, few players frightened opposing pitchers more than the two newest members of the baseball Hall of Fame.

Henderson and Rice were elected in balloting announced Monday by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, vastly different stars now headed to Cooperstown together.

Henderson zipped in on his first try, Rice with a final swing. Henderson played for nine teams, Rice only one. Henderson built his game around speed, Rice a powerful stick.

‘‘Rickey could make things happen. He was the type of guy that you wanted to keep off the bases,’’ said Rice, the Boston slugger who was previously passed over 14 times for the Hall. ‘‘During that time you needed players like that. You needed some excitement.’’

The undisputed standard for leadoff hitters, Henderson received 94.8 percent of the vote, well above the 75 percent needed. Rice, among the game’s most feared boppers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, got 76.4 percent in his 15th and final year on the BBWAA ballot. Last year, he fell just shy with 72.2 percent.

‘‘The only thing I can say is I’m glad it’s over with,’’ Rice said. ‘‘I’m in there and they can’t take it away.’’

Henderson, baseball’s career leader in runs scored and stolen bases, became the 44th player elected in his first year of eligibility. Rice was only the third chosen by the BBWAA in his final year, joining Red Ruffing (1967) and Ralph Kiner (1975).

The pair will be inducted into the Hall during ceremonies July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y. They’ll be joined by former Yankees and Indians second baseman Joe Gordon, elected posthumously last month by the Veterans Committee.

‘‘It’s really just an honor to me. I’m really just spaced out,’’ Henderson said. ‘‘I haven’t really thought about what I’m going to say.’’

Plenty of people are curious, though.

While Rice was known for his no-nonsense attitude, Henderson was renowned for his confounding comments. He has a penchant for referring to himself in the third person — at any point during a stream of sometimes indecipherable chatter.

‘‘I can’t wait to hear his acceptance speech,’’ former teammate Willie Randolph said.

Henderson was picked on 511 of 539 ballots and Rice was selected on 412, just above the 405 needed.

Rice received only 29.8 percent of the vote in 1995, when he appeared on the ballot for the first time. He initially topped 50 percent in 2000 and reached 64.8 percent in 2006.

The highest percentage for a player who wasn’t elected in a later year was 63.4 by Gil Hodges in 1983, his final time on the ballot.

Some thought Rice’s prickly personality and acrimonious relationship with reporters during his playing days helped keep him out of the Hall all those years.

‘‘I don’t think I was difficult to deal with for writers. I think the writers were difficult to me,’’ he said. ‘‘I wasn’t going to badmouth my teammates. When you start talking about my teammates or what goes on outside baseball, I couldn’t do that.